Why I do not recomend Steam for indie games
After publishing 2 indie games on the major digital distribution platform Steam, I came to the conclusion that it's not a good place to release indie games. At least not for me. This is my personal experience and opinion. Your mileage may vary.
What is Steam?
Steam is one of the first digital distributors for PC games. Launched in 2004, it is a platform owned by Valve Corporation. It has become the largest platform and the place to be for anyone wanting to sell their video game creations online.
How and why did I start publishing there in the first place?
My position as a 3D artist was cut short in 2011, and I had already started my work on a little game because I wanted to learn programming.
An ex-colleague told me to give it a shot and post my game on Steam Greenlight to get some feedback. I did that and was overwhelmed by the exposure and feedback I received. Going from working alone in my tiny apartment to suddenly having thousands of people see and judge my work was scary but also fascinating.
Steam Greenlight
When Valve announced a system called Greenlight back in August 2012. This system was intended as a place for new releases to be prioritized for distribution and release by a public voting system. The whole system went sideways in the most unimaginable ways and was retired in 2017, but more on that later.
Greenlight was a huge thing at the time, because prior to that, you needed to either have an already successful title or a publisher or other contacts to be able to release your game on the platform.
Even though it seemed like the most lucrative place to distribute your game, not everyone wanted to release their work there. For example, after the initial success of the Minecraft beta, the developer did not want to add it to the platform (source). I guess that was another reason why Valve wanted to get indie developers onboard early - to not miss out on the next big hit.
Dealing with public exposure as solo developer
I was not used to that amount of attention. As an employee in a company, the pressure that comes from publicity usually gets distributed over a team of people, and there are employees that filter public feedback and deal with fans and haters alike. As a solo developer, it all comes down like an avalanche if you are not prepared.
When trying to keep up with the demands of an audience that is used to commercial games, managing expectations is important on both ends.
At times I spent weeks or months trying to implement more features or losing myself in self-doubt. This is called "feature creep" and is a well-known enemy in game development.
Shovelware and the flooding of Steam
Greenlight was getting bombarded with joke games and wishes to bring games from other developers to the platform. People were starting to game and break the system.
I was very active in the Greenlight discussions at that time. Mostly because I enjoyed having a space to meet other developers that are in the same boat. I opened a Dev-Zoo group and tried to connect with indies that cared about their work. At some point I even had a Valve employee (Alden) join that group.
One night I can remember a very active discussion about the problems that Steam was facing with Greenlight, and the conclusion was:
When you open the floodgates, everything drowns. But if you install a valve, you can make wine.
And so the $100 fee was introduced as a quick fix. To at least keep jokes and nonserious submissions off the platform. Then came the official announcement to make Greenlight "go away" soon.
I was pretty sad since I found that it was a great place to gather early feedback and build a community during development. This was the first time when I started thinking that something just doesn't feel right for me.
So what's so bad about Steam?
Now, years later, I can see what happened a bit more objectively. It's not that the platform is inherently bad. It's more about expectations and what they can do to your mind and intentions.
When I started, I just wanted to learn how to program a little browser game and share it with the world. Presenting a game as a commercial product for sale is a completely different ballpark.
For me it boils down to the conflict of being an artist vs. going commercial. Not saying that one is better than the other. It just took me a very long time to figure out where I am and where I fall short. A lot of this inner conflict is still quite visible in ENYO Arcade. That's why I still am very proud that I finished it. Even if it is torn, corrupted, and diluted.
It's hard to avoid having hopes of commercial success when you put that amount of time, blood sweat, and tears into something that you plan to release on a commercial platform like Steam.
This commercial landscape was beginning to change me, my work, my expectations, and my perception of self-worth.
And I did it again...
But I messed up my second release way before it had any chance to succeed. I guess someday I might write a whole retrospective on what I think went wrong with Temple of Rust and its Steam release. I still think it is a good game and that a lot of folks that are into the rogue-like genre will enjoy it.
It's hard to point my finger at Valve for releasing it for free during the first 24 hours after it was free in early access for many years. That and a few other factors surely won't make the Steam algorithm work in my favor anytime soon. The lack of paying customer reviews also doesn't build trust, to state the obvious.
Those systems are built for developers that are willing to play the game. There is a lot of psychological conditioning at play here. That is where the biggest issue is for me. We sometimes forget to ask ourselves basic questions like, "Why am I doing this?"
The answer was simple: I wanted the commercial success, but I did not, or could not, do what was needed to get there. It just never felt right to produce a game for this reason.
That's why I came to the conclusion that Steam is just not the right place for me.
Things to consider when releasing a game on Steam
Keep in mind that Valve wants games on Steam that do well, and by that they mean sell well. If you are not comfortable with putting a lot of work and money into promotion and making choices based on market research and profitability rather than personal artistic vision, then you might want to consider a different approach. It might sound cool to have your game on Steam, but it also comes with a lot of overhead and maintenance that might be too much for a single developer.
There is no shame in making games for the art and love of the craft!
When releasing a game on Steam, you might feel judged by yourself and others based on reviews and sales. That is not the full picture! It's only the business side. If you start feeling uncomfortable with those parts of business, then try to find someone that can deal with those aspects.
There are professions and whole markets built around selling and dealing with public relations. Judging yourself for falling short in those fields is like judging a metalworker for not producing amazing chocolate.
The psychological conditioning of commercialism
This is one thing that is so ingrained into most of us that we hardly even notice it. Profit seems to be the only unit to measure success. Because it's the only thing that can be objectively measured and referenced.
I personally just don't think we are heading in a good direction with this one-dimensional mindset.
To me, the experience (of life) holds the true value, and games are an amazing artform in which we can share our experience.
That's why I think it's a bit disappointing when everyone is rushing for gold on Steam and ignoring that we could help build other places or advancements in open technologies.
What other options are there?
Self-distribute through your own website or other platforms that are more geared towards indie developers and niche games, like itch.io or HTML5 platforms like Kongregate or GX Games.
I enjoy producing for the web, even if it has a different set of challenges. It is the most inclusive platform out there, and if more people start pushing the technology involved, there will soon be no difference between native and browser games.
Thank you for reading!
If you have any questions or want to share your personal experience, then please drop me a message!