Steam Visibility
How games get surfacedto players

Nice to meet you.
Erik Peterson, Valve
Steam Business TeamVALUESOur goal with Steam is to match gameswith the players who will lovethem.

VALUESWe work hard to build long-term relationships with players
and developers.

It’s important to us that players trustthat the games they’re seeing are
relevant and interesting to them.

VALUESWe don’t sell
advertisingor placement

VALUESWe don’t think Steamshould be pay to win.
Not selling ads levels the playing field and makes
recommendations better for players.

VALUESYou don't need to work with an editor to get featured.
You don’t need a secret handshake or know the right person onthe inside.

Most visibility on Steamhappens automatically.

VALUES

We’re surprised all the time by thegames that blow up.

VALUES

Instead of predicting success, we’ve
learned to follow player interest—thegames they are excited to get into andplay, right now.

So how do wefigure out whatto show?

Visibility on Steam is a mix:

ALGORITHMIC + CURATED

All visibility on Steam is driven by player interest.

Algorithmic visibility ispersonalized.
Curated featuring is not.
(It’s shown to everyone.)Let’s take a look:
New & Trending
Top Sellers
Popular Upcoming
Specials

New &Trending
Algorithmic

TakeoverRegional list of popular games that haverecently released.

When a new game is released andmeets a certain threshold it will appear
here automatically and starts at thetop.

Main Capsule

It will get pushed down, and eventually
off of the list as new and trending
games are released.
Early Access games are excluded (untilthey go 1.0).

Spotlights

Daily Deals

Top Sellers
Algorithmic
Based on total revenue, including all
sources such as DLC and in-game
transactions so we can get a more
complete picture.
The list is localized for your region.

Top Sellers
Algorithmic
Here’s what it looks like in Germany.

Top Sellers
Algorithmic
Here’s what it looks like in Japan.

PopularUpcoming
Algorithmic
This is a list of the mostWishlisted upcoming games,
sorted by release date.

Specials
Algorithmic
The most popular discounted games,
sorted by sales.

How does Steam select whichgames are featured in the algorithmic andcurated areas of the store?

We hear a lot about “The Algorithm,” butthere is no one algorithm.

1. Steam is personalized for you
2. Player interest drives visibility

Steam automatically customizes elements of thestore for every user.

We let player preferences
drive the visibility to makerecommendations relevant.

As Steam has gotten bigger,it’s gotten more diverse.

We think that’s cool.

The more you interact
with Steam, the better itgets at recommendations.

Tags!
(They’re important.)Personalization of the Main Capsule

Personalization of the Main Capsule is based on:

The games you've played or wishlisted

The games your friends are playing or have Wishlisted
Games your friends have recommended
Top sellers (regionalized)
New releases and updates
Curators you follow

Personalized Recommendations on the Front Page

Content hubs are a big source of traffic.

They are like mini-versions of the front
page, scoped to a genre that are also
personalized.

VISIBILITY ON STEAM

Player interest
drives visibility

One of the most reliable and accurate ways we’ve figured out
to measure player interest is revenue.

When players spend time andmoney on your game, it’s a strong
signal to Steam it could beinteresting to other players, too.

Steam’s algorithms react to playerinterest quickly and automatically, and it
can happen any time during the life cycle ofa game.

Curated featuring andpromotions are earned withplayer interest.

This includes
Daily Deals
Midweek and Weekend Deals
Front page takeovers
Content hub takeovers

What does it take to qualify for a curated promotion?

They are earned, and it’scompetitive. They’re also
based on a mix of sales andother customer signals.

If your goal is to qualify for a curated promotion, think about ways tomake your game appeal to a broad audience.

Localization
Regional pricing
Marketing assets
Controller support
Community

Even if your launch doesn’t go as planned, you can recover.

Steam never makes apermanent decision about
your game.

Every game has a chance tobe successful. That’s bydesign.

Demystifying what
drives algorithmic visibility
on SteamStore page traffic

Store page traffic

Store page traffic
Review Score

Store page traffic
Review Score*Usually!

Store page traffic
Review Score
Wishlists*Usually!

Store page traffic
Review Score
Wishlists*Usually!

*Usually!

Store page traffic
Review Score
Wishlists
Early Access*Usually!

*Usually!

Store page traffic
Review Score
Wishlists
Early Access*Usually!

*Usually!

*Usually!

Store page traffic
Review Score
Wishlists
Early Access
Localization*Usually!

*Usually!

*Usually!

Store page traffic
Review Score
Wishlists
Early Access
Localization*Usually!

*Usually!

*Usually!

There is no magical number to get featured by our algorithms.

Steam is reacting to playerinterest. But there are things you
can do to generate that interest.

Steam is designed to help your game find your audience and snowball
to success, but you’ll need to get the ball rolling.

Launching a store page andhoping for the best is not amarketing plan.

It’s important to do the work to build a community andgenerate interest in your game. Launch with momentum.

Discord, forums, social media
Press and influencers
Paid marketing
Local tradeshows, meetups, and groups

Focus energy around big events—launch, a major update,or a healthy discount.

Think about ways to create
the biggest burst of sales andplayers possible.

Learn from otherdevelopers.
They’ll have innovative and effective ways tobuild your snowball.

We’re always working to improve Steam for bothplayers and developers.

Visibility on Steam is driven
by fans and the games they
buy and play.

Our goal with Steam is tomatch games with theplayers who will love them.

All kinds of games can find an audience, and success, on Steam.

There’s room foreveryone.

Want to help us makeSteam better?
Apply to work at Valvehttps://www.valvesoftware.com/

Thank youfor coming.
Questions?
Helpful links and adownloadable PDF of thispresentation.