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City-builder dev implores Valve to give devs real social media tools on Steam, because they're "terrified of the future market" and need a "solution for indie sustainability"
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Developer Tomas Sala has called on Valve to improve Steam's social functionality so indie devs can maintain an audience in between games rather than restarting from scratch on social media. He calls it the "one solution for indie sustainability I have."
Tomas Sala is known as the mostly-solo developer behind throwback flight combat sim The Falconeer and its city-building spin-off Bulwark, and he's now "lobbying and begging" Valve "to bring some social and follower improvements to Steam, so we can create loyalty in the place we create revenue" in a recent social media post.
Following developers or studios on Steam right now means you'll simply get an email notification (that you can opt out of) every time they release a game, meaning players won't be getting regular updates from their favorite devs' new projects. Steam's follower system doesn't function anything like a traditional social media platform at the moment, but Sala thinks maybe it should.
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Sala notes that "indies f***ing rock at" promoting themselves on social media, "but we need to tie this to the games we sell" as all of that networking is in vain because "the moment I make a new game it's gone." It would also function as a "path away from toxicity rather than towards it" since some social media sites are now notoriously overrun with (and sometimes run by) lots of bad apples.
"To get Valve to let indies maintain a fanbase across/over/in between games," he continues. "The follower functionality is now useless, but letting us create long lasting communities players on Steam is the one solution for indie sustainability I have. I do this for survival, I spam relentlessly on this. You wont find a more dedicated Steam dev. Updates personal support. Night and day! But it's mostly in vain, the moment I make a new game its gone. I am terrified of the future marketplace for games!"
Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.
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