How To Sell More Games on Steam! (Store Page Optimization)

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
  • How do you make a great store page for your indie game on Steam to get more wishlists, downloads and ultimately sales? Professional indie game marketeer Chris Zukowski shares his best marketing and optimizations tips and tricks to make sure your Steam page gets the visibility it deserves. This video is a must watch for everybody who wants to succeed as a full time indie game developer.
    ● Check out Chris' free course on how to set up a better Steam page: howtomakeasteampage.com/
    ● Subscribe to Chris' free indie game marketing newsletter: howtomarketagame.com/free/
    ● Wishlist Will You Snail on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/11...
    0:00 - Intro
    MY STEAM PAGE FOR WILL YOU SNAIL
    0:31 - How People Browse Your Steam Page
    5:30 - How To Tag Your Game on Steam
    12:23 - Best Practices for the "About This Game" Section
    16:47 - How Many Wishlists Should You Have? (My Analytics)
    21:05 - How To Promote Your Game to Get More Wishlists
    24:15 - How To Analyze Your CTR on Steam
    26:22 - How To Get Visibility From Discovery Queue
    STEAM PAGES BY OTHER INDIE DEVELOPERS
    29:16 - Karlson by Dani
    34:58 - Hollow Knight by Team Cherry
    40:17 - Glitcheon by Yän, River and Bonicle
    46:29 - Slimekeep by BenBonk
    52:52 - Dorfromantik by Toukana
    1:00:11 - Outro
    ● Join the Will You Snail Discord: / discord
    ● Join our creative game dev community on Discord: / discord
    Please be so kind to share this video with your developer friends to make sure I can keep making these. :)
    Hope you enjoy!
    #gamedev #indiedev

Komentáře • 573

  • @howtomarketagame
    @howtomarketagame Před 3 lety +801

    Hi folks Chris (the guest) here in the Comments. Feel free to ask me anything

    • @prettyfrenchgames
      @prettyfrenchgames Před 3 lety +36

      Hey Chris, I'm a nobody in the game industry, working on my first game. Is there an optimal way to use the "marketing beat" of releasing my first trailer to bring people to my Steam page or should I just post it on youtube and move on?

    • @GonziHere
      @GonziHere Před 3 lety +6

      Hi, thanks for an incredible breakdown. I just want to ask about a steam page ASAP - could you define "as possible"? Vertical slice might not have different zones (for screenshots), there might not be enough ready for the trailer... or is art that will become obsolete fine? Can "empty/bad" steam page hurt me? Thanks.

    • @TheRealPunkachu
      @TheRealPunkachu Před 3 lety +10

      I have a question. You mentioned that games with lower than 10,000 wishlists were hit hard by Steam's algorithms. Is there anything you can do to combat this when developing a game with a smaller marketing budget and shorter timeframe? As in, if your game has a smaller target to hit. In my particular case I don't know if my game would benefit from that level of marketing. Or do you maybe think I'm overestimating the difficulty of hitting 10k?
      Thank you so much for the insight shared in this video! It's incredibly useful intel.

    • @howtomarketagame
      @howtomarketagame Před 3 lety +37

      @@prettyfrenchgames Hi! I know you. Yes contact as many press people as possible. 99% will ignore you. The 1% can do good things.

    • @howtomarketagame
      @howtomarketagame Před 3 lety +13

      @@GonziHere It is ok if art becomes obsolete because then you can do a news beat describing what changed. Do it! make a steam page.

  • @nebulaxis7849
    @nebulaxis7849 Před 3 lety +670

    “Most people on steam don’t watch the trailers”
    I’m not mad that he’s wrong
    I’m mad cause he’s right

    • @CooLooZ
      @CooLooZ Před 3 lety +36

      Well videos on steam store are extremely buggy, so I'm not surprised at all.

    • @TheSimonCle
      @TheSimonCle Před 3 lety +39

      Ill watch the trailer if the screenshots and description captures my interest, and clearly shows the gameplay. I’m amazed how well I for into the user he is descriping

    • @MotraZotra
      @MotraZotra Před 3 lety +7

      Game developers don't play as many games as non game developers. Because we are busy developing.

