Steam algorithm changes are ‘killing indie gaming’, developers say

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Steam algorithm changes are “killing indie gaming” according to one developer affected by a recent change in the way that Steam recommendations work. Valve has been hard at work figuring out a new way to decide which games get shown to potential customers, and it seems that a number of indie developers have been caught in the crossfire.

“Apparently Steam is now way less likely to promote unreleased titles,” read a tweet by Thomas Altenburger of Flying Oak Games, an indie developer that is currently working on a roguelite platformer called ScourgeBringer. “Most unreleased games got their visibility down, while games already performing or close to release got a good bump.”


According to Mr. Altenburger, they saw a 50% increase on wishlist adds for the day on August 29, 2019. At this point in time, the Steam algorithm changes were only being tested with 5% of the service’s userbase. Thomas says that it’s entirely possible that this bump may have been from the Gamescom crowd.

As soon as the new Steam algorithm changes launched, a distressing trend had emerged: Wishlist adds declined by 66%. Flying Oak Games are far from the only people affected.


Alien Pixel Studios (developer of Unbound: Worlds Apart) tweeted out an image of their wishlist stats, showing a sharp decline in wishlist adds after the algorithm change went live. Several other developers in these two Twitter threads are reporting drops ranging from 30%–60% after the change was made.

As one Twitter commenter suggested, the fact that these are unreleased games may be affecting things. While I personally add plenty of unreleased stuff to my wishlist, some customers may be simply disinterested in games that are not out yet. This information would have been factored into the changes, ultimately affecting the wishlist stats of developers who have games in development.

Steam wishlist stats may seem unimportant to the layperson, but this particular metric is a good measure of a game’s potential future success. With wishlist adds reportedly ranging from 30%–60%, indie devs may be up for a rough time on Steam in the near future.

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Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/596599-steam-algorithm-changes-indie-gaming-unreleased-games

Comments

"Steam algorithm changes are ‘killing indie gaming’, developers say" :: Login/Create an Account :: 4 comments

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Mario350Posted:

im ok if indie games on steam are dying that means less fking garbage being shoved in our faces, 99% of indie games are garbage black ops 4 is better then 99% of indie games and thats a aaa game that should be considered indie trash because it plays like a cashgrab game, 1% of indie games like ror2 and intruder are amazing

jkisklPosted:

Maybe if there wasnt so many terrible ones people wouldnt have to wade through the bullshit. But because so many games are being made now its like tryna find games buried under thousands of indie/hentai games

AnimePosted:

I like playing some indie games. Hope they change it.

CTVPosted:

if this is true this is not good for Steams future. I hope they change or update something to give more support for the indie developers.