Change history: [list] [*] [b]Version 2[/b] - Fixes returning the game name in XML. [/list] [section=GetUserStatsForGame]GetUserStatsForGame[/section] [code=http]GET https://partner.steam-api.com/ISteamUserStats/GetUserStatsForGame/v2/[/code] [table] [tr][th]Name[/th][th]Type[/th][th]Required[/th][th]Description[/th][/tr] [tr][td][b]key[/b][/td][td]string[/td][td]✔[/td][td]Steamworks Web API user authentication key.…

Change history: [list] [*] [b]Version 2[/b] - Fixes returning the game name in XML. [/list] [section=SetUserStatsForGame]SetUserStatsForGame[/section] [code=http]POST https://partner.steam-api.com/ISteamUserStats/SetUserStatsForGame/v1/[/code] [table] [tr][th]Name[/th][th]Type[/th][th]Required[/th][th]Description[/th][/tr] [tr][td][b]key[/b][/td][td]string[/td][td]✔[/td][td]Steamworks Web API publisher authentication key.…

You want to make sure that if someone that’s brand new to the game reads your patch notes, they understand why this update is great. [*][b]Buying your game should not be complex[/b] – Having a complex offer on your store does not equal value. You want to sell your game in a way that is easy for customers to understand. [/list] …

Within the Steam Sales & Activations Reports website, you can find stats on the refunds of your game, including the notes that players provide when they request a refund. You can use this information to help figure out if there is particular work you can do on your game to address bugs, balance gameplay, or better set player expectations ahead of time. …

[subsection]Refund Rate[/subsection] The refund rate is simply the number of units returned in a given period divided by the number of units purchased in that period. Refund rates can vary considerably from game to game depending on that game's history, launch, price, player expectations, and many other factors. The reasons that players indicate then are useful for understanding some of the factors that might go into the refund rate your game has. …

This will affect both Pay for Purchase titles on the Steam store and In-Game sales made through the [doclink=features/microtransactions]In-Game Purchasing/Microtransaction[/doclink] APIs. [section]Pay for Purchase Titles[/section] The new currency prices need to be approved by you for everything sold on the Steam store in order for us to continue to sell your titles in the affected territories. …

The pricing tool is only available for users in your partner group that have the "Manage Pricing and discounts" permission. [section]Free to Play and In-Game Sales[/section] You have two choices for sales made within game and we believe strongly that option #1 will be better for your game and customers. …

We’ve introduced some tools with the goal of providing valuable information to Steam users about your game. [section][b]REVIEWS[/b][/section] Reviews are used to provide information to users on how 3rd party organizations have thought about your game. These usually include a review score, a detailed written review of the game, and potentially some marketing quotes from the organization that you want to highlight for your game. Adding a review is not mandatory, but some developers find it useful in marketing their game. …

At this time, we are working with a select group of partners for releasing games on Steam China. A prerequisite to publishing games on Steam China is receiving Chinese government approval for your game. Upon receiving approval, the Chinese publisher of your title will be issued an ISBN number, which will be displayed on your Steam China product page. Please note this prerequisite does not apply to non-gaming applications, which can be directly self-published. If you have an existing ISBN number for your game, are currently undergoing the formal approval process with a Chinese publisher, or would like to publish a non-gaming app on Steam China, please [url=https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPublishing?…

Developers and publishers can create a customized homepage page for their organization to display all the games made or published by that organization. There are a variety of ways to customize your homepage, and you'll be able to link all your individual games to your homepage. …

The franchise field should only be used for the purpose of organizing titles within a franchise; a set of games that share a common creative universe or intellectual property. Eg. "Left 4 Dead" is a franchise of two games. "Valve Games" is not a franchise. …

While reviews from all the above situations will be listed and readable, not all reviews count toward the game's review score. Only reviews posted from an account that has purchased on Steam and played the game will count toward the review score for that game. …

Some customers are basing their review on practices or data not related to the game. Is that allowed?[/b] A. Yes. Steam reviews tend to be a reflection of how happy customers are with the game itself as well as the value proposition, the business practices, and the experience of being part of that game’s community. …

[section=Description]Description[/section] The Inventory Service can be used in two ways - either server-less or with the addition of a trusted server that knows game state. Without a game server, the game client can communicate directly to the steam service to retrieve users inventory contents, consume and exchange items, and receive new items granted as an effect of playtime. …

Note that while your item visibility is set to Private in the Steam Economy Settings, only accounts in your Steamworks Partner group will be able to access your items in-game. [*] [b]Download Users Inventory[/b] Have your game client download the users inventory by calling [api]ISteamInventory::GetAllItems[/api]. …

Steam Next Fest is a great time to get your unreleased game in front of potential players and start building your audience. What follows are some tips you may find useful for how to go about interacting with fans, making sure your game is visible, and how to get the most out of your participation in Steam Next Fest. …

If you don't select any categories, your game cannot appear in the 'By Genre' or 'By Feature' sections. Check out the developer preview page to see where your game is set to appear, and then consider the categories and sections that exist within Next Fest. …

[list] [*][b]Revenue[/b] - The threshold shifts over time based on how many games are demonstrating strong revenue, but typically the games that qualify sustainably reach tens of thousands of dollars in revenue per month. …

