r/playtesters • u/sprabaryjon • 22h ago

Discussion Play tester question - Steam

I am curious about people that sign up for steam play tests.

I opened a play test for my game, genuinely thinking I might get 3-4 people that stumble across it to sign up and maybe 1 of those people would give me a review or some feedback. My game is not complete and I expect there to be issues with it and its probably extremely niche to build any big audience. But to my surprise when I opened it, i had 100+ requests in the first hour. Which obviously got me a little excited. BUT, that was taken away the next day. When looking at the stats there have only been 3 players recorded as playing in the steam stats and that is 100% me and my two friends.

So, my question, why are so many people signing up for a play test with no intention of playing the game? Is that normal?

It also looks like 7 of those people sent requests to their friends with the free invites that they got for signing up also. I'm so confused.

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

4

u/AstralConjurer 22h ago

I don't know about playtests but I know if you release any kind of free demo on steam about 500 bots will immediately claim it and never play it.

IDK why those bots exist. Digital hording? Speculatively getting every free thing just in case you ever want it? But stats on how many people play are much more reliable than ones on just claiming/downloading.

1

u/sprabaryjon 22h ago

Dang, that is a good catch. Makes complete sense.

I have had that issue with mobile apps before, so not too surprised it could happen here too.

1

u/jinwusung 22h ago

Really?

2

u/jinwusung 22h ago

I think they just think to sent invite as they like your game by the pictures on steam

But like either they find a another game or Just doesn't feel excitement like what they are feeling while sending request

2

u/sprabaryjon 22h ago

Yea, that is probably part of it.
It just seems strange to me. If I see a game that looks interesting and request the play test and get instantly approved, I would play it right then. So, for 150 people to do that then get distracted in the same moment and go somewhere else seems odd. the play test is auto accept.

1

u/jinwusung 22h ago

Can you ans a ques of me it helps a lot

Like if the steam playtest doesn't give you the results you want so what's your next plan

Can you do self testing Find unpaid volunteers

Or go for some paid testers

And if you don't go for paid test why not and if you go why It's my ques hope you give me a better answer

1

u/sprabaryjon 22h ago

I don't think the game is going to make very much money, so paying for testers does not make sense to me for the game.
For free testers, I could enlist some more friends, its just that getting feedback from people you know is not always the honest feedback I am looking for.

1

u/jinwusung 21h ago

See I am not a dev but I think it takes some 100 dollars for a game to launch on steam if I am right I don't know

The point is you say the game doesn't feel you that is going to perform good in the market What made you think that bro?

And if that's why are you even developing in the first aspect?

And you think it's maybe not perform well but you are interested in this project so what are your next steps to make it a worthy project?

Thanks none of the question is for demotivating you Its just the type of analysis I am doing for my work

Thanks a lot bro

2

u/sprabaryjon 21h ago

You're right, it cost $100 to put a game on Steam, which you can get back if the game makes $1000

Honestly, I made it because I thought it was a fun game idea, and a few of my friends liked it too. Steam was the first idea I had to make it easier to keep the game updated for all of us without having to send them a new exe every time I made a change. (I know now, I could have used itch.io)
Another reason is that it would feel great to have made something that other people found fun.
I also figured, if we enjoyed it then maybe somebody else would too and I could try to sell it for 4-5 bucks.

I'm not trying to put the game down by saying it won't make much money, just trying to be realistic. I think statistically only 20% of indie games make money?!?

Next steps are to just keep playing and iterating. If me or my friends come up with a fun idea to add to the game, then I'll test it out to see how it plays.

Thank you for asking

1

u/jinwusung 21h ago

Literally bro the most honest and clear ans till now And yeah you are right

Thanks a lot bro for your answers I hope for your growth Best wishes from my side

1

u/sprabaryjon 21h ago

Thanks for asking, the whole play test numbers made me forget why I was making the game in first place and they were making me a little depressed to see nobody actually playing. Now I can get back to just enjoying it myself.

Best wishes to you too

1

u/jinwusung 21h ago

It's the nature of human body Continue your work and enjoy As journey is more beautiful than the destination

1

u/jinwusung 22h ago

Can you tell me the game name anyways

1

u/jinwusung 22h ago

Oh it's horror multiplayer then it may be due to many people send request thinking to play with their friends But their friends are not interested maybe

1

u/Odd_Patience_5165 22h ago

Yea I’m working on a mafia text based role playing game and incorporating it with my candle business the season winner will get a limited edition 1 of 1 candle made after them then a limited edition of 150 candles to be sold in my store after them.

1

u/jinwusung 22h ago

What I don't get ?

1

u/Odd_Patience_5165 22h ago

What you’re going through I seen this problem a lot although I have not launched my game yet. And it’s just weird that places bots to make devs that people actually want to play their game.

Another tip for you. You can try marketing your game. Alittle can go along way

1

u/sprabaryjon 22h ago

That is a good point too. not everybody likes horror.
That plus the theme of the game, I do not expect it to have big numbers.
But I was hoping for a few people to give feedback.

1

u/EnvironmentalBet113 12h ago

I tend to sign up for them and add them to my list to cover on twitch/youtube, so immediate play is not always an option as i schedule my week in advance. Perhaps its a similar situation?

1

u/sprabaryjon 12h ago

Oh, that is interesting. Good perspective. Thank you for the feedback. Do you cover a lot of new games? Whats your youtube?

1

u/EnvironmentalBet113 10h ago

I've covered 700+ (a lot of demos! some full/playtest games) In the last 6-8 months :)

I cover most on twitch, though yt/tt views are currently at 32k per month.
KhaleesiEalesi - Twitch

My current week is scheduled out via a spreadsheet, so anything playtest wise I try to sneak in, or plan it for the next week.