Steam - can they really keep it up?

[SenseOfTumour]

10 x£30 = £ 300
200x£ 7.50= £1500

Without having any facts to back it up, I'd suggest that's an understatement in terms of sales on discounted titles.

LOL! Really? I'd be pissed if I only sold 200 copies of a game on a global service such as Steam But I get what you mean, and I used this concept to explain to my (blonde) partner how they can afford to discount a game to £3.75 and still turn a profit.

Heh, to be fair I'm thinking of less popular titles, maybe a year after release when most people have forgotten them.

It's all about finding the customer's 'impulse buy' price point. Most games, if they've got a reasonable review and dip under a fiver, I'll go for it.

I think the only downside to Steam for the games companies, is when they add older games to Steam, I mentally have already decided I'm not paying full price for them, knowing they'll hit 75% or more off in a few months.

On top of that, I'll put some cash aside in December, and go thru Steam's catalog of games, so I can pick up anything I want but don't have at silly prices thru the sale.

TOP TIP for the January sale - make a list, like me, and check daily, anything that doesn't get a daily deal, buy it on the final day, this way you'll save a lot on not buying stuff at 50% off to find it on the daily deals at 80% off!

 

[tharglet]

Off-topic: Why is Brink not on the UK store?

Usually caused by rating issues or the game not being released there yet.

It has released here. I can buy it retail and on other services, just not Steam :/

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-13-brink-disappears-from-uk-steam-store

Looks like you're right. Looked at the store page myself, and yes, it is indeed dead atm.

 

[Anjel]

Most games, if they've got a reasonable review and dip under a fiver, I'll go for it.

Sounds familiar

Off-topic: Why is Brink not on the UK store?

Usually caused by rating issues or the game not being released there yet.

It has released here. I can buy it retail and on other services, just not Steam :/

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-13-brink-disappears-from-uk-steam-store

Looks like you're right. Looked at the store page myself, and yes, it is indeed dead atm.

Bah, cannot get on that site from work. Is there an explanation on there? :/

 

[Luthir Fontaine]

Got nothing but respect for Steam. Hell i wish xbox would update thier download games so that it includeds latest releases.

 

[tharglet]

Bah, cannot get on that site from work. Is there an explanation on there? :/

Abbreviated content of the page:
A post on Bethesda's official forum by senior community manager Gstaff confirms the company is aware of the issue. "Looking into the matter as we speak... hold tight," it reads.

Splash Damage is also investigating and has retweeted an earlier message from the official Brink Twitter account: "RE: Steam unlock issues for some users: RT @brinkgame @wstn we're looking at it and should have it resolved quickly"

Initial reports from members of the Steam forum confirm only UK users are affected. Those elsewhere in Europe are still able to download the title.

 

[Anjel]

Bah, cannot get on that site from work. Is there an explanation on there? :/

Abbreviated content of the page:
A post on Bethesda's official forum by senior community manager Gstaff confirms the company is aware of the issue. "Looking into the matter as we speak... hold tight," it reads.

Splash Damage is also investigating and has retweeted an earlier message from the official Brink Twitter account: "RE: Steam unlock issues for some users: RT @brinkgame @wstn we're looking at it and should have it resolved quickly"

Initial reports from members of the Steam forum confirm only UK users are affected. Those elsewhere in Europe are still able to download the title.

Heh... well how about that. Good job I didn't bite and buy retail I guess. Homefront was another one that did that - heavy advertisements and then *poof*, gone! Yet it activates on Steam still.

Thanks for that

 

[Anjel]

Link to the article if anyone's interested: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html

Just had a read through this, I like how Games For Windows Live wasn't even mentioned lol! They mention Microsoft but only as having a share of the gaming community - not the digital distribution of games. Now I'm off to search for how much of a percentage GFWL has.

 

[tharglet]

On topic:
The one thing I'm concerned about is their network capacity. Not so bothered if sales happen or not - if they're there when I look I buy, if they're not I'll pass.

However, I don't enjoy it when I can't do stuff because it says the network is busy. If I'm installing a game, why can't it acknowledge I've requested the install, and then initiate the download when it's good and ready?

 

[Woodsey]

*insert penis joke here*

OT: I've not noticed any problems, really. But their deals are slowly fading in importance to me. Hell, I haven't seen a deal on a game I actually want and don't have in... ages.

Let us demand less sales!

OT: I've not noticed anything.

 

[Anjel]

On topic:
The one thing I'm concerned about is their network capacity. Not so bothered if sales happen or not - if they're there when I look I buy, if they're not I'll pass.

However, I don't enjoy it when I can't do stuff because it says the network is busy. If I'm installing a game, why can't it acknowledge I've requested the install, and then initiate the download when it's good and ready?

I've never really had this problem, network busy that is. But my other half had big problems downloading Section 8 on launch day.

 

[Treblaine]

Yes they can keep it up.

I haven't noticed any problems, I suggest you are projecting your own personal issues onto a massive system Having systems instability issues unique to your computer and assuming wrongly that they are affecting everyone else.

Steam Deals are big BIG business for Valve and a great deal for consumers.

EDITED: for clarity

 

[Treblaine]

My only problem with Steam is there are not enough hours in the day for me to play all the games I have bought

Yes, it is TOO GOOD!

