How Do I Upload a Project to Steam?

Getting your project live on Steam involves several steps, including uploading your game files (builds) and then publishing a specific build to a public or beta branch. Based on the provided reference, the following steps outline a specific process for publishing a project to Steam, which typically occurs after your build has been uploaded using Steamworks tools like SteamPipe.

This sequence of actions is used to make a prepared build available to your audience via a selected branch on Steam.

Publishing Your Project on Steam

Once your game build files have been uploaded to the Steamworks backend and configured, you need to publish that build to a branch (like the default public branch, a beta branch, etc.) to make it accessible. The steps provided in the reference describe this final publishing action:

1. Click the tab called "Publish"
2. Click "Prepare for publishing"
3. Click "Publish to Steam"
4. Enter the secret confirmation code "STEAMWORKS"
5. Click "Really Publish"

What These Steps Mean

• Step 1 & 2 (Publish Tab & Prepare): These actions navigate you within the Steamworks backend interface to the section dedicated to managing and releasing your builds. "Prepare for publishing" likely involves reviewing the changes you are about to make, such as which build you are publishing to which branch.
• Step 3 (Publish to Steam): This is the core action that initiates the process of making the selected build live on the chosen branch. Steam's backend then propagates the changes to its content distribution network (CDN).
• Step 4 (Confirmation Code): Requiring a specific confirmation code ("STEAMWORKS" in this case) is a security measure to prevent accidental publishing and ensure you are intentionally making changes that will affect users.
• Step 5 (Really Publish): This final click serves as a confirmation that you understand the implications of publishing and wish to proceed.

Context: Uploading vs. Publishing

It's important to distinguish between uploading your project files and publishing a build.

• Uploading: This refers to the initial process of transferring your compiled game files, assets, and data to the Steamworks servers. This is typically done using tools provided in the Steamworks SDK, such as the SteamPipe command-line tool (often via the contentbuilder or build_requester utilities). You create 'builds' on the Steamworks backend using these uploaded files.
• Publishing: This refers to the action of assigning one of your uploaded builds to a specific branch (like the 'default' public branch). Only builds assigned to branches are accessible to users. The steps listed above describe this publishing action.

Therefore, while the reference specifically details the steps for publishing a build to Steam, this action is a critical part of the overall process of getting your uploaded project available to players.