Steam release checklist: from three months out to launch day

About 20,000 games were released on Steam in 2025, by the counts How To Market A Game compiled from four trackers in January 2026. Most of them did not fail on launch day. They failed months earlier, at a store page that went up two weeks before release, a build that hit review late, or a date that landed inside a sale they could not join.

A checklist does not make a game good. It makes sure a good game reaches launch day with nothing left to chance: every Valve deadline met, every wishlister emailed, the developer awake and ready. Each item below is marked as Valve's rule or common practice, so you know which ones can bend.

Valve's minimums, counted back from release:

• Store page live as Coming Soon (practice: as early as you can show the game well). Every day it is up it collects wishlists, and wishlists are what Steam emails on launch day.
• Capsules, screenshots and trailer that show play (Valve's review rejects concept art as screenshots). See the Steam image sizes guide.
• A demo, and a Next Fest entry if the game has not used one (practice). Next Fest is for unreleased games only, one per game.
• Release date shown as a month or quarter, with an exact intended date set behind it in Steamworks (Valve asks for the exact date for reminders and event invitations).

• Steamworks account, identity, tax and bank forms done (Valve: verification takes 15 to 30 days; the bank account name must match your legal ID).
• Steam Direct fee paid for this game (Valve: $100, recouped after $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue; first titles wait 30 days after paying before they can release).
• Launch week chosen against the calendar: more than 30 days before a seasonal sale if you want it as a second wave, outside Next Fest weeks (practice). See the Steam sale calendar.
• Steamworks features decided: achievements, Steam Cloud, trading cards, controller support, and Steam Input glyphs if you want Steam Deck Verified (practice).

• Near-final build uploaded to the default branch with SteamPipe and submitted for review (Valve: the store page must be submitted first; review usually 3 to 5 business days; plan for seven). Updates after approval are not reviewed again.
• Every feature on the store page is in the build (Valve's build review checks it), and the game starts on every operating system the page lists.
• Prices submitted for every currency, including the LATAM-USD and MENA-USD regions (Valve: one or two business days; a currency with no price makes the game unavailable there). See regional pricing.
• Steam Deck review requested if you are aiming for Verified (Valve: about a week; the build must have passed review).
• Press and creator list written, with the creators who covered games like yours (practice).

• Exact release date committed. Valve locks the date two weeks before it, so decide now and leave a margin (Valve's rule).
• Release date and time announced on the store page and your channels, with the time in Pacific and one or two other zones (practice).
• Launch discount decided: 10% to 40% for 7 to 14 days; Valve suggests 10% to 15% (Valve's rule and guidance). See the launch discount guide.
• No price increase planned inside the next 30 days; it would cancel the launch discount (Valve's rule).

• Store page approved and Coming Soon for at least two weeks by release (Valve's rule). If it is not, the date cannot hold.
• Launch discount set on the app's landing page (Valve: only before release).
• Keys sent to press and creators with an embargo that lifts at release time (practice).
• Launch event drafted in Steamworks' events tool, with what is in the game and what comes next (practice).
• Day-one plan: who is on call, how a hotfix ships, where crash reports arrive (practice).
• Permissions checked: the account that will release needs Publish app changes to Steam and Manage pricing and discounts (Valve's rule).

• Release App pressed, then Publish Now, then Release Now, on a weekday morning Pacific time (Valve: approved games do not release on their own, and weekends are not recommended).
• Store page checked as a player, signed out: price, discount, buy button, trailer, system requirements (practice).
• Launch event published on the store page, and the same news on every channel (practice).
• Wishlisters emailed by Steam automatically at release (Valve).
• Crashes and reviews read hourly for the first day; reply to negative reviews with what you are fixing (practice).

• No discounts for 30 days after release or after the launch discount ends (Valve's rule). Spend the month on updates.
• A first patch in week one, and a meaningful update in weeks two to four, each announced on the store page (practice).
• Ten scored reviews. The score appears once a game has ten reviews from Steam purchasers; keys activated elsewhere do not count (Valve).
• First discount planned for after the window: a weeklong deal or your first eligible seasonal sale, at 20% or more so wishlisters are emailed (Valve: 20% triggers the email). See your first Steam sale.

Nothing stops you selling on both. Two rules matter: an Early Access game must be available on Steam no later than anywhere else and not priced higher on Steam than elsewhere, and reviews from Steam keys sold outside Steam do not count towards your Steam review score. Many developers launch on Steam first, where wishlists turn into launch-day sales, and add itch.io, with a Steam key or its own build, for players who prefer it.

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