    • @studioprimitive
      @studioprimitive Před 3 lety +11

      Trailers are a waste of my time. They are a pain to find what you want. I just look at the screenshots and read the description.. exactly what he said people do.

    • @MotraZotra
      @MotraZotra Před 3 lety +3

      @T R gamers play games every day. You work on your game every day. It's not even on the same scale.

  • @Danidev
    @Danidev Před 3 lety +937

    Awesome video, and thanks for the feedback, ill definitely make some changes :o

    • @Jayden-rk5fl
      @Jayden-rk5fl Před 3 lety +27

      dont add more billy

    • @solidboots
      @solidboots Před 3 lety +3

      *e*

    • @syedsadiq8631
      @syedsadiq8631 Před 3 lety +4

      czcams.com/video/r1XCCL7Ov84/video.html

    • @funnyassclown8869
      @funnyassclown8869 Před 3 lety +1

      Hi dani

    • @fahimjunayed5894
      @fahimjunayed5894 Před 3 lety +22

      Looks like our good old friend unity's particle system has to add some juice to these screenshots.
      Because as a wise man said,
      "Particles are mandatory." - Plato 2021

  • @bluerhino1046
    @bluerhino1046 Před 3 lety +164

    Jonas is talking like when I talk to my teachers. "uh-huh" "yep" "I see..." "definitely"

    • @evon2543
      @evon2543 Před 3 lety +11

      He is

    • @JonasTyroller
      @JonasTyroller  Před 3 lety +72

      That's because he definitely was my teacher here.

    • @PumpyGT
      @PumpyGT Před 2 lety

      @@JonasTyroller Lol

    • @user-dz6on9or5d
      @user-dz6on9or5d Před měsícem

      ​​@@JonasTyrollerhey, I have a problem with the achievement section, it's not checked in steamwork :( please help me 😥😥

    • @Ziziwai
      @Ziziwai Před měsícem

      @@user-dz6on9or5d Did you get it figured out? I know there’s a separate section where you add achievements, but there’s also another section where you checkmark that there *are* achievements. Maybe you added them but missed the second thing?

  • @BenBonk
    @BenBonk Před 3 lety +217

    Thanks so much for the feedback! Definitely going to make some changes right now, and work on improving the steam page later on into development.

    • @LeMellow
      @LeMellow Před 3 lety

      Heya!

    • @flashplays6489
      @flashplays6489 Před 3 lety

      Good luck then

    • @jaochao9614
      @jaochao9614 Před 5 měsíci +1

      not gonna lie, just checked out your page, i was hesitant when watching the video to check it out, but i genuinly want to try out your game now after checking your page. looks fun, respect

  • @KlausWulfenbach
    @KlausWulfenbach Před 3 lety +127

    Step 0: Finish your dang game and put it on the Steam Store.
    I'm still working on that one.

  • @richardstevenson371
    @richardstevenson371 Před 3 lety +77

    I do exactly what he said people do with trailers lol. And he’s right that I’m looking for gameplay.
    I occasionally binge through the discovery queue which leads me to a lot of games I don’t want, and I want to get through those quickly.
    I will look at the description, gameplay, and review score. Because I have so many steam games, I am almost always not wasting time looking at anything below Very Positive.
    There are some times I will go with a mostly positive or mixed if it is really affordable and the idea fascinates me and clearly it was too niche for people based on the comments.
    I will say I skim the text, not ignore it completely. It’s where I go when I like what I see in the screenshots, etc.

    • @NoNameAtAll2
      @NoNameAtAll2 Před rokem

      but how many of the games you got have you actually played?

  • @richardstevenson371
    @richardstevenson371 Před 3 lety +21

    “Overcome a predictive fully-voiced AI and his robot army in this fast-paced action platformer.”
    Something like that that really highlights your set-apart features:
    1. Predictive AI
    2. Boss Fights
    3. Hybrid Gameplay Elements (Tower Defense, Basketball, etc.)
    Not sure how to word that last part concisely but this would grab my attention on what is special and awesome about Will You Snail.

