Our worst Next Fest performance ever...

Executive summary

BiteMe Games reported sharply different Steam Next Fest outcomes for two games. Silicon Architect performed respectably and gained momentum, while Desktop Island—the studio’s larger development bet—had its weakest Next Fest showing.

The studio plans to release Desktop Island on schedule, make a targeted store-page change, and apply the lessons to future projects rather than treating the poor result as a reason to stop making games.

Results and business metrics

Silicon Architect

Silicon Architect is a small, incremental puzzle and simulation game about designing CPU components, inspired by Windows XP-era interfaces.

• The studio had hoped to gain roughly 2,000 wishlists from Next Fest. The actual result was considered acceptable as part of 1,885 wishlists gained over the prior two weeks.
• After the event, the game had 4,148 outstanding wishlists.
• Steam Next Fest generated 93,693 impressions and a 3.16% click-through rate (CTR).
• The demo peaked at about 23 players near the end of the reporting period. The developer also said 90% of demo players played beyond the first 10 minutes.
• The game began as a side project, with about 158 development hours reported at the time of recording. It was partly intended to diversify the studio’s portfolio, rather than to be a guaranteed breakout hit.
• The planned release was the end of January. The developer expected to continue building the game, including its UI and other implementation work.

Desktop Island

Desktop Island is a pixel-art desktop idle game with multiplayer features. The team’s internal pitch was roughly “Stardew Valley co-op as a desktop idler.”

• The game received 187 wishlists during Next Fest, below the studio’s previous low of about 240 for another game.
• It had 1,699 outstanding wishlists and gained 244 over the prior two weeks. Its peak was about 46 wishlists in a day.
• The store page received approximately 63,882 impressions, but its CTR was just under 1%. The speaker contrasted this with Silicon Architect’s 3.16% CTR and said Desktop Island received roughly two-thirds as many impressions but only about one-sixth to one-eighth as many wishlists.
• A previous demo reached only three concurrent players, suggesting the multiplayer proposition was not prompting many players to bring friends into the experience.
• A personal-calendar placement received about 5,000 impressions and had a 2% CTR. The developer judged the capsule art too small and insufficiently attention-grabbing in that placement.
• The first announcement generated about 1,300 wishlists. The following four months added roughly 300, including the demo, playtest, and Next Fest.
• The planned release was November 27, about four weeks after recording. The studio did not expect the game to reach 2,000 wishlists by launch.
• The studio cited about $6,000 in gross revenue over the previous 31 days, with additional income from diversified sources. The speaker said the studio could absorb a weak result and continue operating.

Business playbooks and lessons

Diagnose the funnel before changing the product

Compare impressions, CTR, store-page performance, demo engagement, and wishlist growth.

For Desktop Island, the large CTR gap pointed first to the store-page presentation—especially its capsule—as a likely area to investigate. The speaker treated this as a hypothesis, not proof, and also considered the game’s pixel-art presentation, screenshots, and market demand as possible factors.

Make a targeted marketing adjustment

The studio planned to redesign Desktop Island’s capsule for the small personal-calendar display, where the existing logo and artwork did not stand out.

The developer considered the commissioned artwork strong overall but criticized the logo execution, the contractor’s communication, and missed deadlines.

Use portfolio diversification to manage risk

Desktop Island was described as a high-variance bet: it might generate very little or become a major success. Silicon Architect served as a smaller, lower-cost hedge. Its slower wishlist start later picked up, illustrating why the studio did not judge every project solely by its initial trajectory.

The speaker emphasized that development effort does not guarantee market demand.

Set a release decision based on remaining upside

Despite the weak results, the team saw little value in delaying Desktop Island. It had already completed many planned marketing beats, and the developer did not see a clear additional investment likely to change the outcome.

The studio planned to release the game, continue some marketing and development, and conduct a fuller postmortem later.

Submit builds early and protect the schedule

Developers may need two to three weeks to get a build submitted and approved. At the time of recording, Desktop Island still needed a few achievement icons before submission. The recommendation was not to leave build submission until the last minute.

Adapt to market conditions rather than dwelling on them

The speaker noted that the October Next Fest had about 8,000 games, compared with roughly 3,500 at earlier events, and acknowledged that competition may have affected visibility.

The advice was to treat the crowded event as a constraint to adapt to—by improving games and marketing—rather than making it the sole explanation for a weak result.

Sources and presenters

• Presenter: BiteMe Games speaker, unnamed in the subtitles.
• Other person mentioned: Thomas, the developer who led most of Desktop Island’s development.
• Data discussed: The studio’s Steamworks and store-page statistics, wishlist totals, and demo statistics.