Getting noticed on Steam is already brutal, but some devs claim paying for exposure is even worse

The controversy began after developer devoriahub shared an alleged pricing breakdown on X, showing a $2,228 entry-level package covering a YouTube Short, a roughly one-minute feature buried alongside dozens of other games in a longer video, a single tweet, and a newsletter mention. Separate posts have priced a standalone tweet at $380. 

Not exactly a value-added play

Several other developers said in replies, and in earlier posts on r/IndieDev and r/IndieGameWishlist, that the figures matched their own experience. The developers who described paying for the service weren't complimentary about the results. One studio said it paid $177 for a placement in a featured games category and came away with just 1,622 impressions and no measurable wishlist bump, concluding simply, "Definitely not worth it in my opinion." Another developer, who paid roughly $217 including tax for a Fall Showcase placement, said their trailer ended up buried inside a video running two to three hours long alongside hundreds of others, with social posts scheduled so close together they were effectively "burying your game from his own posts."

The pattern caught the attention of Indie Game Joe, a marketing consultant who offers free advice to indie developers and co-runs a studio behind games including Hypercharge: Unboxed and Don't Scream. In a public breakdown posted to X, Joe argued the pricing model preys on inexperience, saying "it honestly feels to me like this model targets vulnerable, first-time indie developers." He pointed out that the channel publishes no pricing anywhere on its website, with costs revealed only after a developer fills out an inquiry form, and that the pitch materials advertise a combined audience of roughly 306,000 across platforms despite typical posts pulling in only 30 to 50 likes.

A recurring problem?

Speaking directly to Kotaku, Joe said the complaints reaching him weren't isolated incidents, estimating that somewhere between 20 and 30 developers have messaged him privately over the past few months, all describing the same gap between the audience figures they were quoted and the actual engagement their paid posts received.

Kotaku also noted a separate disclosure problem: most paid posts on the channel's X account don't carry a sponsorship label, and no examples could be found of a YouTube Short clearly marked as paid promotion. The controversy lands against a brutal backdrop for indie discoverability more broadly. SteamDB data shows roughly 18,933 games released on Steam so far in 2026, with over 2,600 earning zero reviews and only about 5% ever crossing 500 reviews, a scarcity that helps explain why developers keep turning to paid marketing packages despite the risk of losing their money and getting little in return.

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