I wanted to share my experience of turning a small personal tool into an actual Steam release.
I work as a web developer and I like building things myself. I have been using Python for a while, I’m comfortable with it, and I understand what I’m doing with it. I also have experience with JavaScript and Electron.
And yes, I use AI while coding.
I would describe it as “vibecoding”, but with a brain attached. I let AI help me, generate ideas, explain things, and speed things up, but I still check what goes into the project. I try to understand the code, test it, and make the final decisions myself.
The idea started pretty simply.
I play a lot of games with friends, mostly stuff like Rust, Counter-Strike, and similar games. In our group, people often use tools to play sounds so others can hear them ingame. There are already several tools for that, of course, but none of the alternatives really had the functionality I wanted.
So I thought: why not build my own?
I started the project in September 2025.
The first prototype was a soundboard with an integrated web server. It served my sounds as sound pads inside my local network, so I could control them from my phone. It was simple, but it worked, and I actually used it myself.
At some point, I had the idea to take it further and maybe release it on Steam.
That was when the real research started.
How do you integrate software with Steam? What does Steam require? How does Steamworks work? What do you need before you can even start?
The first thing that slowed me down was the Steam Direct fee.
You have to pay $100 to get started, and that honestly made me hesitate. Not because $100 is impossible, but because I assumed I would probably never see that money again. For a small hobby tool, that made the decision feel bigger than it probably sounds.
That hesitation set me back by about two months.
At the beginning of 2026, I finally decided to just do it.
I paid the fee, started working through Steamworks, and connected my software with Steam. From there, I kept expanding the project step by step. Design, features, testing, removing features, adding new ones, changing things again.
The project slowly turned from “small soundboard I use with friends” into an actual product.
Over time, I added things like:
- remote control through a local web server
- a pad designer
- a theme designer
- an overlay
- a Stream Deck plugin
- a normalizer
- a sound editor
- Steam Workshop integration for themes
I also explored a lower-level audio approach to avoid relying on virtual audio cables, but I paused that idea because proper signing and distribution would be too expensive for the current stage of the project. If the tool ever gets enough usage to justify it, I might revisit that later.
Once the software felt ready enough, the next big part started: preparing everything for Steam.
To be fair to Steam, they explain a lot of the process quite well. From the store page to builds, there is a lot of documentation and guidance. But it is still a lot of work when you do it for the first time.
I created the store assets, designed logos and images, resized everything to Steam’s required dimensions, filled out all the forms, set up the store page, and kept testing my builds while the page was waiting for review.
Eventually, I submitted the build and waited.
During that time, I also built a first documentation page and a small website with a support form. Nothing fancy, but functional. I used MkDocs for the documentation and Django for the website. I’m still not really happy with the docs, so I’ll probably rework them later.
Then Steam reviewed the build.
The first review came back with two issues.
The first issue was that one text on one page was still hardcoded in one language, while the rest of the software supported multiple languages.
The second issue was related to the installation of the virtual audio cable. Steam expected it to be installed through a Steam install script instead of being installed directly by the application itself.
Both points were fair.
I fixed them, submitted the build again, and after the second review everything was accepted.
Then I launched the “Coming Soon” page.
After that, I had to wait two weeks.
And of course, I checked the Steam marketing page every day.
How many people saw it? How was the visibility? How many wishlists did it get?
The numbers could have been better, obviously. But honestly, that was not really the main goal for me. The process itself was the important part. I wanted to know what it feels like to bring my own software all the way to Steam.
And now?
My tool, EchoKey, has been out for three days.
It made two sales.
And honestly, I’m happy with that.
For many people, that probably sounds like nothing. But for me, it feels good because I know how much work went into it.
In the last two days, I also kept working on it. The first buyer had a small issue, and I was able to fix it directly with a patch. That part was actually one of the most satisfying moments of the whole project: seeing a real user problem, understanding it, fixing it, and shipping the solution.
This was not a huge launch. It was not a financial success story. It was not some overnight indie success.
But it taught me a lot.
I learned about Steamworks, build reviews, store assets, documentation, support, patching, audio routing, product decisions, and also where AI helps and where you still have to take responsibility yourself.
My main takeaway is this:
AI can speed up development a lot.
But it does not replace understanding what you are building.
And even two sales can feel pretty good when you know what it took to get there.