Also, don't forget to activate an update visibility round to support the content update of the game, if applicable. [*] [b]Stream to your store page. [/b] Livestreaming is a good way to drive engagement and showcase your game. Take advantage of the increased traffic by showcasing your game with a live broadcast. …

This gives your title the biggest opportunity to create buzz and visibility at a point where customers can actually play the game and share their excitement with their friends. Customers playing your game also means those customers’ friends are seeing them launch the game and post screenshots, discuss in the forums, etc., which can drive those other users to check out the game themselves and take advantage of the limited-time discount. …

This way, you can let customers know the title is coming to Steam and point them to the store page where they can [doclink=marketing/wishlist]wishlist[/doclink] your game. This will also enable the [doclink=/features/community]Community Hub[/doclink] where you can begin discussing your upcoming title with Steam users, and a News Hub where you can publish [doclink=/marketing/event_tools]news and announcements[/doclink] for your game. …

[/td][/tr] [tr][td][doclink=store/tags][/doclink][/td][td]Tags are terms that can be applied to your game, and visible on your store page. Tags are an important set of metadata that helps describe a game to customers and helps Steam figure out how best to recommend your game. …

[/td][/tr] [tr][td][doclink=store/freetoplay][/doclink][/td][td]You can launch your game as a Free to Play title or, in some cases, transition your existing game to a Free to Play title. This documentation dives into how to set up a Free to Play game, store visibility, and best practices for Free to Play developers.…

You'll find a section on that tab that lets you select and order your game bundles. [subsection=visibilitylimits]Limits to Bundle Visibility[/subsection] There are two forms of visibility limitations for bundles on Steam: [olist] [*][b]Game Page Visibility[/b] - A maximum of three bundles can appear on any given game store page. …

The revenue and units for sales of a bundle are currently just included in the sales indicated for each individual product sold (by package). So, if Game A and Game B were sold together in a bundle, the sale would appear as 1 unit of Game A and 1 unit of Game B. The CSV from the Sales & Activations Reports portal will also indicate if a package sale was recorded as being sold in a bundle. …

[table] [tr] [td][b]Library Capsule[/b][/td] [td][color=#ca5029]Required[/color][/td] [td]600px x 900px Just your game logo and artwork [doclink=store/assets/libraryassets#capsule]See details[/doclink][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Library Hero[/b][/td] [td][color=#ca5029]Required[/color][/td] [td]3840px x 1240px .png Just your game artwork [doclink=store/assets/libraryassets#hero]See details[/doclink][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Library Logo[/b][/td] [td][color=#ca5029]Required[/color][/td] [td]Either 1280px wide and/or 720px tall (.png) Just your game logo. …

[doclink=store/assets/eventassets#header]See details[/doclink][/td] [/tr] [/table] [section=override]Artwork Overrides[/section] Artwork Overrides allow you to upload bespoke capsule images to market something specific in your game, and then have those special images automatically expire after a set timespan. We recommend you use this tool for major game updates, tournaments, or other time-sensitive events. …

Over the past several years, Steam has created a "BAFTA Review Package" to streamline the process for BAFTA members to access and review games that are entering for BAFTA consideration. If you have entered your game for BAFTA consideration and would like it included in the BAFTA Review package, please [url=https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPublishing?…

Valve does not officially manage BAFTA voting or nomination. See the [url=http://www.bafta.org/games]BAFTA website[/url] for more information or to submit your game to the BAFTAs for consideration as a nominee.[/callout] …

Every game on Steam can join a seasonal sale and any discount set to 20% or greater will automatically trigger email notifications to players with your game on their wishlist. Discounted titles are eligible to appear in various 'specials' sections throughout Steam, based on your game's tags, popularity of your game, and to users that it is recommended. The seasonal sales take over the Steam store experience in a big way, redesigning the front page to thematically show off the sale. …

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. …

You will need [b]one game license per account[/b].[/callout] …

[list][*][b]Collect cards[/b] - Users can play a participating game to get trading cards. Half the card set is received during gameplay (based on playtime in the game), the other half is earned through collecting (trading with or buying from other users through Steam and the Steam Community Market). [*][b]Craft badges[/b] - A full set of cards can be crafted into a game badge that can be prominently displayed on the profile and the mini profile (seen when hovering on a user's avatar.) [*][b]Get rewards[/b] - During badge crafting users receive random rewards from a set of game related items including emoticons, profile backgrounds, and coupons.…

[subsection=cards]Cards[/subsection] [docimg=card2.png]Steam Trading Cards[/docimg] The amount of trading cards must be between 5 and 15 cards, based on the theme of the game. Sets are usually 6-10 cards, less for shorter games. The more cards uploaded, the harder it is to craft your game's badge. For example, if there are 6 main maps for a game you might do a set featuring the 6 maps, or character classes, weapon types, etc. …

[section]Steam Input[/section] "Steam Input" is the umbrella term referring to the entire collection of software, hardware, and configuration utilities that Steam uses to interface with games. [section]Steam Input Configurator[/section] The Steam Input Configurator (SIC) is built into the Steam client and sits between the player and their game/application. …

[subsection]Native Mode[/subsection] In Native mode, the game receives input data directly from the configurator in the form of "actions." The idea here is that the game itself has no knowledge of what actual inputs are driving said actions, simply that the actions are happening. …