    • @ThePC007
      @ThePC007 Před 3 lety +1

      I like how you put emphasis on the fact that it is fully-voiced simply because it makes it easier to connect the description to what is seen in the trailer.

  • @WesleyVanroose
    @WesleyVanroose Před 3 lety +60

    This is pure gold! This such a big hurdle for indie to get their games to the big market.

  • @jwddwj9
    @jwddwj9 Před 3 lety +18

    Literally paused to video to go dump the indie tag from my game lmao. Fantastic colab, this was so helpful.

  • @ollie-d
    @ollie-d Před 2 měsíci +3

    This might be the single best video on optimizing a steam page. I’m sure the meta has changed slightly over the years, but it at least teaches you how to assess steam through a specific lens

  • @babasheep2828
    @babasheep2828 Před 3 lety +156

    Great! Now I can sell my master piece! It’s about a plumber, that goes to save the princess from a dragon looking guy! I think it’s pretty ingenious.

  • @HelperWesley
    @HelperWesley Před 3 lety +34

    This was an awesomely informative video!
    As a solo developer myself, I love seeing this sort of thing and I'm sure others do as well. Thanks for sharing. :)

  • @YaenGamedev
    @YaenGamedev Před 3 lety +47

    Oooh boy, Glitcheon is in this. Chris knows what he's talking about so I'm kinda anxious to hear what he has to say but hope we can improve our presence with the feedback. (haven't watched yet)

    • @YaenGamedev
      @YaenGamedev Před 3 lety +14

      Quite helpful and actionable! That's how I like my feedback. Thanks a lot!

    • @flashplays6489
      @flashplays6489 Před 3 lety +1

      Its nice u guys are happy with this keep it up

    • @flashplays6489
      @flashplays6489 Před 3 lety +1

      I played glitcheon amzing game btw

    • @indigu6624
      @indigu6624 Před 3 lety

      Good luck! Excited to see how creative you get with the improvements on your page.

    • @YaenGamedev
      @YaenGamedev Před 3 lety +1

      @@flashplays6489 Thank you! Glad you like it so far

  • @broganking9830
    @broganking9830 Před 3 lety +17

    Goes for 1 hour, felt like 5 minutes. What a power house of knowledge! Thank you so much for the video. I've signed up for the course and newsletter!

  • @emanueltejadacoste2250
    @emanueltejadacoste2250 Před 3 lety +17

    Cant believe i watch this complete video at first recomendation and Im just a web developer

  • @sanderambroos5210
    @sanderambroos5210 Před 3 lety +7

    The best thing about this channel is the fact thas Jonas is willing to learn himself through showing us these discusions! Thanks for sharing!

  • @igpaygames
    @igpaygames Před 3 lety +10

    A good follow up video would be to implement Chris's suggestions about tags and stuff and then tell how it affected your numbers.

  • @mementomori7160
    @mementomori7160 Před 3 lety +22

    Jonas, I thought about it a lot and I think you're one of the greatest game devs on YT, your videos always teach a lot of useful stuff I don't see in other places(maybe I don't look hard enough, but YT is like steam, you only have a few seconds to interest people)
    And I like that you wishlisted the game while recording, just because you felt it in the moment

  • @UnderfundedScientist
    @UnderfundedScientist Před 3 lety +18

    Such great advice, I'm about to re do my itch page

  • @izzyhope58
    @izzyhope58 Před 3 lety +4

    11:02 Getting Over It, Psychological Horror. Lol, That tag SOOO true

  • @geniusapple6471
    @geniusapple6471 Před 3 lety +46

    This really was insightful, and definitely helpful to people like me who are trying to make an Indie game.
    Good work Jonas :D

    • @AstralStudioGames
      @AstralStudioGames Před 3 lety

      Definitely going to help me on my upcoming indie game VOID! (Although that game won't come out for years since it just started coding a few months ago)

  • @SnutiHQ
    @SnutiHQ Před 3 lety +5

    This is a colab video we're hyped about!! 😍 Thank you Jonas and Chris for taking your time! 🎉🎉

  • @ibrahimouhamou9732
    @ibrahimouhamou9732 Před 3 lety +26

    I just want to say that sometimes I ignore the games just because the trailer doesn't exist

  • @ItzRyanF00
    @ItzRyanF00 Před 3 lety +3

    I had never thought about it like a product inside a store, that makes so much sense but went over my head so fast. Thank you!

