Valve will let you vote on what games are released on Steam

Valve has announced a new feature that will let gamers vote on what titles appear on Steam. Currently, the company has an internal group that determines what games launch on the service, but since Valve doesn't employ psychics, it can be tough to please the community.

The developer hopes to solve that problem in late August with "Steam Greenlight," which will use the system introduced by the Steam Workshop last October. The Workshop lets players rate and comment on content, such as Team Fortress 2 items and TES: V Skyrim mods.

"The community should be deciding what gets released," Valve said. "After all, it’s the community that will ultimately be the ones deciding which release they spend their money on."

Developers will be able to submit games, including concept work and early playable builds, at no expense -- though it's noted that a non-limited Steam account will be required (an account that owns at least one game). Submissions will only need a square branding image to represent the game on Greenlight lists and searches, at least one video demonstration and four screenshots, as well as a written description of the game and its expected system requirements.

Although tons of positive feedback can't hurt the odds of a game being approved, Valve assures developers that they won't necessarily need a certain number of votes for a game to be released. "The specific number of votes doesn't matter as much as relative interest in a game compared with other games in Steam Greenlight." Approval parameters are likely to change once Valve has a better idea about how many community members and developers will participate.