The Psychology Behind Steam’s Summer Sale

Say what you will, but Steam is squarely responsible for the resurrection of PC gaming in the face of the takeover of the videogame industry by the hot pocket eating, sunny D sucking console kiddies and the publishers that cater to them. Enough of a paradigm shift that both MS and Sony are scrambling to model their nextgen sales & distro schemes after Steam in some halfhearted sense.

Its also what led to many of us to cease pirating games, since convenience of all games in one place, not having to track down patches and avoiding virus-infected cracks far outweighed a few dollars otherwise saved/stolen.

Love it.
 
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If not for Steam, PC gaming would probably be dead.

So this psychobabble bullshit, which is par for the course from the Gawker networks, can suck a fat one.
 
DPI said:
Say what you will, but Steam is squarely responsible for the resurrection of PC gaming in the face of the takeover of the videogame industry by the hot pocket eating, sunny D sucking console kiddies and the publishers that cater to them. Enough of a paradigm shift that both MS and Sony are scrambling to model their nextgen sales & distro schemes after Steam in some halfhearted sense.

Its also what led to many of us to cease pirating games, since convenience of all games in one place, not having to track down patches and avoiding virus-infected cracks far outweighed a few dollars otherwise saved/stolen.

Love it.
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I couldn't agree more and I am shocked, I was one of the naysayers when h2 required it. I did not purchase it until the orange box came out (could never finish the other versions) and here I site 248 games later with no want or need to pirate anything anymore, With these sales and amazon coming into the game it is a great time for pc gaming (at least imho).
 
Steam as a store and service platform is good for PC gaming. Steam as DRM that comes with virtually every game that isn't published by EA or Ubisoft...not so much.
 
Personally, I don't care about steam rank or trading cards. I don't think there are many people out there buying games just for that, either. Maybe my situation is unique, but I am trying to build up a single player backlog so I'll have something to do when there's no internet, I'm on a long flight, or my friends aren't available. Also, I hear the lag in China sucks. Also, there are some really really sweet games that I've passed up on because I'm cheap and have a hard time plopping down cash on video games.
 
spaceace420 said:
I couldn't agree more and I am shocked, I was one of the naysayers when h2 required it. I did not purchase it until the orange box came out (could never finish the other versions) and here I site 248 games later with no want or need to pirate anything anymore, With these sales and amazon coming into the game it is a great time for pc gaming (at least imho).
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Same here. Once I bought the Orange Box and tried Steam, I liked it. Occasionally run into problems, like UT3 multiplayer needing to have Steam closed before it'll work, but otherwise it works great and the sales are awesome.

MisterClean said:
Also, there are some really really sweet games that I've passed up on because I'm cheap and have a hard time plopping down cash on video games.
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I hear ya. I don't pay full price for any games any more. If the game isn't $30 or less, I can wait for the price to drop. I just picked up both Borderlands 2 and Dishonored for ~$10 each and love the fact that I can play these great games for a great price :D
 
DPI said:
Say what you will, but Steam is squarely responsible for the resurrection of PC gaming in the face of the takeover of the videogame industry by the hot pocket eating, sunny D sucking console kiddies and the publishers that cater to them. Enough of a paradigm shift that both MS and Sony are scrambling to model their nextgen sales & distro schemes after Steam in some halfhearted sense.

Its also what led to many of us to cease pirating games, since convenience of all games in one place, not having to track down patches and avoiding virus-infected cracks far outweighed a few dollars otherwise saved/stolen.

Love it.
Click to expand...

I would tend to use the word "resurgence" rather than "resurrection" since I think the demise of computer gaming was vastly overestimated during the transition from physical to digital ... I do think that Steam (and possibly GOG) have played significant roles in undercutting the publishers and box stores though (similar to what Amazon has done for books and direct sales of merchandise) ... the ability to direct publish (using Steam, GOG, and others) has opened the door for developers to really broaden the market of choices on the PC side compared to the largely cookie cutter world of the consoles and major publishers :cool:
 
Plague_Injected said:
Steam as a store and service platform is good for PC gaming. Steam as DRM that comes with virtually every game that isn't published by EA or Ubisoft...not so much.
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Actually, there are quite a few games on Steam that don't need a Steam launcher exe to work.
 
