Valve opens up new developer-managed store at Steam

Digital video game retailer Steam is looking to introduce a new feature to its service. Valve recently announced the new feature, which will be beneficial to many, specifically game developers.

Recently, Valve debuted a new developer-managed store that features in-game items for players to purchase. Before, Steam was the only one that could sell in-game items, especially for Valve’s own titles such as “Dota 2” and “Team Fortress 2.”

The first-person survival game “Rust” is the first to test the new feature. Players can now directly purchase downloadable content from the game’s developer, Facepunch Studios. As such, the price is determined by the developer. Currently, the items in the store of Facepunch Studios is at a lower price than those sold by players.

The store itself functions like the Steam community markets. The developer-managed store allows players to trade, buy and sell items among each other. The prices for each item will be determined by the owner of the items in question. The new feature will be beneficial to the developer, as it will receive part of the profit instead of Valve.

A Reddit thread also pointed out that the Steam Workshop can be integrated with the new developer-managed stores so that players can sell their own creations. This is a similar function with Valve’s “Dota 2” and “Team Fortress 2.”

Valve has yet to detail the other developers that will be given their own stores. With Valve’s decision to debut the feature with an indie developer like Facepunch Studios, it is possible for players to see bigger names in the future. With the norm of developers becoming more and more in line with downloadable content, more developer-managed stores could open up on Steam soon.

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