[Ep578] Has AI Ruined Steam Nextfest?

In episode 578 of 'Coffee with Butterscotch,' the brothers discuss whether Steam Next Fest is becoming a victim of its own success, as AI-generated slop and asset flips make it harder than ever for games to get noticed. They explore what Steam can realistically do about it, why the economics of publishing are shifting under everyone's feet, and what it actually takes to build the kind of studio track record that cuts through the noise when algorithms start failing you.  Support How Many Dudes! Official Website: https://www.bscotch.net/games/how-many-dudes Trailer Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgQM1SceEpI Steam Wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3934270/How\_Many\_Dudes 00:00 Cold Open 00:30 Introduction and Welcome 03:37 The Evolution of Demos on Steam 06:28 The Impact of AI on Game Development 10:28 The Rise of Asset Flips and Slop Games 14:22 The Future of Game Discovery on Steam 18:37 The Philosophy Behind Steam's Store Policies 28:53 The Cost of Entry for Game Publishing 34:54 The Impact of AI on Game Quality 38:49 The Challenge of Game Discovery 42:48 The Existential Threat to Steam 47:54 Future of Game Publishing and AI Regulation 50:38 Navigating AI Accusations in Game Development 55:01 The Importance of Building a Studio Following 01:00:03 Marketing Strategies for Indie Games 01:05:07 The Role of AI in Game Development 01:09:16 The Future of Game Discovery on Steam To stay up to date with all of our buttery goodness subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts (apple.co/1LxNEnk) or wherever you get your audio goodness.  If you want to get more involved in the Butterscotch community, hop into our DISCORD server at discord.gg/bscotch and say hello!  Submit questions at https://www.bscotch.net/podcast, disclose all of your secrets to podcast@bscotch.net, and send letters, gifts, and tasty treats to https://bit.ly/bscotchmailbox.  We also built Ludokit, a tool for managing store pages, promo art, localization, achievements, credits, fonts, change logs, and more. Check it out at https://ludokit.com! Finally, if you’d like to support the show and buy some coffee FOR Butterscotch, head over to https://moneygrab.bscotch.net. [**★ Support this podcast ★**](https://ko-fi.com/bscotch "★ Support this podcast ★")