A major Steam update is coming soon. Valve recommends that developers prepare for it and work on screenshots for games so that they can then be shown on the store’s homepage.
On the eve of a major Steam update – Discovery Update 2.0, which will change both the main page of the store, and new sections and functions will appear – Valve shared two requirements for working with screenshots for games.
First, to mark within the new toolkit those screenshots that are suitable for a wide audience. Screenshots with blood, nudity and other things should not go beyond the profile of the game itself.
The reason is that Steam is going to promote games after the update, including using screenshots on the main page. The platform does not want to scare users on the main page with potentially unacceptable content for some audiences.
Secondly, Steam requires that the “screenshots” section contains only real gameplay shots. Pre-renders, art, screenshots with marketing quotes and other things are not suitable.
The platform explains this requirement by the fact that such images prevent the user from understanding what the project is.
Valve itself has previously violated these rules. For example, there were a lot of pre-rendered pictures in the screenshots for Dota 2, but already now you can see from the profile of the game exactly how screenshots of games on Steam should look according to Valve.
Source: Gamasutra