Zero Percent - Steam Strategy

@Super_Scoopy Before release if I'm honest I was concerned about this game success. Space based indie games is truly brutal to make, players expectations are high. Him pulling it of for me is very impressive. Very happy for the dev 🫡

@0PercentSteam Genuinely one of the most impressive solo dev games I have ever played. I'm really excited to see what he cooks up next.

AAA dev turned indie dev and releasing a story-driven sci-fi survival game. Prev worked on GTA. - Build and expand your mining outpost - Narrative driven survival - Dig deeper in the underground world AETHUS 95% Overwhelmingly Positive steam hit.

@BeanJuiceStudio Deeper discount strategy is closer to a myth than factual. You do want to have a correct base price though. Then it's about discount as frequently as you can but you don't have to go deeper. Steam just cares that you are on sale.

Something interesting I found while discounting my games over the last year on Steam. 33% off earns more than 40% off 44% off earns more than 50% off Is there psychology behind this or have any other indie devs noticed the same thing?

@Beacon_Dev You asked... check latest post.

@0PercentSteam do me do me

Can this indie dev diagnose ADHD with his game? Twisting tunnels, psychedelic patterns, and breathing walls assault your sense of balance as the chaos escalates with every level. - ADHD Test - How much abuse can a gamer take? - Fighter pilots feel like this Sensory Overload

Rare to see indie space games do this well. Clearly a hidden gem to check out store.steampowered.com/app/2541530/AE… fantastic work by @Beacon_Dev

@JohnMugen Speed is all you need

@0PercentSteam zoom zoom

Indie dev is making a idle-like roguelite where you’re a car speeding to make loops. -> Speed builds break game graphics -> Try score builds with more tactical combos -> Leaderboard infinite, get your high score It's called The Loopler NOT Looper! Would you play this?

This is curing my focus for real... store.steampowered.com/app/4403510/Se… what kind of experiment is this @onlypancak3s_

@MheepDev goated dev & @Pulsewithaudio support with the sfx/music Play the demo & wishlist store.steampowered.com/app/4150860/Th…

Amazing new developer trying to make it in our industry @JohnMugen You can wishlist here store.steampowered.com/app/4560170/Or…

This solo indie dev working on a modern zuma game. -> Peglin isn't enough we need Orblins -> Roguelike, build your marble sack, repeat. -> Boss levels, modern match3 Would you play Orblins?

Steam Next Fest Algorithm/Widgets Cheat Sheet (PRE-WEDNESDAY) Home Discover Next Fest - Randomly picked games. It takes around 8 seconds of your First Gameplay labeled trailer on your store page. Games don't show up twice here (You can watch all of them) On your Wishlists - Just shows your wishlisted games.. fun fact if you see negative wishlists it's likely because of this widget. They get reminded about your game. Recommended For You - Typically games with tags that you recently played but also games that are doing really well. It also likely using games your friends are playing. From all the widgets in steamfest this is the least clear to me what exactly they are using. 2 Sections with "Because you've played games tagged" - These tags are picked based on the recent games that you have played. Browse All Titles - Purely random listing + great search tools. For You Recommended Trailers - Trailers based on tags that you have played, likely also changes as you play demos in next fest. On Your Wishlist - Repeat, read the one in "Home" Recommended For You - Repeat, read the one in "Home" 5 Sections with "Because you've played games tagged" - Repeat, read the one in "Home" By Genre This one is just based on the genres they pick but... if you are a developer making games, you want to read these genres. These genres some of them stayed the same for years, but they have been changing a bit slowly. By Theme Same as Genre, do consider these themes for your next game. More importantly, maybe your game already fits these themes. If it does, make sure it's at the front of your marketing. Steam pick these genres&themes for a reason because they sell. Use it. By Feature Very strong for multiplayer games. They don't have steam deck here because no demos are really verified for it. We can expect this section in the future to feature steam deck, steam machine etc... once steam push their hardware more. Charts - The reason you clicked this post Trending Upcoming - This one is confusing for several reasons. People call this "Wishlist velocity", the proper steam terms are wishlist trending or wishist activity. There is a lot of factors that effect it but practically you want to do one thing. This algorithm uses 2 weeks of wishlist data to determine your spot in it. This is the same algorithm that is used in Upcoming tags sections. You won't see a 1:1 match because the normal wishlist activity algorithm seems to update differently vs the fest one. Again... main thing YOU need to know is not having a high wishlist count, it's getting wishlists 2 weeks before the fest. Hitting normal trending before next fest even with low wishlists will get you top 50 on this list (Check "The Loopler", he's a dev in our community) Did just that, he was like 1k wishlists 2 weeks ago and now he will likely end up 20k wishlists end of next fest. Wishlist trending is key. Popular Upcoming - Are not released (of course), have demo in next fest, then it's sorted by Total wishlist count that you have. No velocity crap here, purely total wishlist life time. This "Popular upcoming" IS NOT like the normal popular upcoming. They are NOT the same, this one does NOT use date for sorting. It's using total wishlists. This is your top wishlist list don't confuse it with trending upcoming. Trending is 2 weeks. Top Demos - Top demos are based by your last 7 days daily unique users. It's not based on CCU or time played. Know steam will not use metrics like time played because it variers between genres. They simply check how many players activated your demo and don't care about anything else. The 7 days part can likely be more or less, but that's likely the number. Other algorithms on steam are biweekly (2 weeks) but top demos seem to use 7 days.