Plague_Injected said:
Steam as a store and service platform is good for PC gaming. Steam as DRM that comes with virtually every game that isn't published by EA or Ubisoft...not so much.
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Steam is one of the least intrusive DRMs on the market though ... if you must have DRM, and given the money in the bigger titles you must, the Steam DRM should be the textbook case of how to implement it ... it is transparent to the user, it doesn't affect game or system performance, and it provides additional beneficial features (multiple installs, managing system codes, providing screen capture and other capabilities, tracking and reporting playtime/badges/etc) ... DRM free will never hapen and Steam seems to be the Happy Medium of DRM that protects the developer but doesn't harm the consumer ;)
 
Just re-read the article. It claims that most people are unaware that the cards and items are being sold on the marketplace. Are you kidding me? If that's the case, how is the marketplace packed with hundreds of thousands of items, and how are they selling out before I can even click on the buy button? How have I sold dozens of useless trinkets that mean nothing to me if nobody is aware?

Christ, psychology is a hack science.
 
Steam is one of the least intrusive DRMs on the market though ... if you must have DRM
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I still know people that will not install this program (I particular do not like it nor is it installed on my PC anymore because I rarely game anyways on it) I still remember all the backlash when it was released and the uproar, but now because of cheap games noone really cares anymore. If XBone would have done the samething for the new system very cheap games via digital download it would have been a hit but charging 50.00 to download a game instead of 60.00 new sorry would rather have the disc that is no discount. If you prices software so cheap and have sales like every 3-6 months noone would give a crap about DRM anymore as long as it worked imo.
 
ServerKing said:
I still know people that will not install this program (I particular do not like it nor is it installed on my PC anymore because I rarely game anyways on it) I still remember all the backlash when it was released and the uproar, but now because of cheap games noone really cares anymore. If XBone would have done the samething for the new system very cheap games via digital download it would have been a hit but charging 50.00 to download a game instead of 60.00 new sorry would rather have the disc that is no discount. If you prices software so cheap and have sales like every 3-6 months noone would give a crap about DRM anymore as long as it worked imo.
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I don't understand people like you. There are tons of games on steam that are completely drm free. Not to mention the steam DRM is completely unobtrusive and unless you are trying to think about it you'll never notice it.

Steam does so well not just because of the sales, but because you always have access to it in a completely easy to use fashion without having to keep track of a bunch of disc's and cd keys that you can and will lose or break.

Quite frankly, steam is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to gaming. The ease of use for uninstalling and installing games, even across muliple pc's, installs, past a hardware failure, is just win. Then you have the fact that they have so many sales so you can actually get things at an amazing value. Add on to that what it has done for indie gaming and you have gaming win.
 
Steam and Gamefly are both great. This is the cure for game piracy. I never even think to look to download a game illegally and there's always the (good) possibility of a virus in the crack as well. I just normally think "I'll wait for it to go on sale at Steam or GF, or get a cheaper code from a fellow member [H]ere."

...Now my days spent as a Commodore 64 junkie in the 80's... Those were different times :)
 
ServerKing said:
I still know people that will not install this program (I particular do not like it nor is it installed on my PC anymore because I rarely game anyways on it) I still remember all the backlash when it was released and the uproar, but now because of cheap games noone really cares anymore. If XBone would have done the samething for the new system very cheap games via digital download it would have been a hit but charging 50.00 to download a game instead of 60.00 new sorry would rather have the disc that is no discount. If you prices software so cheap and have sales like every 3-6 months noone would give a crap about DRM anymore as long as it worked imo.
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I hardly consider Steam DRM, i think of it more as a place that you can purchase games and use those games wherever you log into. I wont have to worry about hard copies being lost, scratched or even losing the Cd keys because everything is tied to my account.
The only advantage to hard copies is when you have a very slow connection, but most games will still go through steam anyway.
The DRM that i hate and i think the reason everyone sees it as a bad thing is the DRM that was in Bioshock when it first released. I beleive it was called SecureROM? It only let you install the cd key a few times and once that limit was reached, the key would not work anymore.
 
