Steam Next Fest Analysis & Celebration!

Steam Next Fest has officially finished and the data is in! I’m incredibly grateful for how this event went; overall, Grimdelve performed very well, particularly when compared to the average RPG Maker game.

Here are my key takeaways from the festival:

• Traffic & Visibility: Grimdelve got 68,353 total impressions during the week, resulting in 3,772 page visits. That means a 5.5% Click-Through Rate (CTR). While this would be slightly low for a normal week on Steam, achieving this with the competitive noise of Next Fest means that the capsule art is working well!

• Wishlist Conversion: Of those 3,772 visits, 678 turned into wishlists. A 17.9% conversion rate is exceptional and serves as a strong indicator that the store page design is attractive and compelling to those who land on it.

• Demo Engagement: 233 people played the demo, and 69 (nice) of them wishlisted. That is a 29.6% demo conversion rate. I’m latching onto this number as validation that people actually like this game I've poured my soul into over a year!

• Category Ranking: I noticed Grimdelve hit the 40th most played demo in the Dark Fantasy category, which is a fun little stat!

So, did Grimdelve do well?

Despite all the good news, 678 new wishlists is a bit low considering Grimdelve entered with 2,500 pre-existing wishlists, so what happened?

First, while 68,353 impressions sounds like a lot, it’s worth putting into perspective: that is roughly the same number of impressions top-tier games receive in a single day during the festival. This was also the most competitive Next Fest EVER on Steam, and Grimdelve is more of a passion game than viral lightning in a bottle.

Grimdelve is a niche title and visibility was directly impacted by entering the festival with "only" 2,500 pre-existing wishlists. Steam’s algorithm relies heavily on momentum and this was the most crowded Next Fest ever! I should have pushed more on marketing beforehand, or perhaps thought up a more viral idea in the first place instead of following my dreams...

Looking Forward

I'm ecstatic that Grimdelve clearly resonates with the people who play it, and there is a dedicated audience out there for what I'm making! We officially crossed 3,200 total wishlists thanks to this festival and I'm feeling insane motivation to work hard and get this game finished soon!

Thank you to everyone who played the demo, hit the wishlist button, and shared your thoughts! And, if you haven't already wishlisted Grimdelve, please consider doing so now! I'm going to go back to my own cave now to finish this game and I cannot wait to see what all of you think once it's finally released. Very grateful for everything that has come from this game so far, you're a wonderful community.

-ToastyTime