Publisher Hard Shark Games had a remarkably productive September 15, releasing a staggering 29 games on Steam. Notably, the company is credited as both the publisher and developer for each of these titles, all of which are designated as early access affairs. The stated reason for this early access approach, common across all 29 games including genres like racing, survival horror, and flight simulation, is to "involve the community from the very start."
This aggressive release strategy extends to how updates are communicated. For games like Starship Fighters, Sky Combat, and Streets of Rageness, the update notes are identical, stating: "Optimized several core systems, resulting in smoother gameplay and up to 10% better overall performance, especially during longer sessions." These updates were posted within minutes of each other on March 5.
The financial viability of such a release strategy is a key question. Opening a Steam store page costs $100, which is refundable if a game earns over $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue. This means Hard Shark Games spent $2,900 on store page fees for its 29 new releases. Estimating potential revenue using the Boxleiter Method, which leverages Steam review counts, suggests that even if a game like Supermarket Life Simulator earned only $295, and Pool made $926, and F1 Simulator brought in $562, the total revenue from these three games alone exceeds $1,700 in just five days. If higher estimates are more accurate, the initial $2,900 outlay has already been surpassed.
The development practices of Hard Shark Games have drawn scrutiny. Supermarket Life Simulator appears to be built using the $50 Checkout Frenzy - Convenience Store Simulator Unity template, with user reviews claiming it is an asset flip, a criticism frequently leveled against the publisher. The use of identical grocery imagery from the template and even a recognizable character like Kratos appearing in the screenshots for Axe Slasher have fueled these accusations. Steam user reviews often point to Hard Shark Games using pre-made assets with minimal modification.
Hard Shark Games has a history of prolific releases, with 217 total listings on Steam, including 121 games and 96 demos. The highest peak concurrent player count across all its titles is only 13, for a now-unavailable demo. However, if Hard Shark Games is indeed a single individual rapidly producing low-effort, template-based software, the business model appears capable of generating profit.
Other publishers on Steam have even larger catalogs. BFG Entertainment has released 555 games, and PlayWay, known for its retail simulation titles, has 340 games on the platform. The recent top-selling games on Steam for the week of September 8-15 included Wardogs, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, and Marvel Rivals. Halloween: The Game, while popular, was notably refused classification in Australia due to its content.
