For indie devs

I kept reading the same advice in 50 different articles. So I built the tool.

Roadmap, deadlines, content calendar, guides, wishlist tracker. Everything you need to plan your Steam launch, in one place.

Start

No credit card needed.

20,000+

games shipped on Steam every year

47%

sold fewer than 100 copies

90%

of indie revenue goes to the top 1%

The problem is almost never the game. It's not knowing how Steam works.

The pattern

Same mistakes. Every launch.

1

Launching with fewer than 7,000 wishlists

2

Steam page with no gameplay in the first 3 seconds of the trailer

3

Missing Next Fest registration deadlines

4

One announcement post, then months of silence

5

Spending time on r/gamedev instead of genre-specific communities

SteamLaunch exists so you don't have to figure this out alone.

The tool

71 tasks. 6 phases. Zero guesswork.

From creating your Steamworks account to post-launch patch notes. Every task has a deadline, a priority, and a link to the guide that explains why it matters.

Roadmap

15 deadlines. Countdown included.

Valve review windows, Next Fest registration, demo builds. Each deadline is tied to your launch date and updates automatically. Color-coded urgency so nothing slips.

Deadlines
Submit page to Valve
42d
Next Fest registration
18d
Demo build ready
5d
Page goes live
Done

A content plan that writes itself.

Set your launch date and SteamLaunch generates the full editorial plan: posts around the launch window, devlogs and visuals in between, intensity that ramps up before Next Fest and launch. Use the auto-suggestions, import a plan from your AI, or go fully manual.

Content
Auto
AI Import
Manual
Launch window
Release date post-14d
Share trailer-10d
Gameplay clip-7d
Countdown hype-3d
Launch dayD-Day
Next: Devlog #5Jun 15

5 guides. 500+ rules. All verified.

Steam Page, Next Fest, Launch Day, Marketing, Algorithm. Each guide links directly to the matching roadmap task. Every rule has a source: Steamworks docs, Zukowski, or real postmortems.

Guides
Steam Page8 ch.
Next Fest3 ch.
Launch Day5 ch.
Marketing6 ch.
Algorithm4 ch.
500+ verified rules

Know your number. Hit your number.

Set a revenue goal. SteamLaunch translates it into wishlists needed, tracks your velocity week by week, and projects where you'll land at launch.

Dashboard
Current

3,247

Target

7,000

Velocity

+46/w

7K target

AI-native

Works with your AI.

Connect Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible assistant to your SteamLaunch data. Manage your content plan, check deadlines, log wishlists. One token, zero setup.

Claude DesktopCursorClaude CodeAny MCP client
AI Assistant
What should I focus on this week?
Your Next Fest registration deadline is in 18 days. The demo build isn't submitted yet. I'd prioritize that.
Schedule a devlog for Thursday
Created: "Devlog #5 - Demo Polish" for Thu Jun 19. Added to Steam and Reddit channels.
Connected via MCP

Why this exists

I'm building this for my own launch.

I'm working on The Outer Line, a space RTS coming to Steam in December 2026. While planning my launch, I realized all the knowledge I needed existed, but it was scattered across dozens of articles, YouTube videos, and Reddit threads.

No single tool put it all together. So I built one.

SteamLaunch started as a spreadsheet. Then it became an app. Now I want to share it with every indie dev facing the same overwhelm.

Alessandro De Poli

Alessandro De Poli

Solo indie dev · The Outer Line

Common questions

Things every dev asks before launch.

Do I need wishlists before launching on Steam?

Yes. Games that launch with fewer than 7,000 wishlists tend to be invisible on Steam's Popular Upcoming list, which is the main organic discovery channel. The more wishlists you have at launch, the stronger your first-week sales.

What is Steam Next Fest and can I do it more than once?

Steam Next Fest is a week-long event where players try free demos of upcoming games. It happens three times a year. You can only participate once per game, so preparation matters. A good Next Fest can add thousands of wishlists in a single week.

When should I put up my Coming Soon page?

As early as possible. Six to twelve months before launch is ideal. The longer your page is live, the more organic wishlists you accumulate from people browsing Steam. Most devs put it up too late.

How do I know if I'm on track for launch?

Track your weekly wishlist velocity. If you need 5,000 more wishlists and you're gaining 50 per week, that's 100 weeks. The math tells you whether to stay the course, run a Next Fest, or push your launch date.

What should I post and when?

Regular content signals to Steam's algorithm that your game is active. One devlog per month is a minimum. In the weeks before launch, ramp up: release date announcement, trailer, gameplay clips, countdown post. Going silent for months is the worst thing you can do.

Stop guessing. Start launching.

Start

No credit card needed.