Publishing your first listing

Twenty minutes, most of which is deciding what to call it. This walks through the whole thing once so nothing surprises you.

Before you start

Have three things to hand:

• **A build**, zipped. One `.zip` containing everything the game needs to run.
• **A cover image**, ideally 4:3. Skip it if you don't have one — you'll get generated artwork until you upload something, and it looks deliberate rather than broken.
• **Two sentences** about what it is. Not marketing copy. What it is.

1. Zip your build properly

This is where most uploads go wrong, so it's worth thirty seconds.

• **Unity:** you get an `.exe` **and** a `_Data` folder. Both are required — zip the whole output folder. An `.exe` on its own will not run.
• **Godot:** the executable plus its `.pck`, unless you ticked Embed PCK. Zip the folder.
• **Unreal:** zip the entire packaged folder. Use a Shipping build, not Development — Development builds are far larger for no benefit to a player.
• **GameMaker:** choose the zip option rather than the installer. People downloading a small indie game would rather not run an installer.
• **Ren'Py:** it builds a clean zip per platform already. Upload that one directly.
• **Web builds:** zip the *contents* so `index.html` sits at the top level, not inside a folder.

**Don't upload a bare `.exe`.** Browsers warn on them, and I require archives anyway.

2. Start the listing

**Dashboard → Listings → New listing.**

Pick **Game** or **Asset**. That choice decides which fields you see, and it can't be changed later — make a new listing if you get it wrong.

3. Title, tagline, description

The **title** is what people see in the store. The **tagline** is one line underneath it.

For the tagline, describe the game rather than selling it. *"A turn-based RPG about running a failing hotel"* tells someone more than *"An unforgettable journey awaits"* ever will.

The **description** supports basic formatting. Worth including: what you do in it, roughly how long it lasts, what state it's in, and what it needs to run.

If it's unfinished, say so up front. People are forgiving about unfinished and unforgiving about being surprised.

4. Made With

Your engine, any other tools, and optionally whether generative AI contributed.

Every row is yours to fill or leave blank — a blank one just doesn't appear. The engine links through to its guide, so people browsing can find their way to how it was built.

Declaring AI is entirely optional. Some creators like to say either way; plenty say nothing.

5. Tags and platforms

Up to ten tags. Pick from the suggestions where you can — a tag other people also use is a tag people can find you through, and an invented one usually isn't.

Tick every platform your build actually runs on. Not the ones you intend to support.

6. Price

**Free is a real choice**, and the right one for a first listing. It costs you nothing, it removes every barrier to someone trying it, and downloads teach you more than three sales would.

If you do charge, there's a minimum price — below it the flat card-processing charge takes most of the sale and you'd end up with almost nothing. The editor shows you exactly what you'd receive as you type. The full arithmetic is on the fees page.

7. Upload the build

**Files → Upload.** Large files take a while and the upload continues while you fill in the rest of the form.

You can upload several builds — one per platform is normal. Name them so a person can tell which is which: *"Windows (64-bit)"* beats *"build_final_v3_REAL"*.

8. Publish

Hit publish and it's live. It appears in the store, on your creator page, and in the New rail.

You can unpublish at any time. People who already downloaded it keep what they have — that's deliberate, and it's in the Seller Agreement.

Then what?

**Write a devlog.** Even two paragraphs about what you were trying to do. A listing with a devlog gets read; a listing without one gets scrolled past. It's also the thing that makes a page worth coming back to.

**Tell three people.** Nothing on any platform beats this, and nobody wants to hear it. A new listing on a new platform has no audience except the one you bring.

**Expect quiet.** The first week of a first listing is almost always silent, everywhere, for everyone. It isn't a verdict on the game.