Game news Valve is rubbing salt in the wound: the platform sends the same email to this developer 7 years ago to remind him that his game brings him nothing…
For years, this developer has been regularly reminded that he no longer makes money from his game on Steam. Bad joke of valve? Not at all actually, we'll make that clear.
Over the course of more than 20 years of its existence, Steam has had time to develop various rules to protect its developers! One of them stipulates that the game must generate at least $100 before payment is sent to its developer. It may sound silly that way, but it's actually in the interest of video game makers…It can also create some very funny situations.
Constant emails
Let's rewind… A few weeks ago, on Reddit, a developer by the name Raicuparta shared a funny anecdote. Since 2017, he has received an email every month from Valve (the company behind Steam), with the subject line “New Payment Notice,” informing him that his title has not reached the $100 needed to transfer! Except it's normal, because his game, Corvatron (a modern retelling of Snake) has been free for years.
“I've been getting this email every month since 2017 because I changed my game to be free-to-play and haven't sold anything on Steam since then,” Raikubarta explains on Reddit… “A few years ago, I asked Valve to stop sending me these messages and they kept “With just the money (what’s left, editor’s note) or give it to charity and they said no.” The developer even shared A Screenshot From his mailbox, where we can see an endless list of messages from Steam.
A very useful measure
But what is this procedure? Well, it's pretty simple… Most bank transfers are subject to fees, and making a batch of transfers with small amounts means paying many times those additional fees. In addition, as Valve reminds us, every payment initiated by Valve itself carries costs. So it is in the developer's best interest to wait until the amount is high enough before Steam Daddy sends the money. “It would be harmful to you if we paid you small amounts of money,” Valve sums up.
