Indie developer Permadeath has spoken out after Valve accidentally undermined the launch of their long-in-development space sandbox game, Planet Centauri, which had amassed 138,000 wishlists on Steam.
A Steam bug prevented wishlist emails from being sent, resulting in just 581 copies sold in the first five days of the game’s 1.0 launch. In an attempt to make up for the lost visibility, Valve offered Planet Centauri front page placement as part of the Daily Deals, scheduled by the developers for November 12, 2025.
However, visibility remained limited because the Steam front page was dominated by other announcements, including the Steam Machine, Steam Frame VR headset, and the new Steam controller, overshadowing the indie title.
Speaking to Polygon, Planet Centauri developer Laurent Lechat explained: “The day was chosen more or less randomly on our end, and given that Valve wouldn’t reveal its plans in advance, it really was just bad luck and we must accept it.”
Despite the setbacks, the Daily Deal still helped Planet Centauri sell around 5,000 copies, far more than its first week but less than hoped. Lechat added, “Even if it seems like a small amount, those 5,000 copies will be a great help — enough for us to survive for at least a year and allow us to finish our second game, which is currently in development.”
The developers hold no ill will towards Valve, acknowledging that the situation was largely unfortunate timing and bad luck rather than intentional mishandling.
