How a surprise launch and fortunate timing helped Gray Zone Warfare top Steam

gamesindustry.biz:

2024 has been the year of surprising indie titles topping the Steam charts. Palworld, Balatro, Manor Lords and many more have all sold incredible amounts and outshone many big AAA releases on the platform, becoming some of the most successful launches of the year so far.

Some have been hotly anticipated before launch, while others have seemingly come out of nowhere – and one that falls into the latter category is Gray Zone Warfare. While the game had built up a small and dedicated community in the previous year or so, no one expected it to do as well as it has, shifting 400,000 units in the first two days and over 900,000 copies in under a month.

There were some external factors that likely helped, which we'll get to in a bit, but one of the reasons for Gray Zone Warfare's success was an effective Early Access launch plan right as the initial budget for the game was starting to dry up and the team had to release the game to the public.

After a few trailers and a select group of influencers being given limited access, which was the only gameplay footage anyone had seen beforehand, developer Madfinger Games gave hundreds of the biggest tactical shooter streamers a build of the game and no restrictions, allowing them to stream to their heart's content. It was a risk, as with no marketing deals in place influencers were free to judge the game however they wanted and a bad reaction could have killed any chance of a successful Early Access launch.

"When you have the backing of creators and fans, word about any game spreads like wildfire. We couldn't have achieved this without their help"

"Having a pre-alpha playtest for a week with no NDA, then launching the game just days later, it's not something you see every day," says Marek Rabas, CEO of Madfinger Games. "We wanted to be very honest with our community. There were doubts about us due to our previous mobile-only experience and the fiasco with The Day Before, so we wanted to show that it's real and not a scam. When you're