@lifeindolltown @Steam When did you really press submit for review button?

I may have bad news. @Steam is currently completely avoiding me for days now and at almost 24h from releasing Welcome to Doll Town, they have still refused to validate the submission for public release. There is nothing I can do at that point. The game is fully ready, fully translated, fully playable. They do not answer my support tickets, they do not review my build… I’m stuck. I know it’s so important for you because you’re waiting for the game but be prepared for the game to be delayed until further notice. My dearest apologies in advance.

Steam cheat sheet - EA -> 1.0 How do you beat your EA numbers at 1.0? Full disclosure, my experience with EA -> 1.0 is only with 2 games. I'm not as confident as my other information, but I have some interesting ideas anyways. -> When do you release your 1.0? Most tips will be around this, most people will say around "6months after ea up too 3 years" which is a decent estimate but I'd like to highlight some tangible things to achieve instead. -> Review score You want your recent reviews to be 80% or higher. Know your review score will likely drop more on 1.0 influx of players. If your total reviews is above 80% even better. Having your game in a good shape before 1.0 is important. -> the 1.0 patch. Always test your 1.0 patch with real players. Grab your most active fans from discord and give them special access. A surprise for everyone isn't worth, have your fans test it. -> Daily deal strategy Steam offers daily deals for games that earn like 100k-200k in a short period. if your game doesn't hit this threshold during EA, it's likely your game won't really go viral. If it does... you will likely beat your EA release in 1.0. What you wanna do is line up your daily deal on the same day of your 1.0 release. These sales will guarantee you to hit new & trending and snowball pretty well. This is key to hit a new audience on your 1.0 use it! Your resting wishlists don't matter as much as you think. -> Wishlists matter during EA? Just as much as post 1.0 wishlists, not that important... remember compared to pre-release people are able to buy your game. Them wishlisting instead of buying isn't really a good thing. Of course some players just wait for 1.0 or discounts out of principle but don't assume miracles. -> Content creators Make sure to let creators that covered your game already and maybe give them few days - 1 week access before the public so they can prepare videos for the 1.0. Them knowing your game makes it more likely that it will get covered.

Steam cheat sheet - Release checklist! Releasing your game? Here is things you should double check. -> Your game Build Uploaded and set to default branch. Set your launch settings and publish. Log out of your steam account and log back in (clears cache) to see if it's the correct version is live. -> Pricing Double check your pricing and discount amount and duration. Discounts can be between 10%-40% and i recommend doing 14 days discount duration. -> Store page Update "Wishlist now" -> "Live now" and make sure everything is up to date. Check the languages support, cloud save support, achievements, your descriptions, screenshots & trailer. -> Launch post Prepare launch post on the steam backend. Title should say "Game is now released!" make sure it's a clear release post. Have 2-3 lines of text, release trailer link(optional), Widget to buy the game. (Look at steam docs on how to make a widget) -> Approved for release + release button Make sure you passed steam review for storepage & build. This unlocks the release button. Once you click it, you need to confirm by typing release my app, then you click an other button. This will load for a bit or nearly instant, and your app is now released. -> Steam Discussions Make sure people feel heard in discussions so people report bugs here. Otherwise they will flood your reviews instead. Typically it's good practice to pin a post with social links & one for bugs. Make sure you pay close attention to discussions and don't be afraid to reply. Do avoid drama or confronting people, you just need to be HELPFUL. -> Reviews Best way to get more reviews, is to simply highlight existing reviews with your community. Making your community feel seen will encourage them to drop more reviews. -> Patching Crazy breakable bug? The solution is NOT to fix it. During launch you need to be on top of your community and make them feel heard. Take your time with the fix, rushing hotfixes typically only leads to new issues. Please never panic patch, the solution to a terrible bug is community management. Remember, players are used to DAYS of waiting for AAA games, a couple more hours is worth waiting. Test your patches well.

