The Steam Greenlight Enigma for Indie Games

Briefing:

Steam Greenlight is a popular pathway for indie developers to follow towards a future release on Steam. Although it is popular, are the rules and the greenlight process completely fair? I have had a game go through the greenlight process, and now my second game 'Albatross: Truth Unseen' is on greenlight. (You can find it here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=808104363)

So why am I writing this? Well I am here to discuss my experiences, my opinions, and my suggestions to anyone who may be looking to this pathway for their indie-game in the future. Steam developed this process to help create a level playing field where the community chooses which games are brought onto the Steam platform. But is the playing field actually even towards all indie-developers?

Steam Greenlight - Equal Opportunities?

Does every game have an equal opportunity to succeed on Steam Greenlight? Perhaps, more or less. The entire process is kind of like a high-school multiple choice test, but just a little bit different. What I mean by that is, there are things that you can control to improve your chances, but there are also things that you can't control, that depend on luck. 

Greenlight suggests that it will get you off the ground with some decent coverage for your indie-game in the early days, but at a certain point in time, the developer is responsible for continuing to bring Steam players onto their page to provide feedback.

While this process does work, there are certain advantages and disadvantages for wide-varieties of indie-developers. Some indie-content-creators may find the Greenlight process to be of an extreme advantage while others may feel like they are at a significant disadvantage.

Steam Greenlight - How do I feel about it? 

I really want to start out and say that I have a lot of respect for the submission format with Steam Greenlight. But I do think that for my situation there is a significant disadvantage. The problem for a creator like me is that when I create an indie-game all by myself (a fairly costly expense). A lot of my previous earnings, or even my personal funds elsewhere goes into creating my indie-game every single day. By the time I have a quality product to show off on Greenlight, all of my development money is spent and I struggle to fund my Greenlight campaign for advertising and marketing. 

I wish the quality of the product that developers expressed on Greenlight carried a little more weight than potential media connections (that most small indies probably don't have), advertising budgets, and external sources that provide coverage for larger game studios.

Steam Greenlight - Performance and Statistics 

A lot people ask me how many votes they think they will need in order to get greenlit. Now, obviously the trend suggests that 1000+ 'Yes' votes should get the job done. But the amount of votes is not what this process should be about at the end of the day. If we're going to focus on stats, I can suggest some targets that future developers can aim towards. 

These targets are basic, and while they may sound simple. It's really all you need in order to get greenlit with this process. If you can convince 3 out of every 5 people to vote 'Yes', you're putting yourself and your greenlight game in a position to succeed. You're also looking for excitement surrounding your game. You will know it's a good sign when people are commenting, discussing, asking questions, and providing constructive feedback about your game! 

And while I don't think the process if perfect for indie-developers like me who struggle to find ways to generate coverage their greenlight campaigns, I do have a lot of respect for it and have the motivation to fight for every vote towards my greenlight campaign. 

I'd love to hear any of your greenlight/indie-game stories so feel free to comment.

If you are interested in visiting my greenlight game, you can do so at the following link...

Cheers!

Albatross on Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=808104363