[section]Steam Tags[/section] In addition to helping Steam users quickly learn about your game, tags help Steam determine where your game should be displayed to customers. We began requiring at least 5 tags be applied to a title before its launch on Steam, but we recommend you add up to 20. In addition to displaying tag data on store pages, a robust set of tags helps Steam serve better results when users: [list] [*]Browse genres & categories [*] Search with tags [*]Explore tag-driven recommendations [*]Utilize tag-driven dynamic Collections in the Library and more [/list] Below is some information on how tags work and some tools you can use to manage them. …

So, as a recap, start setting tags and their weight by using the Tag Wizard. Customers will also tag your game and those tags will be mixed in with the tags you had set with the Tag Wizard. As customers add more tags, the weight for those tags will increase. …

[/section] Advance Access is a Pre-Purchase incentive, in which customers that Pre-Purchase a "Deluxe" package(s) of your game are given access to the game earlier than customers that Pre-Purchase the "Standard" (most basic) package. …

[url= https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/earlyaccess] Steam Early Access [/url] enables you to sell your game on Steam while it is still being developed, and provides context to customers that a product should be considered "unfinished." Early Access is a place for games that are in a playable alpha or beta state, are worth the current value of the playable build, and that you plan to continue to develop for release. …

[section]Best Practices[/section] DLC can be a great way to offer value to the customers that are interested in investing deeper in the product, it can also have non-monetary costs of customer perception that are harder to measure. It might not be a good idea to launch with a DLC on day 1 as customers may perceive that the full game was ready to release but you chose to take away content from the game to make more money through a paid DLC. …

Over time, we've come to realize that Google's tracking solutions don't align well with our approach to customer privacy, and the migration to GA4 felt like the right time to end our support and focus instead on building the most useful parts of aggregated reporting into Steam itself. …

[subsection]Editor[/subsection] Once you've picked a category, you'll find a robust set of tools to create and customize your event. This includes a new type of header image at the top of your event (which gets used in a few other places), and a snappy preview mode that lets you quickly switch between editing and previewing your event detail page. …

This post-time will be used by Steam algorithms to determine whether a Steam customer has "seen" the event or not. [*]Moving the start time of an event might confuse customers, as calendar entries a player manually creates or downloads may become out-of-sync with the actual event. …

[section=build]SteamPipe Builds and Patch Notes[/section] When submitting a new build for your game via SteamPipe, a small prompt will automatically appear to encourage you to also post a patch note for your customers. This prompt lets you easily submit your patch notes inlines at the point after submitting the build. Often developers will use this to write a bullet point list of the changes made. Patch notes following your build updates is helpful for your customers to realize you are continuing work on and improve your game. [docimg=41b67b4a94e6487c5e07c6085dbb9d63d8d9e166.jpg]41b67b4a94e6487c5e07c6085dbb9d63d8d9e166.jpg[/docimg] You can always use the regular event editor to post the patch notes at a later time. …

We think customers are better off if a developer can focus on the one best version of their game, rather than making and maintaining many separate builds-- especially if one build ends up as a second-class experience missing some testing or updates. …

[/list] [/callout] [h3]Purchase games for commercial use on Steam[/h3] [callout] Only games specifically mentioned for commercial use on Steam can be offered to your customers and patrons. Commercial game licenses can be found by visiting a game's individual Steam store page. The commercial license and details about it will be displayed right under the regular end user purchase option on the game's store page. …

[/list] [section=audio_recommendations]Audio[/section] [subsection=volume_controls]Custom Volume Controls[/subsection] [h4]Why is this tag important to players?[/h4] Players may need to reduce distracting sounds so that they can focus on sounds that they need to hear. …

Providing options for background opacity, text color and size can allow players to customize the subtitles for their comfort. Players can look for this tag to know that they can enable clear, readable subtitles for all dialog. …

We strongly recommend that you do not turn off this feature, as it is very valuable for customers that have left the PC without logging out of their Steam account. If you do choose to deactivate this feature, we recommend that you let your customers know. …

We are allocating a portion of our Steam Deck LCD units for partners to test their titles. These are the same Steam Decks that are shipping to customers, there is no additional development software or hardware changes. Steam Deck dev kits are ready to ship, and we've opened up the Steam Deck Dev Kit request form. …

[b]See Also:[/b] [api]ISteamUGC::RemoveDependency[/api] [subsection=AddExcludedTag]AddExcludedTag[/subsection] [code=cpp]bool AddExcludedTag( UGCQueryHandle_t handle, const char *pTagName );[/code] [table] [tr][th]Name[/th][th]Type[/th][th]Description[/th][/tr] [tr][td][b]handle[/b][/td][td][apitype]ISteamUGC::UGCQueryHandle_t[/apitype][/td][td]The UGC query handle to customize.[/td][/tr] [tr][td][b]pTagName[/b][/td][td]const char *[/td][td]The tag must NOT be attached to the UGC to receive it.[/td][/tr] [/table] Adds a excluded tag to a pending UGC Query. …

