Steam Visibility Explained by Valve

Valve have published the slides for Erik Peterson’s recent talk on Steam visibility. It’s a good overview of the discovery mechanisms happening behind the scenes. Here’s my key takeaways.

Visibility 

• No widget on Steam is pay-to-win. They’re all driven by player interest — that is, revenue.

  When players spend time and money on your game, it’s a strong signal to Steam it could be interesting to other players, too.

• Some widgets are algorithmic (Featured & Recommended, Discovery Queue, New & Trending, Top Sellers, Popular Upcoming, Specials), while others are curated (Home Page Takeover, Daily Deals, Midweek and Weekend Deals).

• Content hubs are a big source of traffic. F2P is extremely popular.

Algorithmic 

• Things that don’t affect algorithmic visibility:

  • Store page traffic
  • Review score (usually)
  • Wishlists (usually)
  • Early Access (usually)

• Things that do affect algorithmic visibility:

  • Localization
  • Tags

Curated 

• Inclusion in curated widgets is based on revenue, and other customer signals. If you think you’re doing good, it’s worth reaching out to Valve.

• Maximize your chances of appealing to a broad audience:

  • Localization
  • Regional pricing
  • Marketing assets
  • Controller support
  • Community

Launch 

• Generate interest in your game as you get closer to release. Launch with momentum.

  • Discord, forums, social media
  • Press and influencers
  • Paid marketing
  • Local tradeshows, meetups, and groups

• There’s no shadowban. (Although that doesn’t mean that you can turn around a bad launch.)

  Steam never makes a permanent decision about your game.

Make sure to also read Chris Zukowski’s notes, and Simon Carless’s summary.