GamesVisual novels playbook
Outpost plans your VN's campaign around where readers actually look: itch.io, genre communities, character reveals and Steam's narrative events, with every submission on the record.
01 · DISCOVERY
Visual novel readers search by niche (otome, yuri, BL, horror, mystery), and many discover games on itch.io, where free and short VNs are a big part of the catalogue. Dedicated readers use VNDB to track releases and r/visualnovels and forums to compare notes. Character art and route teasers on social media do much of the early work, and Steam's narrative events give a later push.
A character or art post catches attention, the reader checks the itch.io or Steam page for genre, length and content warnings, often plays a free demo or prologue, follows or wishlists, then buys when the full release or a sale arrives. Ratings and word of mouth inside niche communities carry a lot of weight.
02 · CHANNELS
Ranked 5 (essential) to 1 (optional) by the research for this industry.
itch.io has a deep VN readership and lets you publish a free prologue, collect follows and post devlogs that are indexed even before files are uploaded.
Readers attach to characters before they know the plot. Regular art, sprite and dialogue teasers on X, Bluesky, Tumblr and TikTok build a following that converts at release.
VNDB is where serious readers track titles; r/visualnovels and Lemma Soft Forums are where they and developers talk. A correct listing and genuine participation matter more than ads.
Steam's themed and demo festivals have featured visual novels, and a wishlist brings launch and sale emails.
Jams build a portfolio, a following and a small free VN that points to your main project.
BUSINESS MODEL · LIVE
The same channel can be a strong fit for a paid game and a poor one for a free one. Each line below is a rule or rating from Outpost's knowledge base, with its source; your own plan is built from your answers.
Steam Curator Connect sends up to 5 copies to each of up to 100 curators as licences, which is a lever for paid games; how it applies to free-to-play titles was not verified.
HTML5 (browser-played) games on itch.io can only take donations; to sell access the project must be set to Downloadable.
itch.io offers three pricing modes per project: no payments, $0-or-donate (a suggested donation that can be skipped), and paid with the set price as a minimum that buyers may exceed.
Free-to-play and Early Access games may enter Steam Next Fest if unreleased, with a public demo, a public store page, and only one Next Fest per title ever.
itch.io's quality guidelines tell creators to avoid sponsored installers and ads that block play until the player acts, and itch never puts ads on creator pages.
Steam does not accept applications with advertising-based business models, so an ads-funded game must remove ads or monetize differently for its Steam build.
itch.io has no general in-game purchase system; its 'sub-products' API sells add-ons through itch's checkout for redemption on the developer's own site or service.
Steam does not accept blockchain games that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.
Free-to-play games on Steam are generally not eligible for curated discount spotlights (Daily Deals, Midweek and Weekend deals), and in-game content discounts are run from the developer's own backend.
Steamworks' onboarding rules, microtransaction, free-to-play and Inventory docs set no specific odds-disclosure rule for paid random items, so Steam loot boxes are governed by regional law, rating boards and the Steam Inventory drop system.
Desktop games installed through the itch app need an app manifest if they require redistributables (Visual C++, DirectX, XNA), have multiple launch targets or use the itch.io API; simple single-executable builds work without one.
itch.io's butler docs say the backend rejects builds above 30GB total uncompressed size; the itch app docs say 'the web limit is 2GB'; a 2020 community thread showed a 1 GB web-upload message, now likely out of date.
itch.io tags butler uploads by channel name: names containing win/windows, linux, mac/osx or android become Windows, Linux, Mac or Android downloads; architecture cannot be tagged.
itch.io HTML5 zips should not contain more than 1,000 files after extraction (a default limit; itch.io says to contact them if it doesn't suit the project).
Read from Outpost's knowledge base on Nov 8, 2026; every line links its source.
03 · YOUR FIRST MONTH
A sample month. Your own plan is built from your audit, stage and goal, and paid options only ever appear as optional boosts.
Week 1 · days 1–7
Week 2 · days 8–14
Week 3 · days 15–21
Week 4 · days 22–30
DEADLINES · LIVE
Read from Outpost's knowledge base when this page loads. Expected dates follow the organiser's usual pattern and are labelled until the organiser confirms them.
04 · WHERE TO BE LISTED
Costs are as published by each destination when the research was reviewed; check before you pay for anything.
itch.io
Core home for indie VNs; free demos, pay-what-you-want and follows.
Free; you set itch.io's revenue share (default 10%)
itch.io
NaNoRenO and other VN jams bring a ready audience of readers and developers.
vndb.org
Where readers track and rate VNs. Entries have inclusion rules: choices must be the only real interactivity.
Free (community-edited)
partner.steamgames.com
A VN demo can collect wishlists during the demo festival.
Free (needs an existing Steam app)
partner.steamgames.com
Valve has run a Visual Novel Fest; opt in when a fitting theme is on the calendar.
Free to opt in
partner.steamgames.com
Many curators focus on VNs, otome and narrative games.
lemmasoft.renai.us
The long-running Ren'Py and VN developer community, with areas for showing your work.
reddit.com
Large reader community; check the self-promotion rules before posting.
PC STORES · LIVE
For PC games already on Steam: what Epic offers and asks, from Epic's own pages where they could be read.
Epic Games Store developers keep 100% of the first US$1M net revenue per product per calendar year (resetting each 1 January from 2026, applied automatically), then 88/12.