  • @tuatarian6591
    @tuatarian6591 Před 3 lety

    I appreciate that you record & upload these to your channel, this is super useful for everyone

  • @Zeraxxus
    @Zeraxxus Před 3 lety +6

    This is a really great interview / learning session. So much good knowledge is poured out. Worth the whole hours watch from start to finish! Well done Jonas and Chris . *clap* *clap*

  • @jonathanlorenz-indiedev

    One of the most informative video on your channel so far, while still being about your journey releasing your game. Good job!

  • @VitorGuerreiroVideos
    @VitorGuerreiroVideos Před 3 lety +1

    This is awesome! Thanks a lot for sharing Jonas and Chris! Awesome insights here!

  • @SchneiderRob
    @SchneiderRob Před 2 lety +2

    Dude, awesome video. Chris has great feedback. It's cool to see you receiving feedback because I love your game test videos and think the feedback you give is awesome. So when I see you keep an open mind and learn from others, that just reaffirms that you are a great teacher.
    One who accepts they can improve will improve. One who thinks they are the greatest will never be great.

  • @CaptainNinjaKid
    @CaptainNinjaKid Před 3 lety +1

    I can't believe how useful this video felt. Good work

  • @jwakeuplink7671
    @jwakeuplink7671 Před 2 lety +3

    There's so much mixed and vague information about indie game marketing out there, but this was a really great, in-depth look at some of the practical steps you can take to improve your game's Steam page performance. Thank you both for this :)

  • @saultoons
    @saultoons Před 3 lety

    Very helpful, will definitely refer to this in the future, thanks Jonas and Chris!!!

  • @TheShelfman
    @TheShelfman Před 3 lety +4

    This was a really useful and insightful video. Really glad you and Chris talked about all of this!😁

  • @nilsmuller-cleve6769
    @nilsmuller-cleve6769 Před 3 lety +1

    Saw one of the GDC talks and it was great.
    Nice to see this advice applied to real examples.

  • @anhedonie92
    @anhedonie92 Před 2 lety +2

    I see that you implemented the changes that were talked about here, I would love to see a followup video with the results of the update. Thanks for the great and informative content!

  • @kintrix007
    @kintrix007 Před 3 lety +2

    Can't wait to watch through it! :)

  • @szepad3687
    @szepad3687 Před 3 lety +3

    This is gold mine right here and it's also free! Thanks Jonas and Chris!

  • @Nomadnetic
    @Nomadnetic Před 11 měsíci +1

    This is amazing, thank you for putting this video together.

  • @yigithanion
    @yigithanion Před 3 lety +3

    I didn't know I needed this. Thanks.

  • @UnderfundedScientist
    @UnderfundedScientist Před 3 lety +1

    Seriously awesome of you to show your numbers to help educate

  • @korixioo
    @korixioo Před 3 lety

    Great guest! I'm in his newsletter, very useful information!

  • @weenyboi
    @weenyboi Před 3 lety +6

    I definitely just click through the trailers looking for something interesting just like he said lol great video

  • @strollingstickgames6407
    @strollingstickgames6407 Před 2 lety +1

    Awesome advice, there is so much to think about when launching your game but if you get the basics done you can increase your chances of success a lot!

  • @makemypetgamedevprocess6475

    Thanks for this video Jonas, no one really talks about it. Keep it up ❤️

  • @luisspielzeit6581
    @luisspielzeit6581 Před 3 lety +1

    Danke für dieses Video! Das hilft mir bei meiner Spielentwicklung sehr weiter :)

  • @ThousandAnt
    @ThousandAnt Před 3 lety

    Terrific conversation! Thanks so much for doing this guys. Lots of great info.