Stiletto said:
If not for Steam, PC gaming would probably be dead.

So this psychobabble bullshit, which is par for the course from the Gawker networks, can suck a fat one.
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I dont think PC would be dead if Steam never existed but it certainly revolutionized the PC gaming market and brought the community of gamers together in one place.

Remember GameSpy? I think Steam innovated from that service
 
sounds like a load of shit to me. its just an opportunity to snag games for a cheaper price, ones we want to play but dont want to pay full price. it also gives incredible exposure to indie games.


Fez or whatever sold 104k copies. that is AWESOME.


i never feel like flash or daily deals are pressuring me to buy because of the time limit either as they usually go up more then once and if I miss it its not really a big deal, there is always the winter sale.
 
Posting here to give a big thumbs up for steam. Has rekindled my interest in pc games over the past several years.
 
Steam is awesome, and the DRM is fine because of offline mode
@MisterClean the problem in China isn't lag, it is that most online games either block China or have separate servers
 
silk186 said:
Steam is awesome, and the DRM is fine because of offline mode
@MisterClean the problem in China isn't lag, it is that most online games either block China or have separate servers
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It wouldnt matter if he is in offline mode and the games would've been purchased in area where they were avaliable.
I pretty sure you would lag in China as it doesnt host a lot of game servers and would either need to connect to a EU or USA server. You are correct that they may block some online games depending on content.
 
I don't understand people like you. There are tons of games on steam that are completely drm free. Not to mention the steam DRM is completely unobtrusive and unless you are trying to think about it you'll never notice it.

Steam does so well not just because of the sales, but because you always have access to it in a completely easy to use fashion without having to keep track of a bunch of disc's and cd keys that you can and will lose or break.
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I am just stating a fact of how bad Value was backlashed when STEAM was originally released especially when they tried to force new CS through that system. I agree its nice to not have to worry about keys anymore but I am sorry I like physical copies that I can have just encase if possible. Steam only caught on because of Value's library and its cheap and easy for indie developers now to get on board. I will not buy a 60.00 game via download if I can get a physical copy regardless of how fast my internet speed is and selling physical copies is much easier. I dont hate the system but I agree with a prior poster that they did borrow from what gamespy used to be like back in the day. And yes the sales and pricing have alot to do with it because there are a lot of young broke people who can afford to buy a few cheap games when these sales go in affect not to mention us older people who have more disposable funds and will spend 100.00 for a shit ton of games on these sales.

It is the best digital delievery system out there, but when stuff costs very little to buy people dont care about DRM hell just look at what iTunes has done with music and how much less piracy is down because of iTunes and streaming services now....if it is cheap enough generally people dont care about restrictions as long as its in the backend and not affecting there experience.
 
People complain about always online/requiring an internet connection to check your game..but with Steam they seem to just completely ignore it. That offline mode is the worst one out of all of them because it rarely ever works when you need it too. Sure I love Steam, but I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread. If they finally fixed the damn offline mode to work correctly(FFS even Uplay and Origin have one that works perfectly) I would agree with you guys. But as of now, you still are pretty much required to be online whenever you play a steam game.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Offline mode got a huge update somewhat recently. It works rather well.
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How? I'm just wondering, because I have login and stuff saved last I checked, but when I didn't have internet it wouldn't let me get into steam at all.

Do you still have to go into offline mode once for it to work the next time?
 
xIronCrossx said:
How? I'm just wondering, because I have login and stuff saved last I checked, but when I didn't have internet it wouldn't let me get into steam at all.

Do you still have to go into offline mode once for it to work the next time?
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I don't think so. I had a internet outage a couple weeks back and this wasn't a requirement.
 
xIronCrossx said:
How? I'm just wondering, because I have login and stuff saved last I checked, but when I didn't have internet it wouldn't let me get into steam at all.

