7 ms·

Is it not possible that this is just market segmentation? Like, the people you are referring to would never pay for those games otherwise. With the discount mec

Is it not possible that this is just market segmentation? Like, the people you are referring to would never pay for those games otherwise. With the discount mechanism in place Steam gets to take their money too. People who are more flexible regarding game prices are not going to wait months for a discount and just pay the full price.

rodgerd 13y ago
It would certainly be interesting to understand if it's a functional long tail. For me personally, I often end up picking up games on sale or in Humble Sales (which have Steam keys) because my two gaming PCs are ancient by modern standards, so I'm generally buying games which are a few years old to run on them. The former point may well factor into Valve's thinking; they have very good information on people's hardware, after all.
ansible 13y ago
When the price drops enough, I sometimes buy something because of the "ooh, that's a good deal, I might play that someday". And... sometimes I don't get around to playing those games, because something more interesting comes along before I get around to it. So yes, the developer isn't making as much per user, but I believe the increased volume would often make up for it.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  This is how I buy Kindle books. $10? I'll wait until its $2-$3 for when I'm on vacation and binge.
- bentcorner 13y ago
  I love Steam sales but I feel pain for the developers. The number of AAA titles in my steam library that I've barely played is pretty high. I could go without buying any games for at least a year before I would consider buying another one. My time for playing games has become so small that I'm well behind the release curve, so games that I do want to play are frequently < $15.
adamors 13y ago
> Is it not possible that this is just market segmentation? Like, the people you are referring to would never pay for those games otherwise. I can't speak for other people, but as someone who lives in Eastern Europe where the monthly minimum wage is around $200 (two hundred USD), I definitely fall into this segment of the market. Before Steam became this widespread I didn't buy games at all, even when I started working. $60 is a lot here.

rodgerd 13y ago

It would certainly be interesting to understand if it's a functional long tail. For me personally, I often end up picking up games on sale or in Humble Sales (which have Steam keys) because my two gaming PCs are ancient by modern standards, so I'm generally buying games which are a few years old to run on them. The former point may well factor into Valve's thinking; they have very good information on people's hardware, after all.

ansible 13y ago

When the price drops enough, I sometimes buy something because of the "ooh, that's a good deal, I might play that someday". And... sometimes I don't get around to playing those games, because something more interesting comes along before I get around to it. So yes, the developer isn't making as much per user, but I believe the increased volume would often make up for it.

toomuchtodo 13y ago
This is how I buy Kindle books. $10? I'll wait until its $2-$3 for when I'm on vacation and binge.
bentcorner 13y ago
I love Steam sales but I feel pain for the developers. The number of AAA titles in my steam library that I've barely played is pretty high. I could go without buying any games for at least a year before I would consider buying another one. My time for playing games has become so small that I'm well behind the release curve, so games that I do want to play are frequently < $15.

adamors 13y ago

> Is it not possible that this is just market segmentation? Like, the people you are referring to would never pay for those games otherwise. I can't speak for other people, but as someone who lives in Eastern Europe where the monthly minimum wage is around $200 (two hundred USD), I definitely fall into this segment of the market. Before Steam became this widespread I didn't buy games at all, even when I started working. $60 is a lot here.