48 hours after launching my Steam page: What 600+ visits and a "broken" 86% CTR taught me about indie marketing
Hi guys,
I just launched the Steam page for my 3D Survivor, Riftbound Survivors, and the data from the first 48 hours is... interesting. I wanted to share it so other solo devs can see what happens when you combine Reddit posts with a small TikTok test.
The Stats:
Visits: 650+ (mostly from USA)
CTR: 86.9% (Note: Steam's math is weird here, but I'll explain why).
Top Source: Direct Navigation (Reddit/TikTok).
What I learned:
External traffic "breaks" CTR: That 86% isn't real. It happens because Steam counts visits from Reddit, but doesn't count the "impression" because the person didn't see the capsule on Steam first. However, my Search Suggestion CTR is 29%, which confirms that the capsule art is doing its job.
USA Traffic is King: 55% of my traffic is from the US. This is huge because it's apperently the strongest market.
The "Chaos" Hook: I spent a lot of time optimizing for 5,000 enemies. When I post a GIF of that chaos, the click-through rate spikes. People want to see things that look "impossible" for a solo dev.
TikTok Promote works as a "Kickstart": Spent about $5 on TikTok ads. It didn't bring 1,000 wishlists, but it started the momentum that the Steam algorithm needed to notice the page.
If you are just starting, focus on your Capsule Art first. If people don't click, your Steam page doesn't matter.
Check out the page if you want to see the capsule/vibe:
