Lemma Soft Forums

I'd like to hear from those who have or trying to gotten/get a VN released on Steam or any similar site: What are the benefits and drawbacks of this?

Oh yes, I really want to know about this as well.

Benefits:

* Steam is one of the largest online game stores so you get vastly more free exposure than anywhere else.
* You can upload patches instantly and people will get them. (Also possible on Desura, but Desura is a lot less popular)
* Trading cards and achievements, as well as the other beneficial features of Steam such as being in the person's game library.

Negatives:

* You will get less of a cut of the profits of sales through Steam than other stores, especially with a publisher.
* People won't hold back on their critique of your game, it will be treated the same as any other AAA title.

Other benefits:

"Money, Dear Boy."
The key distribution makes it easy to hand out free copies to friends/reviewers in a way that looks professional.
If you want that sort of thing, bundle sites are vastly more likely to hit you up to be part of bundles if you have Steam keys to give out.

Other negatives:

Possible content restrictions (although the details on what is and isn't allowed are murky, and TBH many non-steam payment processors will also ban adult content)
You don't own your customer list and can't reach them to tell them about your new game.
You don't control the platform. If something goes wrong and Steam refuses to sell your game, decides to yank your game after release, decides to lower your payment share, or goes down, there's not a lot you can do about it.
Steam's reach being so much larger tempts people to focus entirely on Steam and give up running their own sites, which is a big weakness when see-above.
There are a lot of random trolls on the Steam forums - Valve will mod them to some degree though.
More users = more tech support headaches.
It can be a huge timesink that draws you away from making other games.

SundownKid wrote:* People won't hold back on their critique of your game, it will be treated the same as any other AAA title.

There's also the risk of receiving a large number of useless, unhelpful reviews.

papillon wrote: It can be a huge timesink that draws you away from making other games.

Seconded.

I heard that the Sekai Project helps get VNs on steam, if that interests anyone.

The one major downside to steam for VNs, I think is the attitude of some players, who complain that they have to read and are upset that interactive stories are considered games. They are very vocal and have left a bad taste in my mouth multiple times, especially on greenlight. (Every time I read their reviews I imagine Neanderthals sitting at a computer, pouting.)

I would point out that in the current climate you don't particularly need a publisher to 'help' you get onto Steam - do you really want to give up a permanent share of all your profits to save you a couple days work? (Yes is a possible answer, just be sure you're not thinking that's your only way in. And some publishers may offer a lot more assistance than just reposting your game somewhere that you could post it anyway... it's always best to be sure you know what you're getting.)

That warning isn't about Sekai Project in particular, the issue of what publishers are worthwhile has been a long-standing one in indie games. Some publishing deals suck.

I've already said it on twitter - stay away from publishers!!! Especially with the new Steam system, all that matters is if your game is good (where good is subjective, but in practice if people want it). No publisher can change this. I spoke with many indies, and some really regretted it, saying that they did zero promotion, just submitted the game on Steam and stop. You can do that yourself and save a lot of money (they usually want 50% cuts or more).

As for Steam, what others said:
* money (though is not always the case. Otome games for example do terribly, at least for now. I make more on my own site and that says all )
* updating/patching system: the best ever
* exposure: people and reviews will treat you more "seriously". Some reviewed Loren only after was on Steam, like if was a better game than before. Though soon Steam will be "open" so this won't matter much

Cons are the usual: you bring people to another site and not yours, you lose 30% cut to Steam, get paid after 30 days, etc. I honestly think new indies that use Steam ONLY don't have much business sense since anything can happen in future and is always better to sell also direct. But maybe I'm just an old rambling indie

jack_norton wrote:I've already said it on twitter - stay away from publishers!!! Especially with the new Steam system, all that matters is if your game is good (where good is subjective, but in practice if people want it). No publisher can change this. I spoke with many indies, and some really regretted it, saying that they did zero promotion, just submitted the game on Steam and stop. You can do that yourself and save a lot of money (they usually want 50% cuts or more).

This is really good to know. I wasn't sure because I hadn't heard of this stuff until yesterday. Thanks!