According to marketing consultant Chris Zukowski, an indie game should receive at least 1,000 reviews on Steam within the first year of its release to get promoted by the platform.
Game marketing consultant Chris Zukowski has explained what indie game developers have to do to make Steam algorithms start promoting their games better.
According to Zukowski, out of over 12,000 indie titles released on Steam in 2022, only about 550 games appeared in prime spots like the Discovery Queue, Daily Deals, and More Like This. The expert explained that if a game does not perform well in terms of conversion, Steam will cease to promote it.
He further noted that when a game, for example, has about 1,000 reviews with an NB number of 30, considering that the average price for an indie title is $10, then its gross level would be $300,000 – the level where, according to Zukowski's experience, games start to get considered for various promotions on Steam.
So, according to the marketing consultant, if a game receives 1,000 reviews within a year, it suggests that it has features or elements that are attractive to players and that the algorithm used by the platform favors it. Even free games are evaluated by this metric, Zukowski claims.
You can learn more by reading the full thread posted by Zukowski here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.