Indie dev shares Steam Next Fest numbers for two demos: 15x to 25x impressions
A solo developer posted Steamworks figures for two demos in Steam Next Fest (Oct 19-26). Impressions rose sharply for both, but wishlist results differed widely.
Digital Developer Desk, 3h ago, 2 min read
A developer posting as /u/Lianes8Studio shared Steamworks numbers on r/gamedev from running two demos in Steam Next Fest, which ran Oct 19-26. The post compares the 8-day fest with the 7 days before it, and is meant to help others plan their own fests.
Pidgeon Pocket, a pigeon heist game, recorded 47,488 impressions, 2,587 store visits and 82 wishlists during the fest. The week before, it had 3,137 impressions, 925 visits and 9 wishlists.
Maneki Mania, a lucky cat idle game, recorded 41,416 impressions, 2,832 visits and 178 wishlists during the fest. The week before, it had 1,655 impressions, 1,852 visits and 171 wishlists. The developer puts the impression increases at about 15x for Pidgeon Pocket and 25x for Maneki Mania.
The developer notes that Pidgeon Pocket's wishlists jumped from a tiny base, while Maneki Mania's barely moved despite roughly 50% more visits. For scale, the developer's previous game, Tied to the Beat, has about 9,700 lifetime wishlists, and the developer describes the new numbers as small.
During the fest, the developer ran a 24/7 broadcast on both store pages from the 22nd and posted short gameplay clips on TikTok, YouTube Shorts and X. The post closes by asking other developers what moved the needle for them, whether streamers, the first minute of the demo, the capsule or something else, and whether anyone saw a real effect from a 24/7 broadcast.
Sources
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