Valve has officially started requesting that all Dota 2 custom game modes cease all real-money monetisation schemes by the 17th of August, and several popular modes have already gone dark.
Over the years, the custom game tools that Dota 2 supplies have given rise to a vibrant and thriving modding scene, and many of the more popular custom games have real-world monetisation tied in through third-party platforms such as Paypal or Patreon.
This monetisation scheme will usually offer players cosmetics, battle passes and, in some cases, in-game advantages.
These custom games fall under Dota 2 Arcade games and operate under non-commercial licences. Still, until now, Valve has taken a hands-off approach, even though real-world money transactions have formed part of many of these games for years.
That has now ended, and Valve has started to tackle many thriving grey market economies that run through Steam.
Since announcing the crackdown, many Steam users have taken to social media and Reddit to praise Valve, but not everyone is happy.
Reddit user LuminanceGayming has shared an open letter requesting Valve come to some accommodation with legitimate developers in the Dota 2 arcade:
The Dota 2 Arcade Is Being Forced To Shut Down
by u/LuminanceGayming in DotA2
“To be clear, we’re not asking to continue the current wild-west-style of monetisation either—none of us think that’s healthy. Instead, we want nothing more than an official way to monetise our games.”
Over the last while, Valve has been stepping up how it handles secondary economies around its popular competitive games. What’s your opinion on all this? Let us know in the comments.