Bottom line: Valve has published Steam season pass guidelines in an effort to better protect gamers from deception. Because the company views them in a similar light as pre-purchases, they share many of the same restrictions and considerations.
As outlined in the newly minted document, devs that offer a season pass are essentially promising future content. During the launch process, the dev will be asked to commit to a launch window for each piece of content in the season pass.
Season passes should include expected release dates for each piece of DLC down to the quarter and year, and must include at least one piece of content when the pass launches. Simply put, Valve says that if you aren’t ready to clearly communicate launch dates, you should not offer a season pass on Steam.
Valve is well aware of the fact that life happens, and development plans sometime change. Should a road block present itself, Valve will allow devs to reschedule a release date once during a season pass. Devs will be able to select a new date up to three months later than originally scheduled.
In the event a DLC is canceled, customers will be entitled to a refund for the value of the unreleased content. Delaying a DLC beyond three months could result in further consequences, including but not limited to refunding all customers for the value of the DLC, or even allowing customers a full refund on the entire season pass.
Valve further notes that season passes on Steam will be rare, and will only be available from partners in which they have an established relationship with and that have a proven track record on the platform.
Not all of the stipulations will apply to every scenario. For example, devs including a season pass as part of a pre-order will not have to make DLC available at the time it goes on sale (but they will need at least one piece ready when the game launches).
Image credit: Jonny Gios