Steam Won’t Sell Your Game for You: An Indie Developer’s Warning About Launch Saturation
The success of a video game doesn’t just depend on its quality. Among the many success stories on Steam (or other platforms), there are also failures and projects that deserved more attention. A developer has reminded everyone that launching a game on Valve’s store does not guarantee sales.
The developer of Star Vortex posted a message on Reddit about the importance of promoting a game, as Steam does not help spread the word on its own. He shared the example: “Tomorrow, 65 games are launching on Steam, but only 8 of them are on the Popular Upcoming list,” meaning 57 new releases will go completely unnoticed.
“No spotlight from Steam, no fanfare, just a quiet release into obscurity. Unless someone is searching for these games by name, they won’t even know they exist. Forgotten by the algorithm,” says ZorgHCS.
No Matter How Good Your Game Is, If No One Knows It Exists, It Won’t Matter
Steam will NOT sell your game for you!
byu/ZorgHCS inIndieDev
The developer sums it up by saying Steam doesn’t promote games that aren’t advertised. “Yet over and over again, I see posts on here from developers who expected some kind of magic to happen the moment they hit the launch button. But that’s not how it works! If you’re a solo-developer, you need to put as much effort into selling your game as you did into making it.”
He recommends presenting your game at festivals, creating press kits with all the information and materials, sending copies to streamers and the press, sharing videos, and ultimately, seeking attention. “I cannot emphasise enough… if nobody knows your game exists, it doesn’t matter how good it is. It will fail.”