  • @alejolab
    @alejolab Před 3 lety +3

    I've been reading Chris' newsletter and blog for about two years now. I'd advice everyone who want to makes games for a living to go and join now.
    It's filled with actionably advice and data from his own experiments and research.

  • @editdev
    @editdev Před 3 lety +2

    super insightful! thanks jonas

  • @thedjsente5858
    @thedjsente5858 Před 2 lety

    This guy is spot on for how I look through a steam page... I even skip through the videos like that... and I am trying to find out what the gameplay is like... probably for you all as well.

  • @NotFamousReal
    @NotFamousReal Před 3 lety

    Really really great advice here and a lot of detailed specifics. I just launched my games page, but haven't got much of any traffic or wishlists quite yet. Lot of work to do!

  • @brannonharris4642
    @brannonharris4642 Před 3 lety +5

    Holy shit. This was a great video. Jesus, man. Way to just crap on the rest of the devs trying to sell us full time courses. I appreciate you, man

  • @FlatThumb
    @FlatThumb Před 2 lety

    Very interesting and useful. Subscribed to the newsletter Chris!

  • @TheLegendsOfTynedale
    @TheLegendsOfTynedale Před 2 lety

    An incredibly useful video! I've learnt loads. It's interesting to know my click-rate is high but my wishlist conversion needs improving and how to do so. Thanks so much and please do another video like this!

  • @rakshasharma6656
    @rakshasharma6656 Před 3 lety +16

    You inspired me to make my own game, I'll release it one day, currently working on it...

  • @JustDaZack
    @JustDaZack Před 9 měsíci

    So much to learn here! 🙏
    Great vid! 🙌

  • @thisgamedev
    @thisgamedev Před 2 lety +1

    This is really helpful, thanks again Jonas for an amazing video :)

  • @HyperNova137
    @HyperNova137 Před 2 lety +2

    I was expecting some generic advice from a video like this, but stuck around because this was some REALLY important and useful info... Especially since some of it is a bit counter-intuitive and not the kinda thing you would figure out on your own, even after lots of trial-and-error experience. Great vid.

  • @AntiqueGear
    @AntiqueGear Před 3 lety

    Dude, this video is a marketing goldmine! Very helpful! Thanks!

  • @LetsPlay4Free
    @LetsPlay4Free Před 3 lety +1

    Just checked the new description. Much better 👍 ;)

  • @TinCanToNA
    @TinCanToNA Před rokem

    Thank you so much for this! It feels like enormous value added for free

  • @wizzlez9615
    @wizzlez9615 Před 2 lety

    I feel like an expert on this now, very well explained and has awesome tips! Definitely going to have to come back to this when I release to Steam someday!

  • @gazzagamesstudio
    @gazzagamesstudio Před 3 lety

    Wow, time to start taking notes. Great advice!

  • @dirzz
    @dirzz Před rokem

    Priceless information, thank you!

  • @dragoran149
    @dragoran149 Před 3 lety

    Awesome interview/workshop. I stopped game dev but this is a must watch for all indie.

  • @ViroidGames
    @ViroidGames Před 3 lety +1

    Finally had time to watch the whole thing. Thank you for this.

  • @XanderwoodGameDev
    @XanderwoodGameDev Před 3 lety

    Such a useful video. I will eventually be looking to get my game on Steam. I'll be coming back to the this a few times before then I think!

  • @hristoborisov3713
    @hristoborisov3713 Před rokem

    this is amazing info/advice thank you so much!

  • @10dvvks.d.r.tharun15
    @10dvvks.d.r.tharun15 Před 3 lety +1

    wonderful video ! love ur content keep posting videos like this

  • @blackcitadelstudios
    @blackcitadelstudios Před rokem

    Currently building my steam page now. Just to get early wishlists. Thanks for the insights. ☺️🙏

  • @j.vonhogen9650
    @j.vonhogen9650 Před 3 lety

    Really awesome video! I've learned a ton of stuff by just watching this video. Thanks a lot!

