Releasing Alpha on Steam?

[SpiderPig]

Does anyone have any thoughts on releasing an alpha version of my game on steam as a free download?  I thought about uploading it to something like itch.io but I want to use and test some steam features too.

I'm thinking I could develop the game while it's on steam, get some feedback etc.  and then later turn that free download into the demo for the final game.

I'm just wondering though if this is a good idea or if steam should be avoided until ready for early access phase.  Mainly for things like reviews.  But I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

[reepblue]

Pay the fee, get the appid. Having a repo on Steam allows for easy private testing and you can get started on integrating some Steamworks features. Some features like Leaderboards, Stats, and (surprisingly) Steam Input will not work until your Store page is live. I was in your position when it came to Cyclone but people encouraged me to put it on Steam because they want all their games on one place.  

Stay away from EGS, they are criminals, lol. 

[Thirsty Panther]

After reading your comment this video popped into my feed.

He highly recommends having a Steam page.

 

[SpiderPig]

Thanks for your input guys.  I actually have the app id already - but I don't know how to make the page live with no download attached... is that as simple as publishing the page but not making a repo? (or what ever it's called, I forget) or do I make it coming soon page?