Steam cheat sheet - From zero to steam release - golden path -> Ideation Don't think about genre. Don't think about mechanics. Think about what you want the players to feel/experience. What is the fantasy? Are you a hero killing hordes of enemies? Be more detailed... what hero.. what hordes... what emotion you want the player to feel? epicness? horror? sad? Understand really well what you want the player to feel. -> Fitting into a genre Genre is not a design tool, it's a communication marketing tool. Don't say "I'll make an incremental game", ideas are better made when you focus on the player's experience. Once you get a good idea, then you start thinking the overlap with the playerbase and which genre fits best on what you want to make. -> Skills, experience & expectations Using your skills & experience properly becomes crucial to ship a game, set the right expectations and make sure you can deliver. -> Prototype phase Lock in your art style. It's very important you don't change artstyle mid way development. Understand what grabs the attention of players from your game. Start sharing and posting your game to get a public opinion. Lock in the core loop and systems needed. -> Make your steam page At this point you should be confident about talking about your game and make a steam page. -> Demo Phase Your goal is to have a 30min experience that represents your 1.0 really well. Make sure lot of things are teased in that 30min for the 1.0 Your goal is to leave them wanting more, not just making them like your game. Add CTA's(Call to action) to your game, mostly to wishlist on steam. Monthly updates on itch is the best way to refine your demo. You should keep doing so until it feels perfect. Alternative to this is using Steam Playtest feature. -> Collect content creators. At this point you will start getting a feeling what your game is and other games like yours. Search those games and see who covered them and collect emails. I'm talking 100's if not 1000's of emails. Use this email to send game keys for demo & 1.0. -> Polished Demo Phase Once your 30mins demo is ready this is when you start thinking about releasing a demo on steam. The first time you release a demo on steam, you can get on trending free & send email to wishlists. Meaning having a good demo and having the store gathering wishlists before this is important. Once the demo is released, look at the playtime, if they play your 30mins or more experience, you got a winner. Under 10mins... it's typically a problem. You either try again or move to a new game. Highly depends on you as a developer, don't listen too much to people... Sometimes it's okay to commit to a meh project. Keep updating your itch, itch traffic becomes better by updates. -> Feature complete At this point you want to nail down most features needed for your game. Your demo can help you understand the needs for 1.0 -> Content complete At this point apart features you want to have all content done... like items.. dialogue etc... everything really. -> Loop testing & Balance I typically map out my game to see if there is any blocks in flow. You will notice choke points in your game if you do this properly. Be realistic and calculate how features are introduced to the player and if the content is properly distributed throughout the whole experience. -> QA Once you have done your loop testing, you want to nail down your QA experience. Make sure the first 2 hours is great (not cuz of steam refund) we test around 2 hours because typically most players play this much. I'm talking bugless experience. Once the 2 hours is perfect, you want to test the game so that the game is playable from start to finish without hard blocks/glitches/crashes. It's okay if you encounter bugs, but they can't be first 2 hours and they can't stop the players progress. -> Lock in a tested & QAed build and don't even think about doing small changes Go through steam review and pass. Most of you will not listen to this advice and update the game 2 hours before release, this ends up in you introducing an unknown bug or forgetting to turn off your cheat console... or something. Don't think you are better than other devs, you will fuck up. Please lock a QAed build before your launch day. -> Release Many things i didn't mention, some are details but can be important. Know you will never do a perfect path to release. What's important on this day is you hopefully believe in your game. No one will buy a game that you don't even believe in. Don't go to a vacation or wedding party (Many devs do this shit) this is the 2 weeks where you are going to become your own game. Wear the game as your face. Make sure bugs get fixed. Talk about it. Let me know if you got any questions about steam :)