  • @yespa
    @yespa Před rokem

    This information here is actually really really valuable!

  • @johnhickersantilan4295

    This is really interesting, thanks for the information

  • @fear-the-phantom
    @fear-the-phantom Před 7 měsíci

    This is a pot of gold. Super useful, thanks for putting this together!

  • @Lugmillord
    @Lugmillord Před 3 lety

    Wow, fantastic information. This goes right into my favorites!

  • @razvaniuga9164
    @razvaniuga9164 Před 3 lety +1

    Great video! Thanks!

  • @oh-facts
    @oh-facts Před 2 lety +1

    man, the stuff you said about people shopping on steam . sooooooo true, that is exactly what I do when I'm casually looking for games

  • @Gilel5
    @Gilel5 Před 3 lety

    Just wanted to say great video man its super interesting and insightful

  • @mdhsoftware9031
    @mdhsoftware9031 Před 2 lety

    Awesome - that's a real eye-opener!

  • @porchettogamedev7540
    @porchettogamedev7540 Před 3 lety

    Thank you man! This is GOLD!

  • @SteinMakesGames
    @SteinMakesGames Před 2 lety

    Great video! Wrote down plenty of useful notes for a future Steam page :)

  • @PhillipAmthor
    @PhillipAmthor Před 2 lety

    This is perfect, thank you for showing all sides of a modern game!

  • @TheAsbj0rn
    @TheAsbj0rn Před 2 lety

    this is very insightful. thank you for sharing!

  • @AndrisGameDev
    @AndrisGameDev Před 3 lety +2

    This was very informative. Another bit of info for you guys, that even tho earlier the top 5-10 tags were indeed very important and useful when matching your "target games" tags, today they matter way less IF your game is not already selling well. Earlier targeting other games' "more like this" section was pretty easy but since 2019 it is kind of impossible.

  • @evon2543
    @evon2543 Před 3 lety

    Extremely useful video!

  • @ahmedelborki5982
    @ahmedelborki5982 Před 3 lety

    Thanks man for this video

  • @pieTone
    @pieTone Před rokem

    I've changed my mind. Even though this is the 3rd time rewatching this video, THIS IS THE BEST GAME DEV CHANNEL YOU COULD EVER HOPE FOR.

  • @woeliewoeliewoelie
    @woeliewoeliewoelie Před rokem

    Such valuable insights! Thanks a lot

  • @Novemtails
    @Novemtails Před 3 lety

    Great video. I really enjoy each minute. Thanks

  • @mcart567
    @mcart567 Před měsícem

    I wish I would have seen this video a couple years ago. Still, I'm super happy I got to see it at all!

  • @LibonatiDesign
    @LibonatiDesign Před 2 lety

    I learned sooooooo much from this video! Thank you so much!

  • @computery
    @computery Před rokem

    Literally the most informative video I have ever watched

  • @Woots
    @Woots Před 3 lety

    This video was very enlightening!

  • @-highlyne-8679
    @-highlyne-8679 Před rokem

    I have a huge steam game catalog and it feels like this dude is reading my mind when it comes to buying games. certainly some great advice to take into account when trying to market your game on steam.

  • @rotub
    @rotub Před 10 měsíci

    This sh*t is so interesting. Thank you to both of you!

  • @jampgames2955
    @jampgames2955 Před 2 lety

    I learned so much from this, a very informative video.

  • @sashamakeev7547
    @sashamakeev7547 Před 2 lety

    For real thanks on this vid. I will consider many new things i learned when i will ship my game on steam.

  • @MG-nn8dy
    @MG-nn8dy Před 2 lety

    great work!

  • @DrewVanCamp
    @DrewVanCamp Před 2 lety

    Wow! Wish I had seen this earlier. Not sure how I missed it as I already love your insightful videos. Nonetheless, time to refine a store page! Thank you, both.

  • @ajeromestudio
    @ajeromestudio Před 2 lety

    It is very useful. Thank you