 

[Anjel]

I suggest you are projecting your own personal issues onto a massive system.

Projecting? LOL! I'm not projecting anything, just asking if anyone else has noticed the issues and if anyone else is concerned that Steam are sacrificing quality for quantity. Projecting, pah!

 

[bam13302]

short answer, yes

the profit margin for digital games vs store games is HUGE, store bought games have about 10-20% (if i remember correctly) profit for the developers, because they are paying to make the disk, package it, ship it, and pay the reseller (well, the reseller makes a profit from it as well)
digial, they just have to pay for the server and internet, and which gives about 70% profit split between valve and the developer (i forget the exact % valve keeps and the developer keeps, but it is huge) and even higher for valve games (they dont need to ship the game to their servers, they already have it, and its already developed with steam in mind)
long story short, they can do a +%50 sale and still post a profit to the developer and themselves, additionally, drawing more people for steam because of these deals
(note, some of those % may be off a bit, im trying to remember an article i read like 2 months ago)

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

This is for Steam users mainly, but I appreciate others comments as well. Just want to know if I'm the only one who has noticed any differences.

So in my opinion, Valve may have shot itself in the foot with the volume of deals they're launching. I've been using Steam since Half Life 2 was released but it is only over the past two years or so I've started buying games on there. It used to run like clockwork, I'd get home on a Wednesday night, load up Steam at 6pm (UK) and would be presented with an advertisement for Midweek Madness and whatever deal they were offering. Friday nights were Weekend Deal and various different concepts for the festive period, summer deals and the regular school holidays (or so it would seem).

Very recently they have launched the daily deals and it seems since then they have been struggling to launch the deals on time, Midweek Madness and Weekend Deals seem to have moved back a day, they have been marking down the wrong games/advertising the wrong games and the 'preparing download' window seems to take a lot longer to complete (although this may just be something my end).

Is all of the administration work that goes into the deals (and the money) finally getting to them or am I noticing things that are mere blips on your average Steam users radar?

Valve goes crazy with deals all the time, they've straight up said that they like to play around with deals and see how much they can make. They made a billion dollars last year in revenue from Steam alone. Even if these sales are hurting their figures, they're still making a profit and have learned that it isn't healthy for them to keep doing the deals like this, but we'll just have to wait for the figures much later on. So, yes.

 

[Treblaine]

I suggest you are projecting your own personal issues onto a massive system.

Projecting? LOL! I'm not projecting anything, just asking if anyone else has noticed the issues and if anyone else is concerned that Steam are sacrificing quality for quantity. Projecting, pah!

OK, let me rephrase.

Your PERSONAL system (yours) is having issues (maybe needs update, system clean-up etc) and you are assuming everyone else is having the same problem. I know realise I inadvertently suggested you had "personal issues" as in emotional/psychological problems.

Sorry, going to edit that.

But your title jumps right into questioning whether Steam is going to collapse - unreasonably casting doubt on an important network - before even asking if anyone else has the same problems you have.

I had similar problems with Steam and many other programs. But then a major system clean up and more RAM it works fine (turns out I had accumulated some disruptive malware).

 

[Anjel]

Whatever branch of Valve is responsible for these deals SHOULD pace themselves to get the problems worked out for the convenience of the customers, but I think the deals and their sales would go unaffected if they made no changes to how they're doing things.

Yes these were my thoughts exactly. I love Steam and it's sales, but too much of a good thing equals problems, which we have already witnessed - albeit small problems. I hope they iron out the problems while maintaining the current level of sales. This week they had the midweek sale, weekend sale, developer deal and daily deal all running at the same time as well as King Arthur at 50% and various pre-orders at 10-15% off. If they can't iron out the small problems we've had they could cut back without taking too much damage to their sales, but if the problems get worse they could lose a small percentage of it's consumers which could be more damaging than cutting out a sale.

 

[Anjel]

I suggest you are projecting your own personal issues onto a massive system.

Projecting? LOL! I'm not projecting anything, just asking if anyone else has noticed the issues and if anyone else is concerned that Steam are sacrificing quality for quantity. Projecting, pah!

OK, let me rephrase.

Your PERSONAL system (yours) is having issues (maybe needs update, system clean-up etc) and you are assuming everyone else is having the same problem. I know realise I inadvertently suggested you had "personal issues" as in emotional/psychological problems.

Sorry, going to edit that.

But your title jumps right into questioning whether Steam is going to collapse - unreasonably casting doubt on an important network - before even asking if anyone else has the same problems you have.

I had similar problems with Steam and many other programs. But then a major system clean up and more RAM it works fine (turns out I had accumulated some disruptive malware).

Well maybe I should have phrased my initial post differently and backed it up with facts but the issues I mentioned are talked about on their forums so I knew it was not just me, the one that I could not find evidence for I actually posted that this may just be my system.

My computer is brand spanking new (I let down the side by going Alienware but I'm happy with it so fuck the haters ). I never said that Steam was going to collapse, it is an open question. Am I concerned that Steam may collapse? Yes, but I do not think it likely, I think it is more likely that they will damage their reputation which will lower what stake they have in the digital distribution market, but I am not even saying that I think that WILL happen.

Are you sure you're reading my initial post?