Why Specialist Publishers Win With Steam's New Cross-Promo Rules

Steam’s recent updates to its cross-promotion policies represent a strategic pivot that favors specialist publishers and developers with cohesive franchises. While Valve initially moved to restrict external links within game descriptions, the platform has introduced new, native tools allowing developers to curate which titles, publishers, or franchises are highlighted on their store pages. This shift enables developers to maintain control over their ecosystem by specifying the sort order and priority of related games, effectively replacing previous, less-regulated promotional methods with a more uniform, platform-integrated approach.

The analysis highlights that this change disproportionately benefits publishers with deep, genre-specific catalogs, such as Hooded Horse, while potentially disadvantaging publishers that utilize fragmented corporate structures or small developers with limited title counts. Beyond cross-promotion, Valve has also introduced enhanced curation tools for DLC, allowing developers to flag specific items as recommended or new, further centralizing promotional control within the Steam interface.

Industry data from August 2024, provided in collaboration with Stream Hatchet, underscores the continued dominance of evergreen titles alongside notable shifts in player interest. Apex Legends saw an 85% increase in hours watched following a seasonal update, while Black Myth: Wukong achieved 41.7 million hours watched outside of China. Additionally, the report examines the long-term performance of the winemaking simulator Hundred Days, which surpassed 100,000 units sold across all platforms since its 2021 release. The data reveals that while Steam accounts for over 50% of paid units, strategic participation in subscription services like PlayStation Plus Extra and Google Stadia Pro played a critical role in the game’s total revenue lifecycle. These findings emphasize the importance of multi-platform distribution and subscription-based revenue models for smaller, niche studios.