The Japanese stock exchange business simulator STONKS-9800 has already been purchased 50,000 times. The game’s author, Ruslan «Ternox» Salikov, told dev.ua how STONKS-9800 ended up in the Daily Deal section on the Steam main page and how this affected its sales.
The Japanese stock exchange business simulator STONKS-9800 has already been purchased 50,000 times. The game’s author, Ruslan «Ternox» Salikov, told dev.ua how STONKS-9800 ended up in the Daily Deal section on the Steam main page and how this affected its sales.
«Steam does not have any paid services, which distinguishes it from many other platforms (you can definitely buy banners on PlayStation). The Daily Deal feature is provided upon request or if Valve themselves offer it, and only for games that have already sold well before and not more often than once a year», — Ternox told dev.ua in a comment.
Valve, the company that created and maintains Steam, explains that since Daily Deals are prominently displayed and seen by a large number of customers, it is necessary to be sure that these offers will be of interest to a wide range of consumers. Therefore, games that qualify for Daily Deals are evaluated based on user interest or revenue dynamics over the past few months. Typically, projects that «stablely bring in tens of thousands of dollars» every month fall into this section.
«I submitted an application back in May and was given this opportunity, and I specifically set a date during the Ukrainian festival to further increase the visibility of the game and the festival», — noted Ruslan Salikov.
Games that were released more than 2-3 months ago (STONKS-9800 was released in 2023 and is still in Early Access) and are ready to offer attractive discounts to players can participate in the Daily Deal. After approval of the application for participation, developers can choose a date within the next six months.
In December 2023, it became known that STONKS-9800 sold 10,000 copies, and in July 2024, sales reached 25,000 copies. Now the game has surpassed the 50,000 copies sold mark.
«In total, there were about 4,000 sales during the feature’s day, but their pace increased significantly even after that, as more people learned about the game. I also received 14,000 new wishlists,» Ternox said.
STONKS-9800 became one of the most notable games at the Ukrainian Games Festival 2025 on Steam. Before the festival, the project received a 33% discount to 100 UAH in the Ukrainian region and a major update with new content.
Recall that at the Ukrainian Games Festival 2025, Ruslan Salikov also announced several new projects, including a science fiction visual novel where players need to raise a young female pilot of a combat mecha Valkyrie Iteration and a desktop anime girlfriend simulator Desktop Akari .
