How a Survival Game revived a flatlining Steam Page, gained 4,100 Wishlists in 60 days, and generated a 15x ROI at Launch
(and surged past 16,500+ wishlists just weeks later)
The reality of a crowded market: flatlining at 1,500 Wishlists
Thomas spent over 4 years building Whisper of the Swallows. Alone.
He had a genuinely great idea: combining the punishing, lonely atmosphere of The Long Dark with the cooperative base-building freedom of Valheim.
He put in the development hours. He built a beautiful game. And then, he made a mistake that traps thousands of indie developers every year.
He launched his Steam Next Fest demo way too early.
Without a solid marketing foundation or an existing audience, the game simply got lost in the noise. After the festival ended in February 2025, Whisper of the Swallows was sitting at roughly 1,500 wishlists.
And then, for the better part of a year... the numbers just stopped moving.
When you check your Steam dashboard every single morning and the line is completely flat, it does something to your motivation. You start questioning the thousands of hours you've invested. You wonder if the game is actually any good, or if you've just wasted years of your life and savings.
Here is exactly how Thomas described that period to me:
"The lack of confidence in my own concept was keeping me up at night. So many great games were available, it was impossible to test all of them. As I never communicated before about my game, it was a really big jump. I had doubts about everything - me, the dev, the concept, the graphics..."
Thomas was looking at a whisper-quiet (no pun intended), unnoticed launch. He had an incredible game, yet almost nobody knew it existed.
What the hell happened?
When Thomas and I jumped on our first Strategy Call in August 2025, I pulled up his Steam page. The problem wasn't the game itself. The gameplay was deep and the atmosphere was fantastic. The problem was how the game was being introduced to strangers.
The Steam page was like a list of ingredients, NOT a finished product. It talked about procedural generation, crafting systems, and dynamic weather.
Players don't buy a list of mechanics. They buy an experience.
The game’s true identity - the terrifying feeling of huddling around a tiny campfire with your friends while a supernatural blizzard tries to tear your wooden shelter apart... that was completely buried. The Capsule art wasn't catching the eye while scrolling. The screenshots were just a bunch of random "nice-looking" moments, but they never told a compelling story.
Thomas had built an incredible world! He just needed help inviting players inside.
So... how do you recover from THAT?
We knew we couldn't rely on Steam Next Fest acting like a multiplier anymore. So, we had to manufacture our own launch - with blackjack and h-... wishlists.
Thomas signed up for The Launch Blueprint and The Wishlist Machine, and we essentially tore the marketing down to shreds and rebuilt it from scratch. Here is exactly what we did:
1. We focused on the HOOK
We stopped talking about "procedural generation" and focused
entirely on the most important verb: Survive.
We defined the game's soul in one sentence that a player could
instantly understand:
Brave a savage and unforgiving procedurally-generated world where extreme weather and the nightmares of the dark are your greatest enemies. Alone or in co-op, survive, build, and explore to transform a cursed hellscape into your sanctuary of light.
2. We made the screenshots tell a story
We threw out the old screenshots and built a 5-act visual story designed to answer a shopper's subconscious questions in the exact order they ask them:
- ✅ Is it a real game? A beautiful shot of the core gameplay loop with the UI clearly visible so they know it's a real game.
- ✅ What do I do here? A player in build mode, proving that the shelter system has depth.
- ✅ What happens if I fail? A tense, low-light combat scene showcasing a last-second dodge.
- ✅ What is my reward if I succeed? A cozy interior shot of friends around a fire while a storm rages outside.
- ✅ The "Wow" shot: A dramatic before/after shot showing a cursed, dark region transforming into a peaceful sanctuary.
3. We weaponized the Copy and the Tags
We completely rewrote the "About This Game" section to speak directly to the player, focusing on the benefits of the mechanics rather than just listing them. We embedded custom, 5-second "GIF-able moments" directly into the text to prove exactly what we were saying. Finally, we analyzed his top competitors and aligned his 20 tags perfectly so the Steam discovery algorithm finally knew exactly who to show the game to.
4. We created our own momentum
Armed with a clear, tested message, we went to Reddit and X. Because we finally had a clear Hook, the outreach started to resonate with players. A perfectly crafted post hit the front page of r/SurvivalGaming, pulling in 500 upvotes and driving a massive, sudden spike in traffic. This ended up generating over 500 wishlists in under a week.
We proved the power of the new messaging on the hardest targets in the industry. We sent a cold outreach email to SplatterCatGaming. While he ultimately declined to cover the game because the Early Access build needed more polish, he actually replied to the cold email. In an inbox flooded with hundreds of indie pitches a week, our hook and messaging were sharp enough to cut through the noise and get a personal response from one of the biggest curators in the space.
In the end, did all of this really make a difference?
We launched into Early Access on January 29, 2026.
Because we engineered the Steam page to actively convert visitors, and because we had pushed hard on a highly targeted outreach campaign, the launch totally exceeded Thomas's expectations.
Here's what happened only in the first month:
- Rescuing a Dream in 60 days: Exploded from a stagnant 1,500 wishlists to 5,600 on launch day. We didn’t need the 7,000 threshold to trigger the algorithm because our engaged, highly-targeted audience showed up to buy.
- Launch Day ROI: The game launched into Early Access on January 29, 2026. The momentum triggered the Steam algorithm immediately. Within its first month, the game generated a staggering 15x Return on Investment (ROI) on his marketing spend.
- Post-Launch momentum: The snowball effect took over. Just three weeks after launch, the game surged past 16,500 wishlists and is sitting at a 87% Very Positive review score.
The best part of this entire process? The massive success of the launch gave Thomas the financial freedom to dedicate himself full-time to Whisper of the Swallows without needing to hunt for freelance contracts on the side. He got to build the game on his terms.
And at the end of the day...
Here is what Thomas had to say about our partnership when the dust settled:
"Working with Alan from Game Catapult has been one of the most valuable professional experiences I’ve had as an indie developer. He’s consistently available, pragmatic, and focused on what truly matters."
"After years of building my game in isolation, his external perspective has been both refreshing and humbling: a mix of clear direction, hard truths, and incredibly useful insights. Thanks so much for all your help. I would have never reached the current state without you. More than marketing support, you helped me to extract and transform the core experience of my game."
"I achieved my dream. Seeing thousands of people love the world I created is something I still struggle to fully realize."
One more thing worth mentioning.
This is Early Access.
Wait until you see the full launch. 😉