| --- |
| 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). |
| |
