Releasing a game can be daunting and nerve-racking, especially if it’s your first one. The possibilities are endless. You could go find a publisher that helps you along on your journey… Or you could release your game completely on your own. Thankfully there are a lot of platforms allowing you to sell your product on their store nowadays . Steam as one of the most prominent platform out there should be your first priority. So lets take a look on how to release your game on Steam in 2024 together.
Publish Your Game On Steam Step-By-Step
I have to warn you that you can not publish your game immediately. So if you already have a release date, make sure to plan ahead. If you plan on applying for the Steamworks Partner Program you should do this at least two months prior to your release date… Or else you won’t be able to hit your target goal. You have to go through an application process before you’re even allowed to open up a store. But don’t worry. While this can be quite overwhelming at first, we’re going to guide you through the different steps one by one.
1. Use Your Steam Account To Sign Into Steamworks
To be able to sign up for the Steamworks Partner Program you need to log in with a Steam Account. You can use your private account but we highly recommend creating a new account for business purposes only.
2. Click On Game Developer Or Publisher
Once you’ve logged into your Steamworks account, you’ll be greeted by this screen where you’ll be asked to sign up as a new Steamworks partner. You’re going to have to choose between three options and in our case, we of course choose Game Developer or Publisher. After clicking on that button you’ll be redirected to the corresponding site (you may have to fill out your log-in one more time).
3. Read & Follow Steamworks Instructions
The page you land on should look something like this.
After reading through the information you’ll find a button at the bottom of the page that lets you continue.
4. Fill Out The Digital Paperworks As Stated By Steamworks
Now comes the tedious part. Steam is a company like any other so of course they want to know who you are and who they are dealing with. You can either fill out the form as an individual or as a company. If multiple individuals have the rights to the game, you have to form a company first before applying. Once you’re done filling out the form, click continue.
5. Sign Steamworks NDA
Like with most things nowadays you have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Steam. It’s nothing out of the ordinary but we still recommend taking your time to read through it.
Once you’re done, tick off the box on the bottom that you’ve read it and click continue.
6. Sign The Steam Distribution Agreement
Next on the list is the Steam Distribution Agreement (SDA). There are a lot of legal formalities that inform you about things like that you get 70% of the revenue when a game gets sold and Steam gets the other 30% and more. It might be a bit much for someone not interested or used to legal matters but like with everything in life, you can always consult an expert or ask Valve themselves if you have any questions.
Once you’ve fought your way through the legal jungle, don’t forget to fill out the rest of the form and tick off all the boxes before continuing.
7. Pay the Product Submission Fee
Now that you have everything filled out and good to go, you have to pay 100$ Product Submission fee for every game you want to release. But don’t worry! You’ll get those back once your game has hit 1000$ in revenue. So once you’re ready, click continue and you’ll get redirected to your Steam account where you can choose your preferred method of payment.
8. Get Approved & Set Up Your Store
Now it’s only a matter of time until your application gets reviewed and once that’s done, you can set up your store! Keep in mind that the store has to be up for 2 weeks before you can officially release your game so make sure to use the time wisely to gather some wishlists!
As you can see, releasing your game isn’t as complicated as you might but you definitely have to plan ahead. In general, we recommend setting up your store page as soon as you have something to show. The more wishlists you’ve gathered, the more successful your release is going to be after all so take all the visibility you can get!
If you want to publish something on Steam, you are probably also going to be interested in how to find the perfect release date for your game:
Release Chaos – When Is The Best Time To Publish Your Game?
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