How to get free Steam keys as a content creator

Steam has long been the ultimate platform for PC gaming. Many competitors have emerged to challenge Valve’s dominance, but even the Epic Games Store, despite its massive budget and hundreds of free games, hasn't dethroned Steam as the top name in the market. If you're an aspiring content creator on Twitch, YouTube, TikTok or any other social platform and your goal is to showcase games while growing your channel, then you have to know your way around Steam and learn how to effectively reach out to game developers and publishers.

Needless to say, there's no one sure way to get keys from game makers. Claiming keys from indie game developers is less of a challenge, but still can be, as they're usually short staffed with one person wearing many hats. Acquiring keys from more established studios/publishers also come with its own unique issues. There's also the ever-growing trust issue between studios and creators due to the rise of scammers, fake creators, key sellers, and view botters.

Hence why we prepared this short guide to make it easier for content creators of all sizes to claim free Steam keys for new games, as well as existing titles.

Sign up to Lurkit for free

I'll start with Lurkit, since... you know, we do this for a living here at Lurkit and got hundreds of games under our platform. Worry not, Lurkit is always free for content creators and we never take any cuts from you, neither for paid campaigns nor for any type of key or code transaction. You'll find hundreds of key campaigns in the Lurkit marketplace from AAA titles to upcoming indie hits. You can also find games that are on Epic, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo but we're currently focusing on Steam, so, no need to divert focus.

Lurkit also provides you with free analytics tools you can use to grow your channel. You can get a detailed breakdown on what works for you and what not, and what type of content or games get you the best growth rate, or what day or time gets you the best viewership metrics. You can also use Lurkit to make bids for paid campaigns (we call them Quests) and/or join creator programs to get exclusive access, rewards and merch from your favorite games.

Heck, even if the game is a free to play title, we probably have special codes for skins or other customization options, and some unique rewards you can raffle with your community. For instance, we have had great creator participation for F2P titles such as Once Human and Marvel Rivals, mainly because both are awesome games and NetEase Games is super supportive of their creators and dedicated to building meaningful relationships with them.

Will you get keys for sure on Lurkit?

I'll shoot straight here and the answer is no, we can never guarantee you'll get keys for the games you want to help grow. It completely depends on the party you're asking keys from. We just bridge the gap for you and provide your channels' detailed performance to them. When you make an application for a free game key, the studio/publisher can see what games you played and created content for and how they've performed. They also get to see if you're creating content after getting keys. In fact, if we detect a creator abusing the system, we immediately ban them and also follow your content creation rate (CCR).

Lurkit's mission is making games and content creators grow and we want to cover both parties. We won't let companies abuse you and treat you unfairly, but we also won't stand for anyone selling keys they claimed from a game maker, or if you're just spamming every available campaign for keys. If your CCR goes alarmingly low, we'll also issue a warning first and if no improvements are made, your account may be suspended. We want you to grow, but not at the expanse of others. Needless to say, the higher your CCR the more chances you have for being accepted to receive free game keys on Steam as well as other platforms.

What can a creator do to receive free Steam keys?

My go to suggestion is only apply for game keys that you think you're a very good fit for. You don't want your CCR to tank and if you get keys from games you're sure you'll never play, then you'll be hurting your future opportunities. To make the waters a bit more clear, there's nothing wrong with getting a key that you think is a good fit for your and your audience then finding out it's just not a good match. The problem starts when you regularly ask for keys that are irrelevant to your channel and then don't make any content out of it. We also track each key distributed via Lurkit, and will detect if it ends up on third-party key selling platforms, meaning a ban with little chances of removal.

For instance, if you're almost exclusively playing horror games, and neither of your channels have content dedicated to other genres, just skip that awesome looking free roguelite shooter Steam key. Don't apply for it just because it's free. Long story short, keep a healthy amount of viewership, don't let your CCR drag through the mud and make sure to apply for keys that make sense for you and your audience.

You'll also have higher chances of approval if you join a campaign at earlier stages, like Next Fest events or beta tests. Studios will note your name down and will try to include you in on more exclusive stuff. Early support goes a long way, regardless of the size of your channel.

And my last advice would be, especially if you're a new creator or with low viewership, provide coverage across multiple channels (stream on Twitch then make a video on YouTube too) and use your socials to promote the content you produced. The more dedicated and passionate you are, the higher chances you'll have for getting free Steam keys and grow your channels.

Free Steam Keys for Content Creators

Besides being on Lurkit, being active on Reddit is also a good way to get in contact with some amazing developers, but often enough, you'll find indie gems rather than bigger titles. Subreddits like /r/indiegames and /r/gamedev are full of indie developers who're currently cooking the future hit games. Many popular titles found their early success and big boosts by going popular on these subreddits or were discovered here by other creators. Plus, since you catch these studios while they're developing their games and not when they have all the hype in the world, your chances of getting in touch with them are much higher. Heck, you may even grow alongside these games.

There are also other opportunities on Reddit. It's an amazing resource for gathering advice, contacting other content creators, and finding free keys. Developers, sponsored streamers, and many other types of users distribute keys frequently on threads like r/FreeGamesOnSteam and r/SteamGameSwap. While this is a viable option for smaller content creators, streamers and YouTubers with larger followings have a more direct approach.

Join Lurkit for free keys

Joining Lurkit is easy and free, all it requires is users to meet a minimum threshold of subscribers on YouTube, Twitch or TikTok. With that in place, content creators can start browsing through the Lurkit library and applying for keys directly from the developers. While you are not guaranteed every game, Lurkit opens the door for hundreds of opportunities that would have been unavailable otherwise.