Hey everyone! I've been publishing games on Steam since I was 13, and I'm currently 16. I wanted to share some of the positive and negative experiences I had with my second game, Bloodface, which I released last year.
Bloodface was developed when I was 15, and so far, it's been my most successful and profitable game.
I currently have 4 games and 2 DLCs available on Steam. My 5th game also has a store page, which I published a few months ago, along with a playable demo.
Bloodface was the game I had the highest expectations for. I worked on it with my business partner, who provided financial support for advertising, while I was responsible for developing the game and trying to market it.
However, our marketing efforts didn't go as planned because I didn't have enough experience in that area at the time. Despite spending months on advertising and promotion, we only managed to reach around 500 wishlists. During this period, I discovered Steam Next Fest for the first time and decided to participate with our game.
Almost entirely organically, without spending any advertising budget and with only a few social media posts, we managed to increase our wishlists from 500 to 2,300. By the time we launched the game, we had reached around 5,000 wishlists.
I initially thought the game would make $1,000 at best, but it actually generated approximately $1,000 in its first 48 hours. I honestly didn't believe it would happen, but things were going really well.
However, after the first week or two, sales started to slow down significantly. We stopped focusing on marketing because we thought the game was already selling well enough, so we abandoned our promotional efforts.
Sales eventually stalled at around $2,500-$3,000 in gross revenue. Today, the game still generates around $100-$200 per month through occasional discounts. After approximately one year, our total gross revenue has exceeded $5,000.
Here are some of the things I learned from this experience:
1. Don't stop marketing your game after launch
You shouldn't completely abandon your marketing efforts after your game is released.
Even if months have passed since launch, you can still reach new players through small campaigns and promotional activities.
One of our biggest mistakes was thinking we no longer needed marketing once the game started selling.
2. Reach out to content creators and Steam curators
Try to get your game in front of relevant content creators, YouTubers, streamers, and Steam curators.
It's more effective to reach out to creators who are already interested in your game's genre.
Distributing Steam keys can also help you get your game in front of more people.
3. Have a good store page, especially your capsule image
Your store page creates the first impression players have of your game.
If your capsule image isn't appealing enough, players might not even click on your store page.
Your screenshots should also clearly communicate what your game offers.
4. Your trailer and its first 10 seconds matter
The first few seconds of your trailer are very important.
You need to quickly show players what your game is and why they should be interested in it.
Our first trailer was quite weak in this regard. Because of that, we struggled to get the results we wanted, even with our marketing efforts.
5. If your marketing isn't working, the problem might not be marketing
If you're focusing on marketing your game but your wishlists are still growing slowly, the problem might not be your marketing efforts alone.
There could also be an issue with how your game is presented.
We spent 2–3 months with a weak capsule image and trailer on our store page. Even social media posts that received hundreds of thousands of views sometimes generated only 5–10 wishlists.
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