The Steam platform hit a new all-time high, with a record 720 new games released between August 24 and August 30. According to Thomas Bidot, CEO of ICO Partners, the average daily launch traffic is close to 103 projects, which is definitely the highest record in the company’s observation history.
Meanwhile, early audience engagement statistics highlighted a huge gap between total output and actual user interest. About 74% of new products (or 530 out of 720 items) had less than 10 user reviews at the time of data collection. Only a small number of versions reach 50, 100 or 1,000 reviews, highlighting the growing issues of in-store visibility and market saturation.
Experts pointed out that the overall trend in the first half of the year showed that the number of releases increased by 19% year-on-year. Effective marketing and competition for player attention have become key survival factors for independent developers.
