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[Zizka]

Hello guys,

So we're currently on Early Access and getting some generic requests for review copies or steam keys for giveaways or for streams.

Basically, I'd like to know if it's worth giving the game away for free business wise. If people do it I would imagine it's worth it but I want to know from other people's experience.

I got a dude saying he'd give me a positive review in exchange for the game and some keys and I couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted. Fortunately, I don't depend on my game to survive financially so I don't need to do shady deals like that.

Anyways:

1. Twitch: Is it worth it? Does it bring more traffic?

2. youtubers: Is it worth it? Does it bring more traffic?

3. Reviewers (which could go in category 1 or 2).

4. Giveaways...? Giving free keys to random people so that they can give the game away to some other people doesn't seem like a sound idea to me but I'm not the most business savvy person around.

I'd like to hear from people who have done this and their own experience (empirical data as opposed to speculations).

Thanks!

[Kakapio]

You have to be careful. If you decide to give a reviewer a key, give them ONLY ONE. Typically they ask for multiple, because they're scammers. They take your keys and sell them on sites like G2A.

Honestly, I would avoid responding to emails. Set up a Google Form somewhere, where YouTubers can prove their identities from (I think there's some way to do this, I recall seeing a tutorial on how to do it).

Be very cautious.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

giveaways are totally useless in term of marketing.

I got a dude saying he'd give me a positive review in exchange for the game and some keys and I couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted. Fortunately, I don't depend on my game to survive financially so I don't need to do shady

How Steam Keys Impact Review Score

Steam keys have always been free for developers to give out or sell through other online or retail stores. That isn't changing. However, it is too easy for these keys to end up being used in ways that artificially inflate review scores.

An analysis of games across Steam shows that at least 160 titles have a substantially greater percentage of positive reviews by users that activated the product with a cd key, compared to customers that purchased the game directly on Steam. There are, of course, legitimate reasons why this could be true for a game: Some games have strong audiences off Steam, and some games have passionate early adopters or Kickstarter backers that are much more invested in the game.

But in many cases, the abuse is clear and obvious, such as duplicated and/or generated reviews in large batches, or reviews from accounts linked to the developer. In those cases, we've now taken action by banning the false reviews and will be ending business relationships with developers that continue violating our rules.

While helpful users in the community have been valuable in reporting instances of abuse, it's becoming increasingly difficult to detect when this is happening, which reviews from Steam Keys are legitimate, and which are artificially influenced.


Changes To The Review Score

As a result of this, we are making some changes to how review scores are calculated. As of today, the recent and overall review scores we show at the top of a product page will no longer include reviews written by customers that activated the game through a Steam product key.

Customers that received the game from a source outside of Steam (e.g. via a giveaway site, purchased from another digital or retail store, or received for testing purposes from the developer) will still be able to write a review of the game on Steam to share their experience. These reviews will still be visible on the store page, but they will no longer contribute to the score.

[J-Snake]

From my experience giveaways do almost nothing for you, at least not on https://www.steamgifts.com. People are only interested in collecting free stuff on there, for whatever reasons. There is a possibility that one or the other will add your game to his wishlist; my experience is that I didn't notice a change in wishlist entries during and immediately after giveaways. One or few giveaways won't hurt though, you can certainly try it out and see how it works out for you.

Instead of giving a game away for free in order to raise attention, you can instead join a bundle deal and get paid.

If you manage to get bigger twitch-streamer or youtuber to play your game, it will certainly raise more attention.
But I am not sure the effort of contacting many smaller youtubers is worth it, probably not.

Also, the vast majority of people asking for keys cannot be taken for real. They just disguise themselves as reviewers or let's players and post false let's play/review channels. An easy way to identify them: simply ask them "Can I upload a key to your channel?". If you don't hear back from them then you know what's the deal;) But it is probably better to not bother with them at all.

[Schrompf]

To repeat what others said: don't bother. Large Twitchers or YouTubers can influence, but those will never ask you for a key, let alone multiple keys. Because they're already swamped with unsolicited keys. If a large YouTuber asks you for a key, there's a near 100% chance this is a scam.

The smaller ones sometimes ask for a key, and you can act on those as you feel. It won't help your success in any ways, but it's a good human feel. Those asking for "a couple of keys" you can safely ignore. Scam, again.

Same goes for bundles, by the way. It nets you a small sum, from 1000 US$ from a larger bundle like Groupees to as low as ~50 US$ from one of the million Me-Too-Bundles. And in exchange you get a few thousand of your keys on reseller pages, at a price your Steam shop can never compete with. It's ok to do bundles, but don't do it too early. Like in the first year after release.

[Zizka]

Ok, thanks for the feedback.

If you manage to get bigger twitch-streamer or youtuber to play your game, it will certainly raise more attention.
But I am not sure the effort of contacting many smaller youtubers is worth it, probably not.

I was wondering about that. I remember reading somewhere on the net (can't remember when exactly) that games played by Pewdiepie don't necessarily impact sales. I mean, there's no data that support youtubers influence on sales so it's everyone's guess.

Time being limited, I want to make sure I invest it in something worthwhile.

[J-Snake]

I remember reading somewhere on the net (can't remember when exactly) that games played by Pewdiepie don't necessarily impact sales.

It depends on the game, I guess. It can be fun to watch an entertaining person play (or bash, see Jim Sterling) a bad game, but it is not fun to play it yourself. So there has to be some more information about it to draw a conclusion. If the game itself is good and even Pewdiepie(and that assumes he is presenting the game "in the right light") doesn't help it, then there might be some general truth to the statement. But judging by his humor, my guess would be that his main audience consists of underaged teens. So that also has to be taken into account.

[stevej]

If you ARE going to think about providing keys, maybe check out https://www.keymailer.co - I found it pretty okay to work with.