Title says it all

I've pretty much finished my first game and I definitely want to put it on Steam for some experience and a reality check. It's an odd and short story based game and I really can't imagine how I'd market it aside from word of mouth since some might find it cool or interesting. It's literally about repeating a captcha in virtual environment and the beginning is liable to confuse people. Or actually the whole game is. But it gets pretty horrifying and cool. At least some people said so. And I think so... In any case, onto the questions.

What should I publish under? I'm not inclined to go through a publisher and that leaves me with the option of starting a company or filing as self-employed. Both are relatively quick and inexpensive in Estonia. If I should do this then how would it benefit me over being just a dude? I don't get the whole not having to pay income tax thing, since I'd still have to do that when paying out dividends to myself or something, right? Or can I buy myself a new PC as a company buying means of production and not have to pay tax on that?

That's the next issue, could I make any money off of this? It takes about an hour or so to play through the game if you don't speedrun it, meaning refunds could be an issue. How many people would refund in your experience? I don't know if anyone would even see or buy the game or if I should charge anything for the it. I think it would make sense for it to be just free, but I am in need of an upgrade to my PC situation plus even just putting the game up would cost me money. How much should I charge for it? 5$? Should I even bother?

Finally, I'm guessing I'll do the whole "email all the gaming publications and youtubers" thing, any other suggestions for increasing visibility?

Steam Direct and finishing the game will probably take a month in total so I have time to implement some changes and ponder over this. That being said, I feel like I really need to call this game done and get it out there or I'm never going to finish anything I start and never get anywhere in this industry.

On 6/2/2018 at 3:33 PM, Markus Aksli said:

that leaves me with the option of starting a company or filing as self-employed. Both are relatively quick and inexpensive in Estonia. If I should do this then how would it benefit me over being just a dude?

The pros and cons will depend on your local laws, you probably need to find local advice for this one. A lot of countries have online resources explaining the costs and benefits, maybe see if there's something like that.

Typically one of the main benefits of forming a company is legal protection: if there's some legal problem with your game the your personal money may be protected.  There can also often be tax benefits. Again though, you'll need to check your local laws.

On 6/2/2018 at 3:33 PM, Markus Aksli said:

That's the next issue, could I make any money off of this?

Maybe. As a short game that sounds like it might be tricky to market, you might have trouble getting many players.

If you're concerned about the costs of publishing, you could consider releasing on itch.io for free rather than Steam and seeing how it goes.

On 6/2/2018 at 3:33 PM, Markus Aksli said:

any other suggestions for increasing visibility

Have you tried some of the tips from this guide?

5 hours ago, jbadams said:

Have you tried some of the tips from this guide?

Dear lord, that is immensely helpful. Hats off to the guys who made it and you for sharing it. 

Thing is that I guess I'm not going for gold when it comes to sales or popularity. I want people to go into the game, knowing next to nothing about it. This inherently contradicts what I should be doing to get sales. Dunno, I'll think about it. Maybe sacrificing some of the mystery is better than having nobody play it. I feel really naive right now.

Also, an update,if you're interested: I looked into the laws on everything and for the moment I decided to do things as an individual. Makes more sense since this is my first small release. I got on Steam, but now have to wait out the 30day waiting period while I set up my store page there, but I also contacted Gamejolt, Humble and GoG for good measure. I think pricing isn't going to be an issue and I will try to make some money, with at least goal of recouping the steam direct fee (1000 usd in revenue on steam). For the moment I'm just working on all the marketing images and descriptions.

Good luck with it, hopefully it works out well for you!