Steam Next Fest Wrap-Up
From zero Wishlists to 1,190 in just seven days, SHELLSTORM: The Great War made a strong mark at Steam Next Fest. While 1,190 Wishlists may not seem astronomical in absolute terms, it’s a strong result given that visibility at the festival is heavily influenced by starting Wishlist numbers - and we began with zero. For context, according to www.howtomarketagame.com, new games starting with 0-999 Wishlists typically gain a median of 462 Wishlists in the 7 day festival. Given that SHELLSTORM began with zero, the expected median would likely be even lower, highlighting the significance of our result. The game jumped immediately from 0 to "silver tier" in its opening week! Launched on October 12th, titled "Gorge of Deliverance", the demo introduced players to the next generation of physics-based real-time-tactics combat. Here’s how it performed:
Base Game Page Visibility Metrics
👀 115,258 Total Impressions
🚪 2,413 Visits from within Steam
🚪 1,789 External visits
➡️ 4,202 Total Visits
Demo Page Visibility Metrics
👀 25,977 Total Impressions
🚪 4,202 Visits from within Steam
🚪 625 External visits
➡️ 5,655 Total Visits
Combined Visibility Metrics
👀 141,235 Total Impressions (Game + Demo).
🚪 9,857 Combined Visits (Game + Demo).
🖱️ 7% Overall Click-Through Rate (Game + Demo).
Note: Next Fest often shows impressions for the base game, not the demo page. But clicking on the impression takes users to the demo page. This inflates the demo’s CTR (click-through rate) and deflates the main page’s CTR, so we combined both to get the true picture.
Main Game Page Visits Over Time 
Main Game Page Impressions Over Time 
Demo Page Visits Over Time 
Demo Page Impressions Over Time 
Why did SHELLSTORM have a high click-through rate?
A game's click-through rate is the number of times its banner was clicked, out of all the times it was shown. We believe that SHELLSTORM's high 7% click-through rate can be attributed to the beautiful cover art and compelling screenshots featured on the base game page, which were very carefully picked to grip the attention of users. Below is how the game's preview looked at the event.
⬇️ 1,843 Demo License Activations
This is the number of players who added the demo to their Steam library during the festival!
🔁 33% Conversion Rate!
Out of the 5,655 users who entered the demo page, 1,843 of them actually added the demo to their library!
🎮 765 unique users!
This is the number of players who actually launched the Demo during Next Fest! About 42% of those who added the demo to their library also launched it.
⭐ 1,196 Wishlist additions!
This is the number of users who added the game to their Wishlist!
❌ 103 Wishlist deletions!
This is the number of users who removed the game from their Wishlist.
🗑️8.6% Wishlist Deletion Rate
This is the percentage of Wishlist additions which were later removed.
⭐ 1093 Net Wishlists!
This is the total standing Wishlist count of SHELLSTORM as of October 21st, 2025 - one day after the conclusion of Next Fest.
Monthly Active Users
Daily New Users
Session Length
Note: The median playtime was ~4 minutes for the first few days, but is now closer to ~8 minutes and rising.
📈 What This Means for Next Fest Participants
These results confirm that Steam Next Fest can be a powerful launchpad when paired with a polished demo and compelling visuals. With the demo in players’ hands, every subsequent update will have immediate impact on a non-zero audience.
🪖 What This Means for SHELLSTORM: The Great War
Just over a week ago, SHELLSTORM had no Steam presence and zero Wishlists. Today, it has over a thousand Wishlist's - a critical foothold for growth toward our goal of 3000 Wishlists before Early Access. We strongly welcome engagement and cross-promotion from streamers, YouTubers, and press. To the 1,843 who enlisted - and the 765 who have already entered the Gorge of Deliverance - thank you for being on the frontlines with us!
Best regards,
Hayk Amirbekyan
Founder, HyperMad Interactive
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