// Publish With Us
Steam Direct costs €100. We pay it. We build your store page. We list you on Above Constraints. You keep your game, your IP, and 100% of your revenue.
Above Constraints is a creator-first publisher run by one person in Italy. The publishing pipeline exists because the €100 Steam Direct fee shouldn't be the wall that stops a finished game from reaching players. We cover it. We set up the page. The work — and the revenue — stay yours.
The offer
Three things land on us when you publish with Above Constraints. No upfront cost, no contract clauses written to extract from you later.
Steam Direct fee
We pay the Valve listing fee from our account. You don't see an invoice for it.
Store page setup
We configure the Steam page — descriptions, tags, screenshots, capsule placement — so it looks shipped, not half-finished.
Listed on Above
Your game gets a dedicated page on aboveconstraints.com, visible to the community and surfaced in Newsroom drops when you ship.
More layers — capsule art, launch ops, organised playtests — are coming as the platform grows. Patreon is what makes them happen faster.
What we don't take
The whole point of this pipeline is that publishing shouldn't cost you the thing you built. So:
- 0% RevenueWe take no cut. All Steam revenue goes through your own Steamworks account, paid directly to you by Valve.
- 0% IPYou keep full ownership of your game, your code, your art, your name. We don't license it, sublicense it, or claim derivative rights.
- No ExclusivityShip on itch, GOG, the Epic Games Store, your own site — go wherever you want. The Above page just lives alongside.
- No Lock-InWalk away whenever. Take the Steam page with you and transfer the app to your own Steamworks org. Nothing in our agreement holds the listing hostage.
How it works
The pipeline is short by design. Most projects go from pitch to live store page in two to four weeks, depending on how press-ready the assets are when you submit.
Pitch
You submit your game through the community games form: a short description, a build or video, and the assets you already have. Takes about ten minutes.
Review
We look at the submission, play or watch what you sent, and reply within a week. If it's a fit, we schedule a short call to align on positioning and timing.
Setup
You create your Steamworks account. We pay the €100 Direct fee for it. We build the store page with the assets and copy you provide, and walk you through the Steamworks side of the configuration.
Listing
The page goes live on Steam. A dedicated page goes live on aboveconstraints.com under Community Games. Newsroom coverage triggers on launch milestones.
Ship
You release on your own schedule. Wishlist tracking, demo drops, and post-launch updates are coordinated through your existing Steamworks account — no middle layer.
What you bring
Above covers the publishing scaffolding. The actual creative work and accountability for the project sit with you.
- A game that is at least playable end-to-end — vertical slice, demo, or finished build.
- Capsule art and screenshots, or the willingness to make them with our guidance.
- A short pitch and store description in English (we can tighten the copy with you).
- Your own Steamworks account and tax setup. Revenue is paid by Valve directly to you, not via Above.
- Honest communication about timelines, scope, and what you actually need.
Eligibility
Pretty open. The aim is to unblock indie developers who are one €100 invoice and a store page away from shipping.
- Solo devs, small teams, and student projects ready for a public release.
- Mods and standalone fan projects, where rights and source permissions are clean.
- Free games, paid games, demos, prototypes with intent to ship — all welcome.
- Early access is fine if you have a real plan for what 1.0 looks like.
We can't take on every submission — the bottleneck is review time, not budget. If we can't help directly, we'll usually suggest where to go next.
FAQ
Is this really free?
Yes. No setup fee, no revenue share, no royalty. Above pays the €100 Steam Direct fee out of pocket. The business model is the broader platform — courses, Patreon, the Solutions toolkit — not taxing developers.
Why would Above pay €100 for me?
Because the €100 fee is the most common, stupidest reason finished indie games never reach Steam. Removing it costs us very little and unblocks the entire pipeline. Healthy indie scene = healthy platform.
Do you own my game after publishing?
No. You retain full IP, full source ownership, and full control of your Steamworks account. The Above-Constraints store listing exists alongside Steam, not on top of it. Pull the plug at any time.
Can I publish on other stores too?
Yes. Itch, GOG, Epic, your own site, console — none of it is restricted by working with us. We are not exclusive, and never will be.
What if my game isn't accepted?
We tell you why and, where we can, suggest a better fit. You can resubmit later when the project has moved on. A no from us isn't a no from Steam — you can still publish yourself.
How long does the whole thing take?
Typically two to four weeks from accepted pitch to live store page, mostly dependent on how ready the visual assets are. The Steam Direct review itself takes a few business days on Valve's side.
Ready to ship?
Submit your game through the community pipeline. Reviews usually go out within a week.