Steam Update: How Indie Devs Survive the New Algorithm & Wishlist Velocity cover art

Steam Update: How Indie Devs Survive the New Algorithm & Wishlist Velocity

Steam Update: How Indie Devs Survive the New Algorithm & Wishlist Velocity

Listen for free

View show details
While Summer Game Fest brought with it a stellar line up of games reminiscent of the best days of E3, Valve dropped what’s likely the most consequential update for game developers in recent memory. After being in beta for a few months, the Company that Can’t Count to Three revealed a Steam store refresh that changes how industry conducts business on the biggest storefront for PC games.For this special episode of Day Zero, we have Lokesh Joshi, marketing lead at Tathvamasi Studios, the developers behind Suri: The Seventh Note, an upcoming PlayStation India Hero Project game for PS5 and PC. Disclosure: Day Zero podcast host Rishi Alwani has consulted with the studio in the past.From the personal calendar coming in clutch closer to release date for some publishers (such as Loopr Partners who were generous enough to let us talk about Zombutcher as a current case study) to harnessing wishlist velocity and timing the right release date, we got you covered. Time stamps as follows.Introduction and Guest Welcome* 00:00:03: Host Rishi Alwani introduces the episode and guests: Rahul and Lokesh Joshi (marketing lead of Tathvamasi Studios).* 00:00:52: Introduction to the main topic: Big changes and updates to Steam.The Steam Client Refresh (June 5th Update)* 00:01:32: Overview of the June 5th update, including UI changes and backend management for developers.* 00:01:54: Details on the new homepage, featured section, and general usability improvements.* 00:01:59: Introduction of the personal calendar feature for players to track release dates and wishlist games directly.* 00:03:07: Changes to the “Popular Upcoming” algorithm, requiring higher wishlist counts to appear on the list.Impact on Wishlists and Discovery* 00:04:12: How the personal calendar affects niche genres by recommending games based on user taste.* 00:04:30: Speculation on whether wishlists are still the primary metric for success.* 00:05:21: Discussion on how the calendar might help developers acquire “meaningful wishlists” with higher conversion rates.* 00:07:12: The concept of “Wishlist Velocity”—the importance of recent wishlists over older ones.* 00:08:05: Setting context on the “previous meta” where wishlists were the sole driver of visibility and funding.* 00:10:53: Identifying the bottleneck for developers: the requirement of a hard release date to appear on the personal calendar.Platforms and Visibility Case Studies* 00:14:25: Case study of the game Zombutcher and how the Steam update affected its launch visibility.* 00:15:58: The role of Steam Next Fest as a source of free visibility for indie developers.* 00:18:04: Comparison of developer support between Steam and PlayStation, highlighting Sony’s YouTube slots and blog posts.* 00:23:24: Discussion on Steam’s algorithmic nature compared to PlayStation’s storefront.Marketing Strategies for Indie Developers* 00:24:18: The importance of community building and organic content.* 00:24:32: Leveraging Instagram Reels for wide reach and using Reddit for organic feedback.* 00:27:53: Utilising Twitter for the indie community, specifically “Screenshot Saturday”.* 00:29:18: Advice on paid advertising: Don’t do it until you have a playable demo.* 00:31:46: Examples of “gold standard” social media accounts, including No Man’s Sky and Among Us.* 00:32:50: Using Steamworks data to track impressions, conversion rates, and “wishlist deletions”.* 00:35:14: Tips for standing out during Next Fest, including working with content creators and using the Tagging Wizard.* 00:40:40: A reminder that product quality and QA are more important than marketing efforts.What We’re Playing This Week* 00:41:08: Lokesh discusses playing Space Marine 2.* 00:41:44: Rahul discusses the demo for 1666 Amsterdam and the backstory of creator Patrice Desilets and Ubisoft.* 00:44:16: Rahul discusses Echoes of Aincrad (a Sword Art Online title).* 00:46:15: Rahul discusses Valor Mortis, a first-person French “souls-like” set in the Napoleonic era.* 00:49:16: Rishi discusses playing Dishonored 2 and his frustrations with the pacing of Alan Wake 2.Closing and Recommendations* 00:50:31: Final recommendations for games to wishlist: Suri: The Seventh Note, Zombutcher, and Arms Dealer.* 00:51:25: Outro and where to find the hosts and guests on social media.Welcome to Day Zero. This is a podcast about video games breaking down the bytes and bits behind the decisions that make and break the world’s greatest entertainment industry. Have a request? Hot take? Insider tip? Reach us at the handles mentioned below:* Linkedin - Lokesh Joshi* Instagram - @Lokesh Joshi* Twitter/X - @RishiAlwani* Threads - @rishi.alwani* Instagram - @rishi.alwani* Twitter/X - @darthrahul* Threads - @darthrahul* Instagram - @darthrahul This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dayzeromedia.substack.com
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet