Game news Valve rubs salt in the wound: the platform has been sending the same email to this developer for 7 years to remind him that his game brings him nothing…
Published on 10/19/2024 at 09:25
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For years, this developer has been regularly reminded that he no longer makes money with his game on Steam. A bad joke from Valve? Not at all in reality, we’ll explain.
In more than 20 years of existence, Steam has had time to develop various rules to protect its developers! And one of them stipulates that the game must generate at least 100 dollars before a payment is sent to its developer. It may seem silly said like that but in reality, it is in the interest of video game creators…and it can also create some pretty funny situations.
Incessant emails
Let’s rewind… A few weeks ago, on Reddit, a developer who goes by the name Raicuparta shared a funny anecdote. Since 2017, he has received an email every month from Valve (the company behind Steam), entitled “New payment notification”, which informs him that his title has not reached the 100 dollars necessary for a transfer! Except that it’s normal, because his game, Curvatron (a modern retelling of Snake) became free years ago.
“I’ve been getting this email every month since 2017 because I changed my game to be free and haven’t sold anything on Steam since then,” Raicuparta explains on Reddit… “A few years ago, I asked Valve to stop sending me these messages and just keep 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 you can see the endless list of messages from Steam.
A very useful measure
But what is this measure for? Well, it’s very simple… Most bank transfers are subject to fees, and doing a bunch of transfers for small amounts would mean paying several times that extra. In addition, as Valve reminds us, each payment initiated by Valve itself entails costs. So it’s in the developer’s interest to wait until the amount is high enough before the Steam daddy sends the money. “It would be detrimental to you if we paid you small amounts of money,” Valve summarizes.