Do you still have to go into offline mode once for it to work the next time?
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i think a few people still have this problem for some reason, but i havent for at least a year now, maybe 2. for me i can start steam without haveing to set offline mode before disconnecting the internet. it just warns me that any save data made by another computer will not be synced with this computer, but lets me play and save and then asks me if i want to updata that save data once i connect to the internet again. it's really worked quite well for me for a long time. no complaints. i'm not sure if the problems people are having are based on their hardware/OS, or if it's just broken for certain games. i'm guessing it has to do with certain games, but i havent encountered any of them yet.
 
Stiletto said:
If not for Steam, PC gaming would probably be dead.

So this psychobabble bullshit, which is par for the course from the Gawker networks, can suck a fat one.
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PC gaming wouldst be dead because both new consoles are PC's... console gaming has died so to speak as console, again as i have said for years and quote me, console are becoming PC's.
 
xIronCrossx said:
People complain about always online/requiring an internet connection to check your game..but with Steam they seem to just completely ignore it. That offline mode is the worst one out of all of them because it rarely ever works when you need it too. Sure I love Steam, but I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread. If they finally fixed the damn offline mode to work correctly(FFS even Uplay and Origin have one that works perfectly) I would agree with you guys. But as of now, you still are pretty much required to be online whenever you play a steam game.
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Game releases with Origin or UPlay: "I hate DRM and I won't buy it."

Game releases on GOG, DRM-free: "I won't play a game that doesn't come with Steam."


...Both phrases usually come from the same person.
 
ServerKing said:
I am just stating a fact of how bad Value was backlashed when STEAM was originally released especially when they tried to force new CS through that system. I agree its nice to not have to worry about keys anymore but I am sorry I like physical copies that I can have just encase if possible. Steam only caught on because of Value's library and its cheap and easy for indie developers now to get on board. I will not buy a 60.00 game via download if I can get a physical copy regardless of how fast my internet speed is and selling physical copies is much easier. I dont hate the system but I agree with a prior poster that they did borrow from what gamespy used to be like back in the day. And yes the sales and pricing have alot to do with it because there are a lot of young broke people who can afford to buy a few cheap games when these sales go in affect not to mention us older people who have more disposable funds and will spend 100.00 for a shit ton of games on these sales.

It is the best digital delievery system out there, but when stuff costs very little to buy people dont care about DRM hell just look at what iTunes has done with music and how much less piracy is down because of iTunes and streaming services now....if it is cheap enough generally people dont care about restrictions as long as its in the backend and not affecting there experience.
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No offense you're kind of all over the road here, not sure what the point is, unless its just a stream of consciousness venting

That's great that you like physical copies, but the PC videogame platform was dying on the antiquated physical distribution model, and had Steam not come along to create value in terms of convenience factor to lure people away from the convenience and instant gratification that piracy/torrents provided, PC gaming would long be dead and buried, or limping along with old games and even crappier console ports.
 
xIronCrossx said:
People complain about always online/requiring an internet connection to check your game..but with Steam they seem to just completely ignore it. That offline mode is the worst one out of all of them because it rarely ever works when you need it too. Sure I love Steam, but I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread. If they finally fixed the damn offline mode to work correctly(FFS even Uplay and Origin have one that works perfectly) I would agree with you guys. But as of now, you still are pretty much required to be online whenever you play a steam game.
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Dont know what your problem is or who you're referring to about people complaining about always-online requirements (unless you're talking about the XBONE? if so nobody gives a damn its OT), but Offline mode working fine here. I take my gaming laptop on the road constantly and never had an issue playing a game.
 
Who cares? Like really? Who really cares? As long as people are PC gaming and Steam remains to be the excellent platform it is...I will continue to buy games from it. Steam is awesome.
 
Stiletto said:
If not for Steam, PC gaming would probably be dead.

So this psychobabble bullshit, which is par for the course from the Gawker networks, can suck a fat one.
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^this

I know full well that a lot of the games I will buy during the Steam Summer Sale I could have prolly bought for the same price some other time.

