Valve: Short-term Steam deals don't hurt long-term performance
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Nov 18th 2009 at 6:15AM } 
Regarding the $2.49 Team Fortress 2 sale last month, Holtman said that sales actually increased the following weekend -- after it went back to full price. He also mentioned Steam's previous half-off sale of Left 4 Dead, noting that it didn't hurt retail sales at all (readers will recall that Valve claimed that it actually boosted retail sales). Holtman stated that it's possible to run several promotions without "sacrificing" either downloadable or retail sales, and added, "You don't have to hurt somebody to win."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
lexicon @ Nov 18th 2009 6:27AM
I believe in that.. people most frugal are more likely to generate buzz
roger @ Nov 18th 2009 9:47AM
So in other words most that buy online are suckers since they tend to pay a higher price,now I see why they want everything digital.
Foetoid @ Nov 18th 2009 10:49AM
Not if you live in Australia, buying online makes us NOT a sucker. See generally speaking, once distributors import a game and convert to aussie dollars, we pay double. So for example, a retail Wii game in the US brand new is usually US$49.95. We pay AUS$99.95 normally. Granted our price includes all taxes and blah blah, but thats not the point. So what happens when we buy a game through steam listed as $49.95 US Dollars? We get a straight currency conversion, and with our dollar worth about 94 US Cents, we pay nearly half our normal retail price which is a BARGAIN. If i bought L4D2 at retail on PC its AUS$109.95 ($10 more than standard retail price). On Steam it would cost me about AUS$55 with the currency conversion. Hence why i love Steam.
What does confuse me no end, is Modern Warfare 2 being US$89.99 on Steam. My brother bought it at retail the other day for our normal retail price of AUS$99.95, not the "double" price we are used to. So really, we're paying our "normal" retail price, which to people in the US should be US$49.95 going by normal trends. Why the US is being so drastically ripped off is beyond me.
Sidebuster @ Nov 18th 2009 12:37PM
I think MW2 is higher than normal for you is because they decided to charge console price. I would have thought about buying MW2 but it's $59.99 instead of the normal $49.99.
Phix @ Nov 18th 2009 6:30AM
I'm actually glad I couldn't afford Left 4 Dead 2 at release... at least I can look forward to a 25% to 50% off deal in the future.
BlueXArmed @ Nov 18th 2009 6:32AM
I wouldn't even be on Steam if not for weekend deals. I couldn't pass up on the indie games pack Joystiq pointed out over the summer (10 games for $30 including Braid, World of Goo, Crayon Physics Deluxe, and Audiosurf).
I've bought five more games since then, three at full price.
liquid @ Nov 18th 2009 7:22AM
Why would it hurt them? I bought it then and still can't install TF2. "Servers busy".
sicsided @ Nov 18th 2009 9:29AM
go to the steam forums, and see if there's a certain issue with that. Otherwise, place a ticket with them to get it fixed, or get an email to email someone on that.
Arkle @ Nov 18th 2009 9:35AM
Why not download from another server then?
File>Settings>Downloads>Download Region
Was doing the same for GTAIV for me a while ago, downloaded from another country fine.
boredasfook @ Nov 18th 2009 9:28AM
Lol these suckers always get me with their weekend deals and what Holtman said is pretty much true.
roger @ Nov 18th 2009 9:49AM
Holtman says the people will pay the higher price because they don't care and you're calling them suckers? I think you must be confused with who the suckers actually are, but then again the world is full of morons.
roger @ Nov 18th 2009 9:51AM
Also I'm not calling you a moron, though it sort of came out that way after I read my comment after posting.
hpv @ Nov 18th 2009 10:37AM
I'd like to see what they're basing those conclusions on. It appears from the reporting that he's comparing a sale on Steam to a retail price drop.
If there's any truth to it I can only assume that it's because the Steam userbase is either a) not paying much attention because if I see that TF2 is $2.49 there's no way I'm EVER paying more than that for it.
Beth @ Nov 18th 2009 11:26PM
I was at MIGS and saw the charts and the data he was using to back it up with. He showed a few graphs including 1. revenue over time 2. purchases over time (both significantly increased during sales and were about the same to a little higher after the sale when compared to before the sale) 3. player base over time (increased a lot).
Nadril @ Nov 18th 2009 10:35AM
I can certainly believe it. After all the low price generates a lot of buzz even after its sales period. People might have had a friend who bought the game on sale and decide to just buy the game to play with them.
It is interesting how Valve has such good control over getting a game sold. If it wasn't for steam a lot of indie games would be having a much more difficult time getting solid I think.
Dreaded Fear @ Nov 18th 2009 12:33PM
95% of the games on my steam account are from sales. If I miss a sale, I usually won't buy that game unless it comes on sale again. It is a weird problem I have.
chaos3346 @ Nov 18th 2009 4:10PM
I think this is because a lot of the people who buy the games for these low prices would not have bought it for any higher. Many people would have totally overlooked Audiosurf at ten bucks - I bought it at launch for 10% off, but I would have paid full price honestly. Yet many people don't see that value. What happens, though, is that people will pay more to play a popular game. Getting Audiosurf into the hands of more people when it was on sale for $3 (I think that happened once) helped the game get publicity and popularity, which spurns future sales.
Basically, Valve is essentially creating "hits." Lots of people bought, and will buy, MW2 because everyone has it, it's the talk of the town. Plus the sales are irregular and unpredictable, so it's rarely worth it to purposefully wait until the price drops when everyone else is playing it right now.
I absolutely believe their argument.