Valve is supposedly working on a way to make sure that season pass buyers get the content that's promised to them.
Dataminer and SteamDB (database) creator Pavel Djundik recently claimed that "Steam is working on a season pass survey for developers" that will only be "internal" to the digital storefront and kept hidden from everyday customers. The survey will apparently let Steam "track commitments of the high level deliverable and their dates to verify that [customers] received the content promised."
Up until now, there's been no way to ensure that everything promised in a season pass roadmap will actually come out on time or at all. You just had to put trust in whatever publisher or developer you're giving money to, and as we've learnt time and time again, big companies are often on the side of simply making money.
In most instances, when developers can't launch content promised in a season pass, buyers are usually refunded the full amount. People who bought the Redfall Bite Back Edition, for example, got refunds for the upgrade after Microsoft closed down the studio. Either way, it's nice to see Valve potentially tracking season pass pledges without players needing to trust publishers on their word.
There's no details on what happens if a season pass seller fails to deliver the "content promised" on the storefront, however. We'll just need to wait for an official confirmation from Valve for more details.
Elsewhere in the world of undercover Valve whisperings, the company recently trademarked the Overwatch-style hero shooter that it absolutely refuses to acknowledge despite the entire internet being aware of its existence (private playtest footage leaked online and a SteamDB entry guessed that over 1,000 players were in-game.)
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