tinyBuild on the success of Hozy: the game immediately caught attention
On March 30, Hozy — a meditative home decoration simulator developed by the Russian-speaking team Come On Studio — was released on Steam. Vladimir Tolmachev and Vera Ljubbers from the publisher tinyBuild shared with GameDiscoverCo how the game paved its way to a successful launch.
Hozy
- Let's start with some numbers: in the first four days, Hozy sold 100,000 copies, and by mid-April, sales had reached 175,000 copies. The key markets for Hozy were the USA (27.3% of revenue and 20.3% of copies), Germany (12.9% of revenue and 9.2% of copies), and China (6.5% of revenue and 12% of copies).
- According to tinyBuild representatives, the simulator performed well from its announcement. After the company first showcased the Hozy trailer in May 2025, the game's wishlist count quickly reached 24,000.
- To engage the audience, tinyBuild and Come On Studio launched a playtest for Hozy on the day of the announcement and actively worked on gamer feedback. The test version of the game was regularly updated with new content, including holiday-themed updates for events like Halloween and Christmas.
- In August 2025, wishlist counts for Hozy began to soar once again, as reported by tinyBuild. The game was being added to wishlists at a rate of 1,300 times a day. This growth was attributed to several factors, including participation in the Wholesome Games presentation, inclusion in the Tiny Teams sale on Steam, updates to the Hozy test version, and the launch of an advertising campaign on TikTok and other short video platforms.
- TinyBuild representatives noted that short videos were primarily targeted at women, as the company considered them to be the target audience for Hozy.
- During the game's promotion, tinyBuild observed that short videos were generating wishlists more slowly than longer ones. According to the publisher, this is because the effect largely depends on the platform's algorithms, rather than the subscriber base — a short video requires time to reach potential buyers. However, on TikTok, it's not necessary to showcase a lot of game content, as one level may suffice.
- After analyzing the outcomes, tinyBuild and Come On Studio began conducting these advertising campaigns monthly.
- The next surge in wishlists occurred in February 2026 when Hozy's demo ranked among the most popular at the Steam "Games to Be" festival.
Hozy's Wishlist Growth
- TinyBuild representatives didn't state this explicitly, but GameDiscoverCo believes that a successful combination of "cleaning and interior design" mechanics, along with an appealing isometric visual style, played a significant role in Hozy's success.
- Ultimately, by its release, Hozy boasted 530,000 wishlists, many of which had seemingly converted into sales. The game's ratings were also positive — it holds a "Very Positive" (81%) rating on Steam based on 2,000 reviews.