Steam Cheat Sheet - Steam Next Fest -> What's steam next fest? when does it happen? Next Fest is the biggest demo promotion on steam that happens 3 times a year (February, June, and October) -> When do you join? How many times can you join? Once your demo is played by real players and polished. I recommend a bugless main loop 30mins experience that leaves you with hints to locked content. Once you have this, you can join next fest. You can only join it once per game. But but... I heard i should join next fest right before i release! This advice is mostly assuming your best demo will be ready before release. There is no real benefit to this advice than this assumption. Release when you have a good demo, that's it! -> So when should I release my demo? Release & update your demo on itch & if you really want open a playtest on steam. This will gain you fans, some traffic and playtesting for bugs to create a polished 30mins experience. Once you are confident you can do a steam demo release. There are several strategies on when to do so, will cover this in a demo specific cheat sheet. A popular one is one week before next fest. Why? Most steam algorithms work on 2 weeks of data. Having 1 healthy week leading into next fest can help you for the rest of the nextfest. -> How do I promote my game? Is joining enough? Steam fest traffic scales much better if you feed it some external traffic. The best way to do so is content creators. How many? 500-3000. I want you to understand this is a numbers game. You really just need 5 decent size creators to play it. Search games on youtube similar to yours and get emails of creators that played such games. Once you have the list, you will send a very BASIC email. State you would like them to play your game, the title, 1 line description, link to store page, a GAME KEY (if your demo still not released, give them access), links to steam & a presskit. You can do these things via a business gmail (can send more emails than normal) and look for mailmerge solutions to send in bulk. Avoid things that sends your email into spam. -> Steam next fest algorithm, what is steam tracking? First 2 days steam is tracking what type of people like which games (TAG YOUR GAME WELL!!!! other steam advisers downplay it's importance! it's crucial.) by showing people random games and tracking data. After first 2 days, it will get personalized to the player depending on tags and what they have been playing. So if alot of farming cozy players played your game -> after day 2, lot of farming cozy players will get your game. So what data steam cares about??? player 100% your demo? NOPE! Time/playtime in the demo? NOPE! Reviews? NOPE! Anything that variers between genres steam excludes it! CCU itself does NOT matter! So what matters? The UNIQUE number of players playing and viewing your store page. That's it. This is how top demos are selected by steam. -> How many wishlists should I have going into next fest? More the better, while it doesn't really directly effect the algorithm apart a few widgets in the fest, it typically means your game will do well in the fest. But if you have low wishlists, that doesn't mean you will flop. I had a game entering with around 2k wishlists and we did 20k+ wishlists. It's all about if your game is good or not and help it with content creators. this is key. Owh... and correct tags! -> What game genres should i work on? Don't over think how viral your genre is, but more importantly track games like you and see what they are doing. The reason why popular genres do well is because steam personalizes players based on the games they play. So if lot of tower defence in fest -> you have a tower defence -> lot people playing tower defence -> your game suddenly gets recommended. Saturation on steam actually helps you. But... even niches get this advantage. Maybe the traffic isn't as high, but you get optimal players seeing your game. And if the game is good, you will eventually go viral more than the niche. -> Do i need a demo store page to join? No. Does it makes a difference having one? barely, mostly for reviews. It can also show up in "upcoming" sections if you didn't release your demo yet. -> Do I need my demo build reviewed to join next fest? Yes. -> Can i opt out of a next fest? Yes you can opt out of next fest as long the fest didn't start yet. Don't forget to do so, since you can only join once. Make sure your demo is ready to be released. -> Press preview & trailer. If you want to have the demo viewed by press preview, demo needs to be live 11 days before next fest starts. I personally don't give much value to the fest trailer, as for the press preview it depends... I personally don't factor it in my plans and do my own outreach. The trailer is not worth anything, the press preview is a maybe. -> Trailer, make sure you have a good GAMEPLAY trailer. Steam will generate a short clip of your trailer, this is important since it's gonna be featured on the main page. -> Livestream on steam? Not worth anymore, likely don't bother. -> Can I enter next fest with a released game? No. NEXT fest is only for demos, once per game. Ask me ANYTHING about steam, doesn't have to be about next fest. Happy to help!