How much art do you need before launching your Steam page?

Contrary to what you might believe, the purpose of your marketing and store assets isn’t to define what the game looks like. At least not immediately.

Not at all. I’m simply helping you understand how and why you create all these assets for your game. Or rather… what else should be a priority before you think about all the marketing shebang.

Otherwise, the marketing campaign for your game will be a swing-and-miss on repeat. I believe none of us want that, right?

The #1 thing you need before fucking up your marketing art

The numero uno thing before you start creating those gorgeous marketing visuals is to… have a visual direction in the first place, my friend.

You might ask yourself, “How do I make sure that happens?” And if not, don’t worry. I already asked the question for you.

A strong visual direction for your game comes from a solid foundation called Visual Development.

This is what your project needs BEFORE creating capsule art, key art, or trailers. This establishes the game’s core:

• shapes

• colors

• atmosphere

• characters

• environments

• the overall tone

Without this foundation, your marketing assets will have to invent your identity from scratch. Which can look amazing, extraordinary, brilliant, and sooo utterly… useless.

Because you can easily end up with something that looks generic or disconnected from the game itself.

To be frank with you, it’s not just marketing that benefits from doing your homework and defining your visual direction.

“Visual Development is meant to give the entire production a consistent direction”

Creating marketing assets that feel distinctive, credible, and memorable is part of that package.

We’re not gonna get into specifics about what the whole Visual Development process looks like and all the benefits. We already wrote an article about it here. I highly encourage you to give it a read.

Assuming that you’ve done this important first step (or hired an outsourcing art studio like us to do it *wink wink* 😉), you can finally start working on your Steam visual assets.

What should a Steam capsule art package include?

A strong capsule package should build on that established visual identity. And immediately help players associate it with the feeling you want them to experience. If you send the wrong emotional stimulus, or worse, no stimulus at all… you’ve just lost them.

The main capsule artwork must also be readable on both small and large screens.

It should communicate the game’s core appeal and answer the crucial question: “Who is this for?”

It should have a strong contrast that makes it stand out from the myriad of games that players scroll through each day on Steam.

It should have a readable logo and distinct typography.

Last but not least, it should have a clear visual hierarchy. What’s the central element that should glue the players’ eyes to the screen? How do you use the rest of the elements to drive their attention towards it?

Once you’ve captured the players’ attention, a broader key art can then show more of the world, characters, or central conflict.

If you check all of these aspects, it means that you’ve successfully translated your visual direction into a clear and compelling marketing campaign.

And if you struggle with either Visual Development or creating your Steam capsules and key art, you can always reach out to us to take care of it for you. Our contact form is just below 👇