u/GaigoStudio

Hello everyone,

Our team, Gaigo Studio from Italy, just crossed the finish line and launched our debut alternative-history '90s rock mystery visual novel, 1997 RELOADED, on Steam and Itch.io.

My email now is completely flooded with review copy requests. Some are Steam Curators asking for keys directly or via Curator Connect. Others claim to be Twitch streamers asking for 2 or more keys ("one for me, a few for my community").

Genuinely speaking: if a curator or creator that I didn't personally reach out to is actually interested in our underground project, shouldn't they just buy it and support independent human craftsmanship? Or am I missing some industry practice here?

We’d love to hear how fellow devs handle this launch-day key request madness.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

— Gaigo Studio

Hello everyone,

We just released our debut linear mystery VN, 1997 RELOADED, on Steam and Itch, and suddenly my email is completely flooded with review copy requests.

Some are Steam Curators asking for keys directly or via Curator Connect. Others claim to be Twitch streamers asking for 2 or more keys ("one for me, a few for my community").

This is our very first launch, and honestly, I'm a bit shocked. We spent years of dedicated human tendonitis creating 2,000+ frames and composing an original '90s rock soundtrack from scratch (strictly No-AI).

Genuinely speaking: if a curator or creator that I didn't personally reach out to is actually interested in our underground project, shouldn't they just buy it and support independent human craftsmanship? Especially during launch week when we have an active 25% discount ($9.74)? Or am I missing some industry practice here?

I've been ignoring all of them so far, but I’d love to hear some feedback from fellow devs. How do you handle this launch-day key request madness?

Thank you so much!

— Gaigo Studio