To publish your first indie game, choose a platform that matches your audience and scope (Steam, itch.io, or mobile), prepare store assets that sell, ship a stable build through a repeatable pipeline, price and time your launch strategically, and execute a disciplined marketing-plus-operations checklist before and after release.

Define Your Release Strategy

Start with outcomes, not platforms. Before opening Steamworks or the Play Console, decide what success looks like for this particular release. Steam is the most logical home if you aim to sell a polished premium experience to PC players who browse tags and wishlists. If you want to ship something experimental, learn quickly, and gather early feedback without gatekeepers, itch.io is ideal. If your design favors short sessions, repeat engagement, and live ops, mobile is the right field—even if the compliance bar feels higher.

Map audience to platform habits. PC players tend to follow tags, share screenshots, and wishlist well before launch. Itch.io’s community gravitates to game jams, prototypes, and pay-what-you-want models. Mobile players discover through search, chart rankings, and short videos; they expect seamless onboarding and clear free-to-play value or an obvious premium proposition. Let those discovery patterns shape your scope: a deep, narrative-driven premium game fits Steam; a quirky jam build thrives on itch.io; a snackable loop designed for D1/D7 retention belongs on mobile.

Budget and runway govern your options. Steam requires an app fee and benefits from professional art, a tight trailer, and stable builds across target OSes. Itch.io lets you set the revenue share and ship almost instantly, which is perfect when funds are thin. Mobile stores take a platform cut on sales and in-app purchases; they also require ratings and policy disclosures. If money or time is limited, prioritize a single platform, then expand once you’ve stabilized the pipeline.

Ship a maintainable scope. The first version of your first indie release shouldn’t attempt cross-platform online multiplayer, complex backend services, and full localization all at once. Commit to a small, testable vertical slice. Promise only what you can patch confidently within the first month. Momentum comes from a steady cadence of fixes and improvements that players can feel.

Decide on a marketing posture you can sustain. Steam rewards consistent devlogs, demos, and events. Itch.io rewards participation in jams and transparent, personal updates—mobile rewards clear value in the store listing, responsive updates, and solid app health. Choose the posture you can execute every week for the next quarter; the best plan is the one you’ll actually do.

Steam vs. itch.io vs. Mobile: What Really Differs

Steam is a wishlist engine with a culture of demos. If you can keep a Coming Soon page live for weeks, post insightful updates, release a polished demo, and gather wishlists, Steam’s algorithms will meet you halfway. The audience expects high-quality capsule art, crisp screenshots, and immediate evidence that your game runs well on their hardware with controllers or keyboard-mouse. The monetization default is premium pricing; discounts and regional pricing help you meet players where they are.

itch.io is speed, flexibility, and community goodwill. You can open a page in minutes, upload HTML5, desktop, or even Android builds, and iterate publicly. Creators can choose pay-what-you-want, fixed prices, bundles, and revenue share. Discovery is lighter than Steam but authentic; jams, collections, and creator pages surface projects to the right people. If you want to validate a concept, share a prototype, or maintain a living devlog, itch.io removes friction and lets you learn quickly.

Mobile is scaled with rules. Apple’s App Store and Google Play reach a global audience and support free-to-play, subscriptions, and premium games. In exchange, you’ll follow policies on data usage, content, and SDK updates, and retention, crash-free sessions, and store listing clarity will judge you. Winning on mobile means crafting a smooth first session, avoiding permission overreach, and building monetization that respects players while sustaining your roadmap.

The trade-offs are straightforward. Steam gives you robust community tools and an expectation of depth, polish, and PC-native features. Itch.io gives you velocity, experimental freedom, and an appreciative niche. Mobile gives you the largest potential audience and the most operational rigor. Pick the environment where your current game—and your current life—can succeed.

The Steam Path: From Coming Soon to Launch Day

Open your Steamworks project and plan backward from launch. Reserve your app, decide whether you’ll lead with a premium SKU and an optional demo, and design your store page like a product, not a poster. Your short description should promise a clear fantasy or loop in a single sentence; the long description should be scannable, written in active voice, and free of jargon. Think of your first two screenshots as billboards for the core loop, not a collage of UI.

Building discipline unlocks confidence. Set up a repeatable build pipeline that targets Windows first, then adds macOS and Linux if stable. Test controller behavior, windowed and full-screen modes, alt-tab, and resolution scaling. Integrate crash reporting so you aren’t debugging in the dark. If achievements and cloud saves genuinely improve player experience, add them; if they create risk, defer until after launch.

