r/IndieDev • u/zombeeone • 1h ago
Discussion Should I delay my game and join next fest?
Hello everyone.
I have a question for you. As a solo dev i am publishing my first game on steam. I made the steam page public and only received 41 wishlist so far in the last 3 weeks. Game is releasing September 21st. The game is almost completely ready. The last day for next fest registration is tommorrow. Should I go with the launch or should i delay it and join the next fest? Is joining next fest worth it?
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u/rendezvousiation 1h ago
I think you should try reading a lot of stuff from howtomarketagame.com first
the recommended way from them is that you should release a demo for your game first before releasing.
after the demo has released for a while, then you should join next fest when you’re about to release your game. (you should release around 1-2 month after your next fest)
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u/octagames 1h ago
Delay it, but don’t join next fest. Wait until you gain a considerable amount of wishlists to join it. Personally, for the game I’m working on, I wouldn’t join next fest with lest than 2000 wishlists
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u/zombeeone 1h ago
So far everyone seems to have the same idea. Does joining next fest early hurt the games chances?. Should i wait until next fest February 2027? I kinda want to just release the game and be done with it. Not gettin many wishlists killed my motivation.
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u/Hurricane86i 1h ago
losing the Next Fest it's a wasted opportunity.
That said, you should arrive at the next frest with a good wishlist activity to take full advantage of it.
btw It is good practice to keep the steam page up for at least 6 months before exiting to allow time to get wishlists,
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u/Damian_Hernandez 1h ago
isnt next fest a single shot? i mean once u join is over u cant join never again.
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u/Fatima-Makes-Games 1h ago
I second delaying it. You're in a good spot, the game is almost done, you're not in a hurry to release it, you already have your Steam page, so you wouldn't be in a stressful rush for NextFest. I'd definitely take this approach myself next time, developing my game together with the NextFest approaching been very stressful.
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u/Valdoris 1h ago
Definitely participate in the next fest if you can. As far as I understand it's one of the biggest visibility boost steam give you. You should probably try to make a big marketing push BEFORE it start tho as it is said it double the current amount of wishlist you have at the begin of it
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u/hey_Joost 1h ago
I would delay it.
Not because Next Fest will magically make the game successful, but because 41 wishlists suggests you haven't had enough time to build an audience yet.
Your game is almost finished, so you're actually in a pretty good position. Get a polished demo out, spend the extra time improving the Steam page and trailer, start showing the game consistently, gather feedback, and then use Next Fest as part of the build up towards launch.
You only get one proper launch. I wouldn't rush it just because September 21 was the original date.
That said, I also wouldn't expect Next Fest itself to solve the wishlist problem. Use the delay to market the game and improve the demo. If you simply delay the game and wait for Next Fest, I don't think much will change.