[subsection=AddRequiredTag]AddRequiredTag[/subsection] [code=cpp]bool AddRequiredTag( UGCQueryHandle_t handle, const char *pTagName );[/code] [table] [tr][th]Name[/th][th]Type[/th][th]Description[/th][/tr] [tr][td][b]handle[/b][/td][td][apitype]ISteamUGC::UGCQueryHandle_t[/apitype][/td][td]The UGC query handle to customize.[/td][/tr] [tr][td][b]pTagName[/b][/td][td]const char *[/td][td]The tag must be attached to the UGC to receive it.[/td][/tr] [/table] Adds a required tag to a pending UGC Query. …

[section]Overview[/section] Custom configuration files can be included directly within your game depots for a number of benefits: [list] [*]Official configurations can be checked into Perforce or other revision control tools [*]Managing configurations between different branches of your game or between a public and private AppID is easier [*]Updates are atomic rather than being done via two publishing steps in Steamworks [/list] [section]Format[/section] The action manifest file is an extension of the [doclink=features/steam_controller/iga_file][/doclink] which includes an extra section containing a list of official configurations broken out by type: [code] "Action Manifest" { "configurations" { } "actions" { } "localization" { } } [/code] For information about the action and localization sections please see the [doclink=features/steam_controller/iga_file][/doclink] documentation. …

This is an example from the Steamworks SDK: [code] "configurations" { "controller_xboxone" { "0" { "path" "xbox_controller.vdf" } } "controller_steamcontroller_gordon" { "0" { "path" "steam_controller.vdf" } } } [/code] [subsection]Step 5 - Set the Steamworks settings[/subsection] To set your Steamworks settings in the partner site, navigate to the Steam Input settings. Next set the dropdown to "Custom Configuration (Bundled with game)" and enter the path where the action manifest is located: [docimg=gamebundledconfigdropdown.PNG]gamebundledconfigdropdown.PNG[/docimg] [section]Debugging a game that uses an Action Manifest File[/section] When running the game through Steam the Action Manifest file will automatically be pulled from your game depots. …

Promotions may involve other Steam products, or products/brands outside of Steam. These types of promotions are encouraged and many customers find value in them. However, under no circumstances is it okay to charge other developers to participate in a bundle or to sell access to a sale page or other page on Steam. [*][subsection]Paid Advertising Outside Steam[/subsection] Developers may want to run paid advertising campaigns to drive traffic to their Steam product pages. …

Once you are on the Regions and Countries page, you can click the little plus symbol next to a region to expand and see further details including the number of wishlists from customers in that region. [subsection]Platform Breakdown[/subsection] You'll notice a section labeled 'Platform-specific wishlisting' on the right-hand side of your Wishlist reporting. …

For sale landing pages, there is a robust set of tools that provide a lot of power and customization. Described here are the minimum set of requirements for a basic page. << [doclink=marketing/event_tools/sales/tools]Back to full sale page tools[/doclink] >> [doclink=store/assets]Go to full graphical asset list [/doclink] Sales page Events are made up of two parts: [olist] [*][b]The announcement[/b] - This is the part of the event that shows up as 'news' on your group's page and in the News Hub for any users that follow your group or developer homepage. [*][b]The landing page[/b] - The sale event page itself that features the games, broadcasts, and/or events that you configure. …

[/section] If you believe your game or application is using a redistributable which is not listed in the app admin, but might be used by many other apps, please let us know in the [url=steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/discussions/]Steamworks Development Group[/url], and we might be able to get it added. If your redistributable or installer is uncommon or custom, you can use an [doclink=sdk/installscripts]install script[/doclink] to install it manually.…

For information and definitions of the various types of Workshop integration you can utilize and how to make the best out of the tools provided by Steam please see the [doclink=features/workshop]Steam Workshop Overview[/doclink] before getting started integrating the steam workshop with your game. In a typical set-up, customers of your game would use tools provided by you with purchase of your game to create modifications or entirely new content. Those customers would then submit that content through a form built into your tool to the Steam Workshop. Other customers would then be able to browse, sort, rate, and subscribe to items they wish to add to their game by going to the [url=http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/]Steam Workshop[/url] in the Steam Community. …

Steamworks is a set of tools that enable you to distribute your product to Steam customers and a set of features you can use in your product, such as matchmaking, leaderboards, Steam Workshop, etc. The Steamworks partner portal is where you'll be able to manage each of your products, and your account and company information. …

[section]Steam Screenshots API[/section] The Steamworks SDK provides access to [api]ISteamScreenshots[/api], and enables you to use advanced features and integrate the Steam Screenshots system right into your game for the best experience for your customers. By default Steam will handle taking screenshots, but you can take over control by hooking the screenshots using [api]ISteamScreenshots::HookScreenshots[/api]. …