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How to price your indie game on Steam (and set regional prices)
DreamEp, founder of NextWishlist · Updated · 3 min read
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Short answerPrice against similar games of your genre and length, not to undercut them, as Valve advises. Then use Steam's Propose Pricing tool for the 37 currencies, leave none empty, and don't change the price in the first 30 days: raising it blocks discounts for 30 days.
Your price decides how many wishlisters buy at launch, how deep your discounts can go, and what each sale is worth. Here is how Valve says to think about it, how its regional pricing works, and the rules that make a launch price hard to change.
01Start from similar games, not from your costs
Valve lists what to weigh: playtime, replayability, multiplayer, whether you launch in Early Access, how similar games are priced, and your future promotions. Its advice is to give players good value, and that it's "not about trying to undercut competition with a lower price".
- List 10 to 20 games of your genre, scope and art level that released in the last two or three years, with their launch prices.
- Read their reviews: complaints about length or price tell you where the ceiling is.
- Place your game in that range by content and polish, not by how long it took you to make.
The top upcoming Steam games by genre and the "More like this" row of your page are good places to find those games.
02What the price does to your launch
- Conversion: public benchmarks put first-week sales at a median of about 15% of wishlists, closer to 10% for games above $10. A higher price sells fewer copies, each worth more.
- Discounts: your launch discount can go up to 40% for 7 to 14 days, and only discounts of 20% or more email your wishlisters. A price with room for a 20% to 40% discount keeps both options open. All the rules: Steam discount rules.
- Steam's cut and refunds: you keep about 70% of each sale, and refunds are possible within 14 days and 2 hours of play. See how much Steam takes.
03Regional pricing: 37 currencies
Steam sells in 37 currencies across 4 region groups. You set a USD price, then Valve's Propose Pricing tool suggests a price for every currency, which you accept or adjust. Valve offers three ways to convert: exchange rate only, purchasing power only, or a multi-variable method that mixes purchasing power, local entertainment prices and exchange rate.
- Never leave a currency empty: Valve warns that a missing price makes your game unavailable to players who rely on that currency.
- Your price must be at least Steam's minimum for the $0.99 tier, and discounts can't take a price below about half of that minimum.
- Valve reviews new prices and changes, usually within one or two business days.
04The rules that lock your launch price
- Valve asks you to wait 30 days after release before changing your price, to protect players who just bought it (it can fix a major launch pricing error).
- Raising a price in any currency starts a 30-day cooldown on discounts.
- Prices can't be scheduled: you publish an approved change yourself, or let Valve publish it after review.
- Leaving Early Access: request the price change a few days early. Raising the price within 30 days of 1.0 means you can't use a launch discount.
In practice: decide your price before you announce your release date, and treat it as fixed for the first month.
05Early Access and price
Many games launch in Early Access at a lower price and raise it at 1.0. Valve forbids permanent discounts during Early Access and sets cooldowns around price increases, so announce the plan clearly. More in Steam Early Access.
How to price your indie game on Steam (and set regional prices): quick answers
How much should I charge for my indie game?
Look at the launch prices of 10 to 20 similar games of your genre and scope from the last few years, and place yours by content and polish. Valve advises giving good value rather than undercutting.
How does Steam regional pricing work?
You set a USD price and Steam's Propose Pricing tool suggests prices for its 37 currencies. You can accept or adjust them, but leaving a currency empty makes your game unavailable in it.
Can I change my price after launch on Steam?
Valve asks you to wait 30 days after release. Raising a price then blocks discounts for 30 days.
Is a $9.99 or $19.99 price better on Steam?
It depends on your genre and length. Public benchmarks show games above $10 convert a smaller share of wishlists in the first week (about 10% against 15%), but each sale is worth more.
Sources
Valve's rules can change: the official Steamworks page always wins. Practitioner benchmarks are surveys of developers, given as ranges.
- Valve, Pricing (Steamworks) (read Oct 28, 2026)
- Valve, Discounting (Steamworks) (read Oct 28, 2026)
- Valve, Early Access (Steamworks) (read Oct 28, 2026)
- Valve, Steam Refunds (read Oct 28, 2026)
- Chris Zukowski, “How many wishlists should I have when I launch my game?” (updated June 2026)
- Chris Zukowski, Benchmarks (How To Market A Game) (updated June 2026)
Launch with a plan, not a guess.
Your launch checklist built from Valve's rules, your wishlists projected to launch day, and your reviews turned into tasks. NextWishlist is a Steam marketing tool for indie developers, in private beta.