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GoG is definitely not an option, they have no interest in working with indie VN devs and I don't think they even host freeware stuff.

Steam, on the other hand, gives you a ton of options, but a game there can also very easily be buried under tons of similar releases, even if it's free. It will likely give you more downloads than Itch.io, but not necessarily meaningful feedback. You can boost your chances by using community options such as Steam Curators well, but much will still depend on luck and whether Steam algorithms recommend your game to people (and they change so often nowadays no one can really tell you how to reliably keep them working for you rather than against you).

If your game is solid enough, you can also try approaching some small publishers such as DEVGRU-P or Top Hat Studios, they can put your game on the service without the entry fee and lend you their experience in marketing VNs, but there's only a small chance they'd do it for free, unless your project is REALLY promising, or you have plans for a commercial game you'd also publish through them.

In the end, I kind of can't imagine bringing the game to Steam not being worth that 100 dollar fee, unless you just put it there and call it a day, without using any of the tools the platform has to offer. Especially if this project is something more than a one-off, you have very little to lose – as much as I understand, after that entry fee there's no limit on how many games you can publish with no additional pay.

Just get an email from GOG Team, yeah they refused my VN of course because it's freeware! Hahaha.

Interesting option to work with publisher, I might consider it for future projects. I know one of my friend actually working with Top Hat Studios too, I think I should int-eh, questioning him for further details (i.e how to convince them, what's the rules and benefit, etc).

I will try to research as many as possible before actually publishing into Steam (actually I've made an account to steamworks, but they have yet to verify my ID) because I want this investment not to be a waste :'D Thank you all for the insight!

Plk_Lesiak wrote: ↑Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:29 pmIn the end, I kind of can't imagine bringing the game to Steam not being worth that 100 dollar fee, unless you just put it there and call it a day, without using any of the tools the platform has to offer. Especially if this project is something more than a one-off, you have very little to lose – as much as I understand, after that entry fee there's no limit on how many games you can publish with no additional pay.

Keep in mind that as of 2018 (after the end of Steam Greenlight, being replaced by Steam Direct), Steam's entry fee was changed to $100 per game, instead of per developer account. That means if you want to submit 3 games on Steam, you will need to pay $300, and so on. This includes games you want to charge for free on Steam.

Gog refused my VN/RPGs as well (several years ago). So like all super-curated store, it really seems random depending on who looks at your game (like was Steam before Greenlight/open).

After some thoughtful consideration, finally I decided to release my VN into Steam.

Now how to marketing on Steam...gaining viewers etc read the documentation but they only tell me obvious thing. If you have any experience with it please share.

tiya_nofurita wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:51 am After some thoughtful consideration, finally I decided to release my VN into Steam.

Now how to marketing on Steam...gaining viewers etc read the documentation but they only tell me obvious thing. If you have any experience with it please share.

Nice! Hopefully it goes well and do report on whether it was a good or bad decision.

tiya_nofurita wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:51 am After some thoughtful consideration, finally I decided to release my VN into Steam.

Now how to marketing on Steam...gaining viewers etc read the documentation but they only tell me obvious thing. If you have any experience with it please share.

I will quote from this thread:

Katy133 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 9:28 pm Become a part of the EVN community: Join in conversations with developers. Help others work on their VNs. Share your work as you're developing it.

Twitch stream your game: Make livestreams of yourself developing the game (working on art, writing, programming, playtesting, etc.)

Use social media to interact with the EVN community, and to create a marketing campaign (post wip screenshots, post trailers, post eye-catching gifs from your VN).

Contact blogs and Let's Players who have covered VNs similar to yours and ask if they'd like to cover your game.

Getting people interested in your game is a very long, ongoing process. It is not something you do last-minute or as an afterthought.

Hope this helps!

I'll be sure to take a note, thanks Katty!

I'll just say that of my sales, about 80-90% come from steam alone. and about 70% of those sales ONLY occur when the game is on sale.

Gog also refused my games ^^;

If you want more attention for your game you'll want to start marketing it. Tumblr, twitter, reddit, discord, facebook, instagram, and probably other platforms I'm too old to know about lol. Post Post Post. Just like Katy was saying.

If reviews are specifically what you're looking for I suggest asking for them/asking for feedback. sometimes ppl need a little nudge

When your game launches on Steam you get 100 game keys to give to Steam curators so they can check out your game and possibly promote it to their followers. Search for curators who like the kind of game you made and who have a good following and use 'curator connect' to give away all your keys. Be careful of curators who ask for your key who have no specialty or aren't promoting in the same language as your games. A lot of curators are just there to get keys to sell. Especially be wary of curators who ask for extra keys for 'giveaways'. They're probably selling them.

On that topic, watch out for emails from people who claim to have an amazing YouTube who want a key to do a Let's Play of your game. It's unlikely that they really run that YouTube. They're just scamming to get keys to sell.

It's not possible to sell keys received through curator connect, people who are trying to scam you for keys to resell will ask for them over email.

Any popular curator gets inundated with random terrible games that have nothing to do with their tastes all the time and just sigh and delete them, so don't bother sending your game to super-popular people whose coverage has nothing to do with your game, it won't help.

I will drop and say (after I experience it myself):

It's not worth it.

I might come back and elaborate as to why, but for now I'll just drop my short opinion.

As a user, I like using steam and I download frequently free VNs there. (I buy a few too.) However, I don't always have time to play what I've downloaded (even when I paid for it), and even then, I think I've never left a review ? Of course, not everyone is like me, I'm just sharing my habits as a consumer.

I also like using epic games, but I don't know what are their conditions to submit a game.

tiya_nofurita wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 4:46 am I will drop and say (after I experience it myself):

It's not worth it.

I might come back and elaborate as to why, but for now I'll just drop my short opinion.

I would love to hear more on this, when you get the chance

Our free game Vampire Slave Chapter 1 has had 7,863 downloads since we released on Steam on June 30th. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1658 ... e_Slave_1/