The Entity Effect presents
Ripple Research
How Steam really works. Measured, not guessed, and shared free.
Ripple Research is where we study how games actually get found. We pull public store data at full scale, test it properly, and publish what it shows in plain words, with the method and the data out in the open so anyone can check our work.
The Steam Launch Study
Every game first released on Steam in 2026, more than 20,000 of them, each measured at the same age: 30 and 90 days after launch. Updated twice a year, so the findings become a running record of how Steam launches change.
- DesigningQuestions, method and data sources tested
- Plan lockedThe full plan is published before any data is collected
- CollectingEvery 2026 release, read from public Steam data
- AnalyzingThe tests named in the plan, and only those
- Independent checkEvery number re-checked before it goes out
- PublishedFindings, method and data, all here
What Study 1 sets out to answer
- Which launch habits set before release are linked to a stronger first month: demos, Steam Next Fest, posting before launch, launch timing?
- How do store page features line up with how a launch goes?
- How many 2026 games disclose AI content, and what kind?
- Which games do players love that hardly anyone found, and what sets them apart?
How every study works
Plan first
Every test is written down and published before the data comes in, so nothing gets chosen after we see the results.
Every game
Full counts, not samples, wherever the data allows. When something can't be measured, we say so up front.
Open data
The data, the code and the plan are published with every study. Anyone can rerun it.
Plain words
Every finding is explained so any developer can follow it. We say "linked to", never "causes", and every study shows what it can't tell you.
One finding that breaks the pattern
Every study ends with The Anomaly: the result nobody expected. The data will decide what it is.
More studies will follow, each on a different question. Progress shows above as it happens.