Launch week on Steam: the questions of each day and where the answers are

Launch week is the stretch where a Steam game's numbers move fastest: the wishlist email goes out, the first sales and reviews arrive, refunds open, and the store lists decide who sees the game. SteamStats treats the 14 days before and after launch as one window and refreshes several sources faster inside it.

Last reviewed · SteamStats team

The period and its timeline

A Steam launch, from two weeks before release to two weeks after
WhenWhat happens on SteamWhat changes in SteamStats
14 days before releaseThe Coming Soon page has been public for at least two weeks; a launch discount, if any, is already set up.The launch window opens and several sources refresh faster.
Release daySteam emails or notifies everyone who has the game on their wishlist. The launch discount starts.Reviews, Players, and Community Hub start. Sales by hour begin.
Days 1 to 7First-week sales; the game may appear in New & Trending and, once it reaches the sales rank, on Top Sellers.Sales are compared with the wishlists waiting at launch; the review score and its buffer update with every review.
Days 8 to 14A launch discount of 7 to 14 days ends. Copies bought on release day stay refundable for two weeks if played for less than two hours.The forecast leans more on the game's own sales days and less on the wishlist estimate.
Day 14 onwardNo custom discount is allowed until 30 days after release. The launch month is paid by the 30th of the following month.The launch window closes and every source returns to its regular interval.

The window belongs to each game: in a studio with several games, only the one that is launching gets the faster refresh.

Questions studios ask in launch week

  • Is today's sales pace ahead of or behind the hours before it, and what share of buyers came from the wishlist?
  • How many wishlists are still waiting to convert after the launch email?
  • Is the review score safe, and how many negative reviews would drop its label?
  • How many people are playing right now, and at which hours do they play?
  • Which store lists show the game, and in which countries?
  • What are players reporting in the Community Hub, and which threads have no developer reply yet?
  • Why are players refunding, and how many are still inside the refund window?
  • What is the game now expected to earn by year end and in its first year?

Which SteamStats views answer them

Launch-week questions, the view that answers each, and its refresh inside the launch window
QuestionViewRefresh in the launch window
Sales pace and buyers from the wishlistSales: sold today, sales by hour, where buyers come fromevery 2 h on Indie and every 60 min on Studio and Publisher
Wishlists still waitingSales: wishlists still waiting; Wishlists: adds, deletes and netevery 60 min on Indie, Studio, and Publisher
Review score and bufferUser reviews: store score, label, buffer and the review feedevery 22 min on Indie and every 5 min on Studio and Publisher
Players now and by hourPlayers: players now against the usual range, busiest hoursevery 7 min on Indie and every 2 min on Studio and Publisher
Store lists by countryStore visibility: New Releases, Top Sellers and their ranks by countryevery 12 h on Indie and every 6 h on Studio and Publisher
Community Hub threadsCommunity hub: bugs, questions and threads waiting for a replyevery 30 min on Indie and every 5 min on Studio and Publisher
Refund reasonsSales: refund rate, refund reasons and playtime inside the refund windowevery 2 h on Indie and every 60 min on Studio and Publisher
Expected earningsForecast: Low, Expected, High and Viral, from the next 30 days to the first yeardaily on Indie, Studio, and Publisher

In the first days there are few earlier sales days to compare with, so comparisons with a usual day have little to work with yet, and the Forecast view starts from the wishlists at launch and a first-week conversion range until the game's own days take over. Refund reasons and playtime come from Steamworks partner reports through the SteamStats browser extension; without it, those cards stay hidden.

Launch sales for the demo game

Did the discount work?

  • During2,682a day · 14 days from launch
  • After941a day · 7 days

Refunds 3.54%Not fun 42.35%Other issues 21.31%Purchased by accident 10.35%

Pebblewick units per day since launch, with its launch discount shaded.

The shaded window is the launch discount. Because it starts on release day there is no week before it to compare with, so the view shows only the During and After averages and marks During as from launch.

Plans

Sales, wishlists and the forecast read the studio's own Steamworks data, so launch week in SteamStats is part of Indie, Studio, and Publisher. Outside the launch window, sales refresh every 4 h on Indie and every 60 min on Studio and Publisher.

Sources