How to create and develop a Steam game

We have already written an article on how to create applications (How to make a mobile application yourself), if If you haven't read it, please check it out. So, the most difficult stage is passed - the game is created, so accept our congratulations. Now you're itching to share your eventual bestseller with the world and decide to take out your app. Steam Development has prepared launch tips for you, and in this article we will tell you what to do next.

How to prepare for graduation

To get started, you will need to go to the site and fill out all the necessary documents electronically. The next step is to pay the application fee, choose the payment method of your choice. The collection of the necessary information about the developer differs in the States and in the CIS countries. In any case, you will need to prove that you are you and provide tax and banking information. You will need banking information when you transfer the proceeds from the application to your own account or to a company account. Once you've received permission from Steamworks, start getting ready to launch.

Your steps after the work done

1. Test the application again before downloading. The development team will additionally check it for problems within 1-5 days.
2. If you haven't created a brand page on Steam yet, now is the time to do so. Specify the desired price (if you plan to create a paid brand), set up all the necessary functions. If you feel that this point causes you a lot of questions, then we recommend that you refer to the Steamworks documentation.
3. In order to release, you need to make an initial contribution of 100 USD
4. Now is the time to feel like an SMM specialist. Design your main page on the site, add a game trailer that will attract potential customers. This should be done 2 weeks before the official release, so that users have the opportunity to have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat they will spend money on.
5. If everything went well, then congratulations! It's time to open the champagne and celebrate the launch. By the way, you can update at any time.

What information should I provide about my organization?

It will be easiest for an indie developer to register his own account, collect the necessary documents in accordance with the requirements of the country in which he lives and register as an individual entrepreneurship or individual. Now we will look at their differences.

Individual:

• A bank account and an account are required for registration.
• Income tax is about 13%. For example, if the revenue is $1,000, then $130 will be deducted.
• If you violated copyright (we hope you didn't), you may be blocked from withdrawing funds from the application.
• It is necessary to consult with a lawyer when preparing documents, because if several thousand dollars unexpectedly arrive on the account, then the tax office may be interested. And if the necessary papers are not available, then it is possible that the account will be blocked, and you will receive a term as a gift.

Individual entrepreneur:

• When registering, the following documents are required: TIN, passport, form P21001 and a receipt for payment of state duty.
• You face the same dangers as an individual.
• You can choose the tax yourself. Or USN 6% and then 0% on IOU. Or tax 13%.
• Initial spending is significantly higher than physical. persons, because you issue both the state fee and the invoice.

When collecting documents, you will immediately be told that the account and the bank account must be issued for one person. If you are from a company, then you need to apply for it.

If you have several developers, you can form a joint LLC, or a sole LLC or offshore. We want to warn you that the Limited Liability Company does not own copyright. In order for LLCs to manage your application, you must issue a license with permission.

Joint LLC:

• Required documents: applications in the form P11001, charter, minutes of the meeting of founders, agreement on establishment, application for the transition to the simplified tax system, notarized powers of attorney, receipt of payment of state. duties.
• Income can be divided using dividends. A simple and official way to register.
• The disadvantages include the need for a legal address, the submission of a declaration, complex reporting in work.
• STS is 6% of income, there are also taxes on dividends + payment of a legal address.
• Despite the fact that the initial expenses are large, in the future the tax will be less than that of physical. faces.

Sole LLC:

• Application in the form P11001, articles of association, minutes of the meeting of founders, agreement on establishment, application for the transition to the simplified tax system.
• In order to pay salaries to employees, you need to conclude a sales contract with an individual entrepreneur.
• Cons and initial costs are almost the same as in a joint LLC.

Offshore:

• From the documents you need foreign and ordinary passports.
• You can use a corporate account or payroll transfer to pay salaries.
• The initial stage is expensive and a lot of paperwork. However, the next steps are very cheap. If you do not use a corporate card, then you must pay personal income tax.

Things to keep in mind

• Payment data. Steam needs to know where to transfer your funds to, for this you need to specify the address, code and bank account. Make sure that your initials match the legal organization you are setting up. Let's take an example. If you are a member of the Yashkino company and arrange a product from it, then you need to open an account on behalf of this company.
• Service fee. As mentioned earlier, you need to deposit $100 for your application. In the future, you can add more of them, but for each you need to pay this fee. By the way, after you earn your first 1000 USD. (and we are sure that you will be able to), then your deposit will be returned to you.

Launching the game

For a successful implementation, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with Valve's tips for launching the application:

Valve is a major video game development firm. You have probably heard about it if you played Counter Strike, Dota 2, Half-Life and many others.

At Melbourne International Games Week late last year, two representatives from the Seattle-based company talked about using a variety of tools to increase your chances of success. The first talk from Valve's Molly Carroll was about the steps you can take in the pre-launch period.

"We believe a good platform connects developers and players in a way that benefits both," said Carroll. “We are constantly thinking about how to show potential consumers a product that they will want to buy and that they will not regret buying. Therefore, we give the necessary tools and capabilities to developers so that they can get the most customers.”

Set up your Steam page in advance

Game development is a labor intensive process and can take time to get going. The store page can be a useful tool to expand your target audience. Therefore, we recommend that you add an app trailer before it becomes officially available.

Don't sleep on your developer profile

Carroll highlighted the role a store page can play as a communication hub, with links between it and posts on every social media platform a developer can use. You have only one chance to interest the user - your game will be shown only once in his profile. When a person follows you, they will receive a notification that you have released something new and will be able to download it immediately.

Be specific with tags

Tags are one of the most important factors that affect how your work is shown to users. These are descriptors that help categorize them. According to Carroll, most developers lack imagination when applying tags to their products.

"There really isn't a magic number of wishlists you should aim for, but as always, the more the better"

Steam game development offers the most popular tags, but Carroll recommended making a list of important features and using them as a baseline. According to her, she personally likes the detailed description, for example, with character customization. Such a detailed description could be more convincing for a potential client.

She added that the first 15 tags you apply to yours will "drive search and recommendations across the store."

Make support for multiple languages

This is an amazing opportunity, which, by the way, few people use. Each account has the option to select multiple additional languages. Users are shown those games that can offer a user interface in one of these languages.

According to Carroll, less than a third of users choose English as their primary language, and most publications start with support for English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

How to make the game popular after launch?

You've already released the game, a lot of people have downloaded it, and you can already see that it's becoming less popular and fewer people are installing it. What to do in this case?

• Use updates to improve it as much as possible, to please users and to eliminate all its shortcomings. This is useful for retaining the old audience and attracting new players. Steam welcomes this and creates "update visibility rounds";
• Use sales to increase the number of buyers;
• Use a live stream from your store page - it can increase sales;
• Follow Steam Labs.

What is Steam Direct for?

You may still have questions about why Direct is needed, what it controls, and why it takes so long to check applications for relevance.

It is curious that in the past, users have repeatedly joked about the quality of some games. The creators of Glitch Simulator showed the imperfection of the system. It is literally created on the knee, all the tools can be found in Game Guru. Therefore, one of the bloggers decided to repeat it. It took him less than 20 minutes to create the shooter.

Therefore, in order to prevent such situations, the company launched a system in which it is necessary to pass the primary control, and the creator himself must make a contribution of 100 USD. This was created so that Steam is not clogged with fakes.

We have analyzed the organizational and legal forms that you can issue. Now it's up to you. Good luck and may the force be with you!