The Summer sale is like a little tradition. I don't give a shit about any psycho-anal-ist crap.
I spend a few bucks and buy a bunch of games because....

1. I support Steam because I love Steam.
2. I support PC gaming as a whole.
3. I buy games that I wouldn't normally buy to try new things.
4. I buy old games I passed over
5. I buy games I have already owned that don't register in Steam so I can have all my games in Steam
6. because I am drunk.
 
sad to read that so many people find the trading cards to be such a big hook...to me the Steam Sale most closely resembles Black Friday...people lining up to purchase stuff they don't want or need just because it's on sale...Steam has definitely mastered the art of psychology...but people need to realize that PC games go down in price quicker then any other product and the Winter/Summer sales are just a slight of hand trick
 
The Psychology Behind Steam’s Summer Sale?

To make money.

There I solved the big mystery. Now go play some games.
 
polonyc2 said:
sad to read that so many people find the trading cards to be such a big hook...to me the Steam Sale most closely resembles Black Friday...people lining up to purchase stuff they don't want or need just because it's on sale...Steam has definitely mastered the art of psychology...but people need to realize that PC games go down in price quicker then any other product and the Winter/Summer sales are just a slight of hand trick
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Although newer games are sometimes worth waiting on for additional price drops, why wouldn't you buy something you wanted if it was on sale. Most PC gamers hold onto their games where the console gamers are more likely to sell titles and not maintain large gaming libraries. Most of the time a person questioning the value of a Steam sale isn't a gamer ;)

Besides, as GOG has demonstrated, many PC games are playable for years after their release ... especially since the late 90's and early 2000's produced many classic game titles ... I would agree that buying games solely to get the trading cards doesn't make sense ... but if you can grab a game for $5 or less, how much cheaper is it realistically going to get and how big an achievement is it saving an extra dollar ... if you don't play the game immediately it will be there when you decide you do want to play it :cool:
 
kbrickley said:
Although newer games are sometimes worth waiting on for additional price drops, why wouldn't you buy something you wanted if it was on sale. Most PC gamers hold onto their games where the console gamers are more likely to sell titles and not maintain large gaming libraries. Most of the time a person questioning the value of a Steam sale isn't a gamer ;)
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most people don't wait 6 months to play games they are really interested in...even though they know prices will drop fast, gamers are a different breed...instant gratification..it's about the shared community of online multiplayer or single player journies to complete the game...waiting 1 year to play puts you way behind the curve...look at threads here on old games...they usually die out after 6 months

so I would say that the people who wait for Steam sales are the ones that are not the real gamers...they are the delayed gratification gamers who might just hoard away all these games on sale to play months or years later (or maybe never)
 
DPI said:
Say what you will, but Steam is squarely responsible for the resurrection of PC gaming in the face of the takeover of the videogame industry by the hot pocket eating, sunny D sucking console kiddies and the publishers that cater to them. Enough of a paradigm shift that both MS and Sony are scrambling to model their nextgen sales & distro schemes after Steam in some halfhearted sense.

Its also what led to many of us to cease pirating games, since convenience of all games in one place, not having to track down patches and avoiding virus-infected cracks far outweighed a few dollars otherwise saved/stolen.

Love it.
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Steam hardly changed anything. People would still have bought PC games or would still not have bought them regardless. Digital distribution was the future whether Valve existed or not. The reason the Xbox 360 and PS3 do not have a strong digital distribution system is because they are based around dated hardware and software (even though they are upgraded) that pre-dates mainstream PC gaming digital distribution. It happened with music, it is happening/happened with movies and will with consoles once the next generation is released.

If you want further evidence, look at the current top selling games on Steam. Dark Souls, originally a console only title. Bastion, some garbage mainstream game that can probably run on a cellphone, Batman fighting games which are best played with a controller. The majority of the top 20 sellers are similar instances. People are buying the same stuff. Some prefer higher end PCs, some prefer cheaper consoles.
 
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