Wishlists are a campaign, not a metric. Announce the Coming Soon page when you have convincing art and a trailer that shows real gameplay within the first five seconds. Post candid, useful devlogs: explain a specific design choice, share a performance win, or showcase a slice of audio or level art. If a demo helps, ship it early enough to gather feedback and improve onboarding. A short public playtest can convert fence-sitters without overwhelming you.

Price with intent and communicate clearly. Anchor your price to competitive titles, your content depth, and your support plan. Regional pricing reduces friction; a modest launch discount can reward early adopters without cheapening the brand. Publish patch notes that respect the player’s time and intelligence; plain English beats hype every day.

Launch day is about operations. Be available in your community channels, triage issues in public, and ship a small, targeted update within the first 48–72 hours. Measure conversion from page view to purchase or demo, watch refund reasons, and track crash-free rate. If something critical breaks, postpone any marketing beat and fix the issue; trust, once lost, is expensive to regain. After the dust settles, schedule a short roadmap note that sets expectations for the next few weeks.

The itch.io Path: Fast, Flexible, Community-First

Start with a page that invites curiosity. On itch.io, your cover image and first paragraph set the tone. Make the pitch personal and specific: what can players do in the first five minutes, and why is it surprising or delightful? Keep the page uncluttered. If you’re shipping HTML5, make sure the initial load is fast and that keyboard and controller prompts are consistent.

Treat pricing as a dialogue. Pay-what-you-want can work beautifully for prototypes and small-scope art projects; fixed pricing suits more complete builds. You can adjust the creator revenue share and participate in bundles that align with your theme or charity goals. If your project is episodic or evolving, frame the purchase as supporting development and explain what buyers receive today versus later.

Use devlogs as storytelling, not status reports. A meaningful devlog teaches the audience something: a tight breakdown of an AI behavior, a lighting trick, or a design reversal that improved the core loop. Screenshots should show intent, not noise. When you ask for feedback, offer specific prompts such as “Did the dash feel responsive on keyboard?” or “Was the second puzzle telegraphed clearly?” Focus your community on the quality of interaction you can sustain.

Lean into jams and collaborations. Game jams on itch.io are discovery engines and social glue. Bringing a jam build to a presentable post-jam state teaches release discipline and turns momentum into a real audience. Collaborations with musicians, writers, or other devs can broaden your reach without heavy marketing spend. When you update, keep a visible changelog; players appreciate a project that respects their time and shows progress.

Close the loop with a modest roadmap. Explain what’s next, even if it’s small: a new level, a difficulty pass, a settings menu improvement. The community that forms around itch.io values honesty over spectacle. If your project grows beyond the platform, you can always expand to Steam later with a stronger pitch and a tested build.

The Mobile Path: Apple and Google Without the Headaches

Think in journeys, not screens. On mobile, the first session is your make-or-break moment. Aim for a fast cold start, a crisp tutorial that respects player agency, and a core loop that delivers satisfaction in minutes—not hours. If you’re premium, make the value obvious before the paywall. If you’re free-to-play, let players experience real fun before you ever ask for money. Frictionless onboarding earns the right to explain depth later.

Prepare the boring parts early so they never become emergencies. Create the app identifiers and provisioning profiles you need, define privacy practices you can stand behind, and reduce permissions to the minimum necessary. Keep third-party SDKs under control and document why each exists. When you craft the store listing, write the short description as a promise and the full description as proof. Screenshots should tell a simple story in sequence, and a short preview video should show authentic gameplay.

Test like you mean it. External testers on TestFlight or Play’s open testing track will surface issues you can’t reproduce in the lab. Instrument analytics responsibly, then watch the basics: crash-free sessions, app not responding (ANR) rates, battery impact, and network behavior on poor connections. A “soft launch” in a few regions lets you validate retention (D1, D7, and beyond), monetization intent, and funnel clarity without risking a noisy global debut.

Monetization is a design choice, not a bolt-on. Subscriptions reward ongoing value; in-app purchases work best when they enhance rather than gate progress; ads should be opt-in and respectful. Premium works when the experience is unmistakably complete. Whatever you choose, state it plainly in the listing and inside the game. Players forgive many things, but they rarely forgive surprise costs.

Roll out deliberately and support visibly. Staged rollouts on Google Play or phased releases on iOS help you catch crashes and odd device issues before everyone sees them. When you do ship globally, respond quickly to early reviews without sounding defensive, and publish release notes that explain what changed in human terms. Pair each update with one headline improvement—performance, controls, or a new piece of content—so players feel momentum.