Unity Asset Store link : https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/slug/267762
Story
When I came across Atis' paid assistance request on Reddit, I didn't hesitate to reach out to him. He needed help implementing a multi-level Steam leaderboard feature. Since he preferred not to share his project's code, he asked me to create a separate demo project based on his interface sketches.
The next day, I spent over five hours developing all the required functionality and presented him with a demo project, which got him very excited. However, due to his limited programming knowledge, I ended up spending additional hours debugging his project to help him successfully set up the leaderboard.
Because of our time zone difference, it was already past 11 PM when I had everything working for him. After he promptly sent the promised compensation, he expressed his gratitude and acknowledged the extra effort I put in. He told me that he had been struggling for over three weeks to create this leaderboard and finally decided to seek paid assistance as a last resort.
There's an old Chinese saying: "Good deeds bring good rewards." Upon waking up, I suddenly realized that the demo I had created in just a few hours could save others several weeks of work. So, I decided to check Unity Asset Store to see if there were any existing Steam leaderboard plugins. The results surprised me. While there were 4-5 plugins available, they were either too expensive, priced at $75 (which made me curious about who would buy them), or they were overly simplistic and offered virtually no post-purchase support.
I knew that thousands of games are submitted for Steam review every year, and reinventing the wheel is never a meaningful endeavor. If there's a cost-effective plugin available, who would want to start from scratch?
So, I decided to build a highly customizable leaderboard plugin that could be integrated in just a few minutes, using the demo I had created for Atis as a foundation. Two days later, I had implemented almost all the envisioned features. I spent a day preparing videos, promotional images, documentation, and copy. On the third night, I submitted it for review on the Asset Store.
To my surprise, the review queue was 20-30 days long, and that didn't even account for potential revisions and feedback. This waiting period was much longer than what you typically experience with Steam or the App Store, which indirectly reflects Unity's review process efficiency.
Leaderboard
The Steam Leaderboard Toolkit is an easy-to-use plugin designed to help you seamlessly integrate and manage leaderboards in your Unity games.
Features
- Drag predefined prefabs into the scene for quick setup within minutes.
- All interface parameters are directly configurable, eliminating the need to modify code.
- Offers 27 pre-designed UI themes, allowing you to define a unique, game-specific visual style.
- This plugin also includes 55 types of fonts. All font files are genuine and can be used in your projects after purchasing this plugin. Please carefully review the copyright files of the fonts in the corresponding directory. For a summary list, refer to the contents of the Third-Party Notices.txt file.
- Supports individual leaderboards for each level.
- Enables customization of leaderboard length, allowing you to define the number of scores displayed each time.
- Allows for switching between global, friends, and nearby player leaderboards using either buttons or radio buttons, with real-time switching and refreshing.
- Supports the configuration of post-leaderboard-closure events to complement your menu logic.
Unity Asset Store
After several revisions regarding naming and copyright issues in images, it finally went live. Fortunately, once it passed an initial review, subsequent reviews after each modification were very quick, with the last name change being approved in just half an hour. I hope this plugin can help more people reduce their development workload.