Epic First Run is an opt-in 6-month Epic-exclusive window paying 100% net revenue; it is open only to new games not previously released on another third-party PC store, and afterwards the standard 100%-of-first-US$1M then 88/12 terms apply.
Epic lets games use their own or a third-party payment solution for in-app purchases, keeping up to 100% of that revenue.
Epic requires multiplayer games sold on other PC stores to support crossplay with them, and products added to its publishing tools after 9 March 2023 to enable Epic achievements if they offer achievements on other PC stores.
Listing on Epic Games Store is paid. $100 per product plus local taxes; not refundable but recouped after $1,000 on EGS. Developer keeps 100% of the first $1M net revenue per product per year (resets every Jan 1 from 2026), then 88/12, applied automatically to Epic-processed payments. A separate opt-in 'Epic First Run' gives 100% for a 6-month exclusive. Free alternative: itch.io or the Microsoft Store PC path (free)
05 · SEARCH DEMAND
Primary search
visual novel marketing
Below the provider’s reporting threshold: real demand, too small to report.
DataForSEO Google Ads, US/en, Oct 2026: primary keyword below reporting threshold. Related: 'visual novel' 18100/mo.
Comparing: show why you
Ready to act: make it easy
Comparing: show why you
Learning: answer with guides
06 · AVOID
VNDB only includes titles where choices are the only real interactivity and nearly all the game is reading. A dating sim with stats or a puzzle VN may not qualify; position it honestly so the right readers find it.
Steam uses your mature content answers to decide how the game appears to each customer. Incomplete or wrong answers mean the wrong people see it, or it gets hidden.
Readers want to know the premise, the genre, roughly how long it is and what content to expect. Character art alone doesn't sell the story.
VN audiences form around characters over months. Starting reveals and a demo late leaves too little time for a following to build.
07 · WHAT OUTPOST DOES
Rewrites your Steam page copy with the genre, length and content-warning details players look for
Drafts store and itch.io copy with the length, route and content-warning details VN readers check
Drafts character and route reveals as posts that go out once you approve, with a receipt for each
Finds VN reviewers and YouTube creators and drafts personal pitches for you to send
Publishes 'visual novels like' and niche-genre pages on your site that build search traffic over months
Tracks AI-assistant mentions for queries like 'best otome games' over time, next to the follows and wishlists you share
Every action Outpost takes gets a receipt: the live URL, a timestamp and what it drove, or “nothing yet”.See how receipts work
08 · QUESTIONS
Many VN developers use itch.io first for a demo, devlogs and a following, then launch on Steam with wishlists in hand. It depends on your audience: niche and free VNs often do well on itch.io, while longer paid VNs benefit from Steam's wishlist emails.
VNDB includes titles where choices are the only real interactivity and almost all of the game is reading, with only minimal mini-games. Read its guidelines before submitting; games with stats-based gameplay may not qualify.
It's a good way to finish a small VN, meet the community and build a portfolio. It runs every March, has no prizes or judging, and its 2025 rules banned generative AI assets. Treat it as a community and portfolio move, not a sales channel.
Steam shows mature games according to each customer's content preferences, so mature titles reach fewer people by default. Disclose accurately; hiding content risks problems with Valve.
Localization opens new reader communities, but it is a big cost for a text-heavy game. Test demand first, with a demo or reader requests, before translating.
Reveals and community posts build followers over weeks; search traffic from your site and listings compounds over months. Plan the campaign across the whole development period.
Often yes, as a second store once your Steam page is working, if your game meets Epic's rules: Epic Games Store developers keep 100% of the first US$1M net revenue per product per calendar year (resetting each 1 January from 2026, applied automatically), then 88/12. Epic First Run is an opt-in 6-month Epic-exclusive window paying 100% net revenue; it is open only to new games not previously released on another third-party PC store, and afterwards the standard 100%-of-first-US$1M then 88/12 terms apply. Epic lets games use their own or a third-party payment solution for in-app purchases, keeping up to 100% of that revenue. Epic requires multiplayer games sold on other PC stores to support crossplay with them, and products added to its publishing tools after 9 March 2023 to enable Epic achievements if they offer achievements on other PC stores. Listing on Epic Games Store is paid. $100 per product plus local taxes; not refundable but recouped after $1,000 on EGS. Developer keeps 100% of the first $1M net revenue per product per year (resets every Jan 1 from 2026), then 88/12, applied automatically to Epic-processed payments. A separate opt-in 'Epic First Run' gives 100% for a 6-month exclusive. Free alternative: itch.io or the Microsoft Store PC path (free) Epic First Run is irreversible for its six months, so Outpost asks you to confirm it before planning it.
10 · EVIDENCE
Every fact on this page comes from one of these sources.
VNDB inclusion rules: choices are the only interactivity, at least 99% of the title is reading; release and edition guidelines
Annual month-long VN jam in March; 2025 rules ban generative AI assets; no prizes or judging
Valve ran a Steam Visual Novel Fest, March 3 to 10, 2025
Devlogs on public pages are indexed even if no files are uploaded
Mature content disclosure determines how the game appears relative to each customer's preferences
Ren'Py community points to the Lemma Soft Forums as its hub
Last reviewed . Search volume: DataForSEO Google Ads, US/en, Oct 2026: primary keyword below reporting threshold. Related: 'visual novel' 18100/mo.
FREE WEBSITE AUDIT
Paste your website. Outpost reads it, scores your visibility, finds your competitors and shows the first fixes, free. Then the playbook above becomes your own campaign, measured in wishlists and readers.
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