Your game is done. The trailer rips, the screenshots pop. Then you open the Steam description field, cursor blinking, and realize you have no idea how to sell your own game in words. You build games, you don’t write copy, and the blank page wins.
Here’s the fix: AI writes genuinely good Steam copy now, not generic fluff, but conversion-focused store text that knows what makes players click. I tested the major tools and pulled together the ones worth using, plus copy-paste prompts that produce Steam-ready output today.
Quick Picks
- Best overall: ChatGPT Plus. Most flexible, best quality-to-cost at $20/month. Free tier works too.
- Best for long, lore-heavy descriptions: Claude. Holds tone across paragraphs.
- Best for crisp, no-nonsense copy: Gemini. Stronger calls to action.
- Best budget: Rytr. Free tier covers several drafts.
- Best for brand consistency: Jasper, if you run a studio with a marketing budget.
- Fastest to Steam format: AppyPie. Generates and exports HTML.
Jump to: Why It Matters, the Two Sections, the Tools, the Prompts, Examples, Beyond the Description, Mistakes, and the Hybrid Workflow.
Why Your Steam Description Matters
Your short description is everywhere: search, Discovery Queue, recommendations, wishlists. That one paragraph is often the only text a player reads before they investigate or scroll past.
The “About This Game” section does the heavy lifting for the curious. It has to land genre, gameplay, story hook, and features while matching your game’s personality, because a horror game and a cozy farming sim need different energy. And bad copy actively costs you: walls of text get skipped, marketing-speak triggers skepticism, and typos make players quietly judge your game’s polish.
The Two Sections (Different Rules)
Short description. One-paragraph elevator pitch, no formatting, roughly 300 characters. Every word earns its spot. The winning pattern is genre context plus unique hook plus emotional promise: “A roguelike deckbuilder where your cards are living creatures that evolve, mutate, and remember how you’ve treated them.” Players know what it is and sense something new.
About This Game. Long-form, with formatting: bold headers, bullets, links. Players scan, so bold headers and bullets carry it, and the opening paragraph has to hook because many won’t scroll past it.
Prompt them differently: short needs punchy and dense, long needs structured and scannable.
The Tools
ChatGPT: best overall
For most indies, ChatGPT (GPT-4o) is the best mix of quality, flexibility, and value. The conversation lets you iterate naturally: generate a draft, then “make it punchier,” “add mystery,” “kill the marketing speak.” It handles genre tone well, adapting vocabulary and rhythm for horror, cozy, hardcore roguelike, or narrative. The limit: no built-in SEO or Steam templates, so it rewards good prompting. Free on the basic model, $20/month for the strongest.
Claude: best for long-form
Strong at longer, nuanced copy. If your game has complex lore, multiple systems, or needs a detailed About This Game, Claude holds tone across paragraphs where others drift or repeat. A common pro move: Claude for the long sections, ChatGPT for punchy taglines. Free tier handles most description work.
Gemini: best for direct copy
Different flavor than ChatGPT. Where ChatGPT goes creative and emotional, Gemini favors clarity and stronger calls to action, so it reads more like pro marketing than creative writing. Good fit for simulation, strategy, and puzzle audiences who prefer straight talk. Free tier, Advanced around $20/month.
Jasper: best for brand consistency
Premium marketing AI with 50+ templates. Its Brand Voice feature locks your tone and terminology once and applies it everywhere, which matters if you maintain a personality across all your marketing. Built-in SEO helps if you also run a landing page. The cost ($29 to $109+/month) targets teams, not solo devs.
Copy.ai: best for variants
Generates 10+ versions fast, which is great for A/B testing hooks. A tone selector flips between fun, professional, and witty in one click, and it does multilingual natively for localized pages. No real SEO, which is fine for Steam since discoverability runs on tags and the algorithm, not text SEO. Free trial, paid from ~$49/month.
Rytr: best budget
Real value for solo devs. The free plan’s 10,000 monthly characters cover several drafts and iterations for nothing. Output is solid, not exceptional, good for first drafts you refine. A Chrome extension lets you write straight into Steam’s fields. Paid from $29/month.
Writesonic: best with SEO
Pairs AI writing with SEO tools and a product-description generator. SEO matters less for Steam itself, but if you’re also running a landing page and ads, the versatility can justify it. Free credits, paid from ~$20/month.
AppyPie: fastest to Steam format
A game-specific generator with one standout: Copy HTML output. Since the long description takes formatted text, you generate, copy the HTML, paste into Steam, done. Free with limits.
Prompts That Actually Work
Generic prompts make generic copy. Use these.
Short description:
Write a Steam short description (under 300 characters, no formatting) for my game:
Genre: [e.g., roguelike deckbuilder]
Unique hook: [e.g., cards are living creatures that evolve based on your choices]
Target audience: [e.g., Slay the Spire fans who want more attachment to their deck]
Tone: [e.g., mysterious but inviting]
Immediately communicate what the game IS and why it's different. Hook in the first 5 words.
