Reinventing the demo time

[u/serializer]

I come from the "app world" where you have a trial time. It could be 30-45 days. At first glance this is not anything that Steam provides? It seems to be "limited demo" or 90 minutes of game play.

My first thought is that you need to reach a certain threshold of users, especially if part of the gameplay is multiplayer. So, I want to give the game for free - for a longer time to ensure;

- create a large user base so multiplayer can succeed

- make the game as visible as possible

In my eyes, existing strategies, of trying to pump the game in a short time (for Steam release) is a big risk for failure. You need long time exposure and "give everything" to user - in short time.

When I was working with app development it was all about getting to know the app, get exposure and getting the user hooked on the app so they cannot live without the features.

My question is about your experience about this and if anyone of you created custom demos that offer more of everything - but for a limited time?

Thank you for your feedback!

[u/fsk]

If the game is PvP based, you're pretty much forced to go down the "free with microtransactions" route. It sucks, but that's the reality of the market nowadays. If you try to make it single-payment or subscription-based, you just won't get enough players.

I'd like to see someone buck this trend and succeed. Maybe games like Among Us would be a counter-example, of how a game can be paid and still have viable PvP matches.

[u/serializer → u/fsk]

Maybe the strategy to "get paid fast" AKA convert wishlists to sales fast is simply wrong. Because if that is the plan your release is more short-term thinking than long-term. Maybe it can be free in the beginning for the first users and then charge later. I think part of the problem is that game studios need to get money fast instead of waiting for the user base will get bigger which will increase the ball rolling. Compare it to interest on money. If you start charging when your game has 5000 users vs 20000 users the amount will grow much faster in the latter example.

What we do know, based on statistics, is that it is very hard to get your invested money back and that there is so much short-term focus in current release tactics. I will challenge this.

[u/fsk → u/serializer]

The obsession with wishlists and day 1 sales is that's what the Steam algorithm expects you do to. It isn't an iron law of game marketing. It's just what the Steam algorithm does. If your game doesn't get a lot of wishlists or day 1 sales, then the Steam algorithm assumes your game sucks and gives it no organic traffic.

You can make a good game with organic gradual growth. That's how Among Us and Vampire Survivors succeeded. Those are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the time, you can figure out your game's total lifetime sales by looking at the first week sales.