Valve has announced a new initiative for its digital distribution service called Steam Greenlight, which allows the community to vote on games for Steam distribution and further serve as a platform for feedback to the game developers.
The new initiative adds some transparency to Steam's approval process, which has long been criticized for its opaqueness. For example, titles like much maligned Revelations 2012 (via Jim Sterling) were approved ahead of far more worthy candidates due to their use of Valve's Source Engine.
"The community should be deciding what gets released," reads the official Steam announcement. "After all, it's the community that will ultimately be the ones deciding which release they spend their money on."
Greenlight will allow users to cast their votes for submissions, prompting Valve to reach out to the developers whose titles have gained traction over the service. Game developers are encouraged to apply for Greenlight "as early in the development process as you are comfortable with".