About This Game:
Write a Steam "About This Game" section with this structure:
- Opening hook paragraph (2-3 sentences that grab attention and set genre/mood)
- **Key Features** (5-6 bullets on unique gameplay)
- **Story Setup** (2-3 sentences, premise without spoilers)
- **What Players Say** (anticipated reactions, to establish appeal)
Game details:
- Title: [title]
- Genre: [primary and secondary]
- Core loop: [what players do moment to moment]
- Unique mechanics: [what's different]
- Aesthetic/vibe: [visual, audio, emotional tone]
- Similar games: [what your audience enjoys]
Tone: [match your game's personality]. Format for Steam (**bold** headers, bullets).
Tone adjustments (follow-ups):
More personality: "Rewrite with more character. Subtle humor. Make it feel like the game has a personality, not just features."
More clarity: "Simplify. Remove marketing jargon. Make it instantly clear what the player actually does."
More urgency: "Add emotional hooks. Make players feel they'll miss something special if they don't wishlist."
Genre voice: "Rewrite in the voice of [game known for good writing]. Match their energy."
Advanced frames:
Comparison: "Write assuming players are comparing this to [popular game]. Acknowledge what they know about the genre, then emphasize what's different."
Reviewer quote: "Write as if summarizing glowing reviews. Why does this game work?"
Player experience: "Focus on how it FEELS to play, not features. Describe the emotional arc of one session."
What Good Output Looks Like
Roguelike deckbuilder, short: “Build a deck of living cards that remember everything. Every battle shapes their evolution. Every sacrifice haunts you. A roguelike deckbuilder where your choices echo through every run.”
Its opening: “Your cards aren’t tools. They’re companions. They learn. They grow. They remember when you fed them to stronger cards for a power boost.”
Cozy farming sim, short: “Inherit a lighthouse. Befriend the local spirits. Grow impossible plants under moonlight. A gentle farming sim about finding magic in the margins of the world.”
Action roguelike, short: “90 seconds per run. One weapon. Infinite skill ceiling. Master the blade in this ultra-precise action roguelike where every death makes you deadlier.”
See the pattern: concrete nouns, a clear hook, an emotional promise, no “immersive experience” filler.
Beyond the Description
AI helps with the rest of the page too.
Tags: “List 15-20 Steam tags for a [genre] game with [unique elements], ordered by discoverability.” Then cross-check against real Steam tag data for competition.
Capsule taglines: “Write 10 three-to-five-word taglines for a [genre] capsule image, each instantly readable, conveying [core appeal].”
Early Access blurb: “Write an Early Access description: what’s in the build now, what’s planned, why join now. Honest about the state, but exciting.”
Update posts: “Template for Steam updates with a hook headline, what’s new, what’s next, and community thanks. Tone: [your voice].”
Common Mistakes
Publishing the first draft. Output jumps with iteration. Always ask for rewrites and alternatives, then edit on top.
Generic marketing language. AI defaults to “immersive,” “engaging,” “stunning.” They mean nothing. Prompt for specifics: what exactly does the player do that’s fun?
Ignoring Steam formatting. Short takes no formatting, long does. Verify before pasting.
Overpromising. AI writes confident copy and may invent features. Read every line. Players review-bomb games that don’t match the page.
Losing your voice. “Write like the game itself is talking” beats “write a product description.” Put your game’s personality in every prompt.
One note on disclosure: Steam requires you to disclose AI-generated content within your game. Using AI to draft your store copy isn’t currently required to be disclosed, but policies move, so keep a record of what you used where. Either way, you’re accountable for what you publish.
The Hybrid Workflow
- Generate. 3-5 variants of both sections with ChatGPT or Claude.
- Mine the best bits. The perfect description usually combines hooks and lines from several generations.
- Edit by hand. Combine, match your game’s real personality, cut anything generic or overpromised.
- Specificity check. Read it as a stranger. Can you picture the gameplay? If not, revise.
- Format and verify. Character limit on short, formatting on long, no hallucinated features.
- Test on a human. Show someone who doesn’t know your game and ask what they think it is. Their answer tells you if the copy works.
The Bottom Line
For most indies, ChatGPT Plus at $20/month is the best balance of quality, flexibility, and value, less than one hour with a freelance copywriter. Reach for Claude on complex narrative games, Gemini for crisp conversion copy, Rytr or AppyPie for a fast functional draft, Jasper if a studio needs one consistent voice everywhere.
Use the prompts here, not generic requests. Iterate, don’t accept first drafts. Edit every generation before it ships. The tools write the draft; the specific details and authentic voice that make your game yours are still your call.
Your description is often the only text a player reads before deciding. Now you can write one as good as the game.
Need the rest of the pipeline? Here’s my free AI tools for indie game developers guide and how to use ChatGPT for indie game development.