Valve just sent over a quick little note announcing that Steam Greenlight now supports non-gaming software. That means developers can now post their non-gaming apps and concepts for consideration by the community. Just like the games, Valve is leaning on community feedback to provide data on what they would like to see made available via Steam.
"Developers of games or software that are early in their development or creative process can now post their early work to start building a community and getting feedback from prospective customers," Valve said. "Concepts can be posted for free, but the voting on these items serves only to give the developer data and feedback and does not lead toward getting the game distributed on Steam."
Steam started selling non-gaming software earlier this month, launching the new division with ArtRage Studio Pro, CameraBag 2, GameMaker: Studio, 3D-Coat, 3DMark Vantage and 3DMark 11. So far Valve's selection seems to focus on the developer/PC gaming crowd, but that will likely change in the near future. Genre listings include Accounting, Animation & Modeling, Audio Production, Design & Illustration, Education, Photo Editing, Software Training, Utilities, Video Production, and Web Publishing.
"The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games," said Mark Richardson at Valve. "They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests."
Developers wishing to submit their software or concept to Steam Greenlight can do so by clicking the "Submit your item" button at the top of the main Steam Greenlight page.
In addition to opening the doors to standard software developers, Valve made the following changes to Steam Greenlight:
* The updated front page of Steam Greenlight now highlights recent submissions and Friends' favorites as well as recent news
* Developers can now add additional contributors to their items in Greenlight for the purpose of moderating and responding to community feedback
* A new widget-creator has been added under the "About" section to help promote your Steam Greenlight entry
* The FAQ has been updated to add some new questions and include information about Steam business in general
* Steam Greenlight logos are now available for download, also listed under the "About" section
