Valve removed a game from its Steam video game platform and store because it contained malware, according to media reports. In its notice to users who downloaded the game, Valve said affected users may want to “consider fully reformatting your operating system.”

Valve makes clear companies can still advertise in games. Those awkward billboards and real-world brand cosmetics are still fine to include, although Steam does stipulate that these must not be “disruptive” and that they be “appropriate within the context of the game.”

In-game ads have now been officially banned from the popular gaming platform Steam, according to the new guidelines.

SteamOS is taking on Windows in the gaming world. Explore Valve's bold move to create a competitive, Linux-based gaming ecosystem.

Valve has seemingly introduced new rules that ban games that require users to watch paid ads (or rely on other such ad-based revenue models) from Steam. However, some sources report that these rules may have already existed, and that Valve has merely created a dedicated page on Steamworks to clarify this policy.

Valve has once again done something that will greatly please gamers. The company has banned the distribution of games on Steam that force users to watch ads.

Valve has quietly updated its Steam guidelines to prohibit games that contain obligatory in-game ads. Going forward, games that require players to watch or engage with marketing material are out, as are titles that offer rewards for engaging with ads.

Valve further enforced its ban on promotional advertising in games on Steam, expanding on previously established rules on the platform.

Steam has officially banned games that force players to watch ads, or grant in-game rewards for watching ads, in a historic move for the platform.