Valve has launched its proposed Steam Greenlight program to enlist community support for determining games to be released through the Steam service. Here's the deal:

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the launch of Steam Greenlight, a new platform feature that enlists the community's help in selecting some of the next games to be released on Steam.

Announced earlier this summer, Steam Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince the Community that the game should be released on Steam. Greenlight piggybacks on Steam Workshop's flexible system that organizes content and lets customers rate and leave feedback.

"We've been working on this feature for the last few months with the input from a group of indie partners, and the response has been extremely positive," said Valve's Anna Sweet. "With the additional help of beta testers, we are able to launch with a solid line-up of titles for the community to start viewing and rating. And, as we've done with all Steam features, we intend to continually grow and modify Greenlight as more and more developers and community members have a chance to get involved."

As well as serving as a clearing house for game submissions, Greenlight provides an incredible level of added exposure for new games and an opportunity to connect directly with potential customers and fans.