README.md

---
license: other
pretty_name: Steam Launch Window Data
tags:
- steam
- video-games
- game-releases
- time-series
configs:
- config_name: history
  data_files: history/games.parquet
- config_name: upcoming_snapshots
  data_files: upcoming/snapshots/*.parquet
- config_name: upcoming_apps
  data_files: upcoming/apps.parquet
- config_name: release_changes
  data_files: upcoming/release_changes.parquet
- config_name: gp_followers
  data_files: gp/followers/*.csv.gz
- config_name: gp_players
  data_files: gp/players/*.csv.gz
- config_name: events
  data_files: events.parquet
- config_name: tags
  data_files: tags.parquet
- config_name: runs
  data_files: upcoming/runs.parquet
---

# Steam Launch Window Data

Data behind [steam-launch-window](https://github.com/wyc79/steam-launch-window),
a tool that helps indie developers pick a Steam launch week. Updated weekly
(the `gp_` configs daily). Last update: 2026-10-12.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve. The data comes from Steam's public
store pages and endpoints, collected politely (rate-limited, no logins), and the
`gp_` configs from [Games Popularity](https://games-popularity.com).
No personal data: no Steam IDs, usernames or review texts, only counts.

## What is here

| Config | Kind | Rows | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| `history` | today's view | 83,219 | games launched on Steam since 2022: launch date and type, price, tags, languages, demo, reviews in the first day, week and 30 days |
| `upcoming_snapshots` | raw, daily | 120,259 | one row per coming-soon game per day (2026-10 to 2026-10): release date and its precision, Early Access, wishlist rank, price if set |
| `upcoming_apps` | latest | 60,268 | name, developers, publishers, tags with vote weights, languages, demo; `last_seen` is the last day the game was coming soon |
| `release_changes` | derived | 60,523 | each game's first day in the snapshots, every change of its release date text or range, each day it left the coming-soon list, and each day it came back (`returned`) |
| `followers` | raw | 0 | Steam community hub follower counts, with fetch time |
| `gp_followers` | raw, daily | grows daily | Steam follower history from [Games Popularity](https://games-popularity.com), about one point a day since 2024-03-15: `appid`, `followers`, `observed_at` (their time, UTC), `fetched_at` (ours); one file per fetch day |
| `gp_players` | raw, daily | grows daily | concurrent players, hourly, for the first month after launch, from Games Popularity; same columns with `players` |
| `events` | curated | 308 | Steam sales, Next Fests, themed fests, major releases, regional holidays, each with a source; `starts_at`/`ends_at` (UTC) give the exact window: Steam events run from 10:00 Pacific on `start` to 10:00 Pacific on `end` |
| `tags` | latest | 446 | Steam tag id to name |
| `runs` | log | 3 | one row per daily collection: games, requests, whether the wishlist crawl worked |

```python
from datasets import load_dataset
history = load_dataset("<this repo>", "history")
```

## When each value was observed

- **Observed at the time:** `upcoming_snapshots` (one row per day, `snapshot_date` in UTC),
  `followers` (`fetched_at`), `runs`. Use these for "what was known before launch".
  The `gp_` configs were recorded at the time by Games Popularity (`observed_at`)
  but fetched by us later, often long after (`fetched_at`). Each fetch only asks
  for points newer than the ones already fetched, so a game's series is spread
  over several fetch-day files.
- **Frozen before launch:** a launched game's `upcoming_apps` row stops updating
  when it leaves the coming-soon list, so its tags, publisher, demo and languages
  are pre-launch values when `last_seen` is before the launch date.
- **Today's view:** `history`. Price, demo, Early Access status and tags are as
  they are now, and tags keep being voted after launch. Review counts cover a
  fixed window after launch but only reviews that still exist.
  `first_listed`/`last_listed` say when a game was first and last seen in
  Steam's list of released games; rows of games that disappear are kept.

## Things to know before using it

- **Dates** are Pacific time. Fuzzy release dates ("Q3 2027") have a
  `precision` and a `date` to `date_end` range.
- **Reviews** are Steam-purchase reviews (key activations excluded). Delisted
  games that left before collection started are missing.
- **`launch_type`**: `full`, `early_access`, or `ea_exit` (a 1.0 launch of a
  game that was already on sale in Early Access; treat these apart).
- **Wishlist rank** only covers Steam's top ~5,300 wishlisted games.
- **Upcoming prices** are almost always missing: paid games set them at launch.
- **Missing days:** `runs` shows which days were collected.

## Data rights

No license is granted here for the data. The code that builds it is MIT
licensed ([LICENSE](https://github.com/wyc79/steam-launch-window/blob/main/LICENSE)),
and that license covers the code only. The facts in this dataset (release
dates, tags, review and follower counts) come from Steam, owned by Valve
Corporation, which has not licensed or endorsed this dataset. Game names are
trademarks of their owners. Whether you may reuse the data depends on Valve's
terms for Steam data and on your local law. The `gp_` follower and player
histories come from [Games Popularity](https://games-popularity.com) and are
republished with its owner's permission (2026-10-12); credit them if you use them.
The `gp/` folder also holds `state.csv` and `runs.csv`, the collector's working
files (what was fetched when, and with what result).

Full methods: [README](https://github.com/wyc79/steam-launch-window#readme) and
[endpoint notes](https://github.com/wyc79/steam-launch-window/blob/main/docs/endpoints.md).