Grasshopper has split from NetEase, and Valve is planning changes to Steam’s sale recommendations. Learn what to check in a funding offer and how to build a launch budget that includes costs beyond making the game.
October 2, 2026 · News reviewed: September 28–October 2
Quick Answer
If you’re planning a game business, fund a small playable version first, understand the rights covered by any funding agreement, and calculate what each sale would leave you. This week’s studio split and Steam announcement deserve attention, but your spending plan still needs to rest on available cash and evidence from players.
Grasshopper is independent again. The deal terms still matter.
Grasshopper Manufacture announced on September 30 that it had separated from NetEase Games and would operate independently again.
In the studio’s statement published by Gematsu, CEO Goichi Suda said the decision followed discussions with NetEase. He pointed to the studio’s growing experience in publishing its own games and left open the possibility of working with NetEase again.
The announcement explains the decision. It does not reveal the studio’s finances or the full terms of the separation.
For someone starting a game company, that is the detail to watch. Funding can help you finish a project, but the agreement determines who controls the work, who collects the money, and what happens if the partnership ends.
Before signing, ask: Which rights and decisions will still belong to us?
Steam’s sale recommendations are set to change in 2027
Valve plans to move Steam’s Discounts & Events section from a curated calendar toward personalized recommendations in early 2027.
The announcement concerns that promotional section. In Valve’s explanation reproduced by PC Gamer, the company said its tests showed ten times more games to customers per day in the section.
That figure describes games shown. It does not mean each game received ten times the exposure or earned ten times the sales.
There is no firm rollout date yet.
My advice is to improve the things you can check now: whether your screenshots show the game clearly, whether the description matches the experience, and whether the intended players enjoy it. Any extra exposure still has to lead to a purchase.
Xbox’s September reset is useful background
Xbox’s restructuring announcement came on September 22, before the week covered here.
In the official update, Matt Booty announced 268 job cuts and changes to studio organization. He also said Compulsion and Double Fine had returned to management in August with their intellectual property, existing game catalogs, and funding to keep operating.
Those arrangements involved established studios. A new founder should examine the terms actually being offered to their own company.
Ask what happens if funding stops, the publisher changes hands, or the project is canceled. Can you keep working? Can you keep selling the game? Who has access to the store account and sales reports?
These questions deserve answers while both sides are still willing to make a deal.
Decide which gaming business you want to run
Choose the product or service you intend to sell before estimating what it will cost.
Making a paid single-player game is different from running a multiplayer game or doing development work for clients. Multiplayer may require ongoing server costs and community support. Client work can bring in money, but it takes time away from your own game.
For a first project, define a version you can realistically finish. Write down what the player does, who would enjoy it, and what is included in the release. That gives you something concrete to price and test.
Be careful with the numbers you use to judge interest. Steam’s current guidance says store-page traffic and purchase conversion rate are not factors in its algorithmic visibility. Wishlists mostly are not either, with exceptions such as Popular Upcoming. They can still help you measure interest.
Fund the next step you can explain
Start with a clear milestone—a finished demo, for example—and work out what it will take to reach it.
You may use savings, paid client work, publisher funding, crowdfunding, or a grant. The choice depends on the money available, the time you can commit, and the promises you are prepared to make.
Treat applications and promising conversations as possible funding. For an award or signed agreement, check the approvals and payment dates before scheduling spending.
Keep those differences visible in the budget.
What to take from this week
Before spending more, check whether you can pay for the next step, whether the rights you need are clear, and whether intended players have tried the game.
For more on ownership, read the Publishing Rights Playbook. For help measuring attention against business results, read The Death of the Follower Count.
Below, we’ll put the budget on paper, calculate how many purchases it would take to recover the money spent, and work through the questions to ask a publisher.
FREE ARTICLE END
The paid section includes the full budget worksheet, a worked sales calculation, a publisher-deal checklist, and a 30-day plan for testing and preparing your game.
