Am I wrong, or has the fundamental re-pricing of Steam games begun?

[Via]

Or did it happen a while ago, and I didn't notice? The prices and selection during the holiday sale were a bit underwhelming.

Sale or not, I always checked the specials section every day, and there usually around 80-100 games on sale. iirc at least one older AAA game was included in the sale section; I got many of my games from there. Since the holiday sale the number of games in the specials section hasn't exceeded 50, and it's usually around 30-40. Most of the games included there now are indie, expansions, and slightly discounted new games.

Are the days of the three-month old game selling for 75% off a thing off the past? I figured it would happen sooner or later.

Disclaimer: I don't check Steam daily anymore. For years it was one of the first things I would do after sitting down at my PC, but now I go days or even a week without open the steam browser so I may have missed the general trend of prices.

 

[irishScott]

Yeah this year's deals were rather lackluster IMO. Everything I wanted was either not low enough or something I'd acquired in a previous sale, with the exception of Nihilumbra and XCOM: Enemy Within.

Regardless, their pricing is their perogative. If they price higher and limit selection during sales I will buy less, plain and simple.

 

[Barfo]

Are the days of the three-month old game selling for 75% off a thing off the past? I figured it would happen sooner or later..

When has this ever happened, other than games that miserably failed expectations?

 

[sandorski]

I have no complaints about the recent Sale. I still got some great deals on games I wanted. If anything, past Sales were way too generous. These levels of deals are unprecedented, even the recent sale was nothing like what happened Pre-Steam.

Every Steam sale I almost feel like a thief.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd say no. There were a bunch of games at good prices including indies and major titles like Saints Row IV and Dishonored.

I didn't end up buying anything, but only because I decided to clear up more of my backlog first.

 

[Via]

When has this ever happened, other than games that miserably failed expectations?

Maybe three months is a bit quick, but five or six months for sure. I bought many new games steeply discounted, and not all of them sucked.

I bought Xcom:EU for like 8 bucks during the Summer sale. That hasn't been out that long, has it?

 

[Lil Frier]

I think part of the reason you see more indie stuff in the sales is that there is a general increase in quantity of indie stuff. GreenLight's a perfect example of it, and the fact that quite a lot of "journalists" put titles like The Stanley Parable and Brothers high-up on GotY lists reflects that trend as well, I think.

This was the first Steam Sale I ever bought from, and I was both pleased and disappointed. I got a total of 10 games, but I think I bought 7 of them within the first 4 days or so. I never got Unreal or Quake to go on-sale, nor did a lot of other things I want make it onto big-enough sales to consider. So while I was pleased to get 10 games to play (and the next sale will probably be here before I finish half of them), I was also disappointed that I didn't get some of the games near the top of my Wishlist.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I agree, the sales on steam seem to be tending to indie type games. In fact, during the sale in November, I bought FC3 and Metro LL from Amazon because they were cheaper than Steam. Steam later basically matched the price that was on Amazon, but I see far less really spectacular deals on Steam than there used to be.

 

[magomago]

I'm not so sure I agree entirely. My main complaint is that I see a lot of the same games on sale over and over again, but there are still a lot of great deals.

Ultimately if sales slow, Steam's developers have to react to it; Given that its not Steam who sets the prices, but the developer who sets the price, you'll see them react more aggressively.

 

[shortylickens]

You know what?
If Steam sucked donkey balls for the next two years I still woudlnt be able to get thru my current library.

 

[Nebor]

You know what?
If Steam sucked donkey balls for the next two years I still woudlnt be able to get thru my current library.

This.

 

[blastingcap]

I've noticed the same thing as OP. Or maybe it's just an illusion. I don't know. There was a time when I bought mostly Steam, but in the last few years I've been more likely to buy from other vendors.

 

[ImpulsE69]

It's an illusion. The sales themselves are fine. There is a saturation level that has been hit because there are more "indie" and "early access" games available now than in the past, in fact many more than big name games. Very rarely was a big title 75% off in the first few months (unless it was horrible and didn't sell).

Most of you have huge catalogs. Those same games are going on sale every time. There is less and less for you to buy. You've noticed they've stopped doing the "dev package deals" for the most part? Because most people already have most of the games involved and so they would not sell well now as they are not good deals for people with catalogs.

Also, practically EVERYTHING is on sale, even if it doesn't make the daily or flash sales.

I will say I think the voting is rigged.

 

[you2]

Well there is always greenmangaming and amazon
-
indie stuff (and kickstart as well) are definitely improving. Hopefully ubisoft and ea will reconsider uplay and origin; mind you i like the idea of competition with steam but those two companies are so full of it when it comes to putting gamers first. I remember playing DA:O and constnatly haveing EA's server go down and my add-ons being disabled. What kind of crap is that; and then ubi took their servers down for a week and all their online games simply stopped working (mind you that makes perfect sense for multi-player but disabling single player games so they can clean their house is full of shit).

 

[rivethead]

For me, the Steam sales have become lack-luster for two reasons:

1) Humble Bundles
2) They won't place nice with EA

In past Holiday Sales, I've bought ME1 and ME2. I'm ready for ME3 but Steam can't put it on sale because they can't even sell it. Same with Dragon Age 2 - I would have bought it this Holiday Sale for $5 - if available.

My first ever Holiday Sale purchase was Battlefield Bad Company 2 - $7.50 two years ago. Loved it. I would have purchased BF3 this Holiday Sale....except I already got it through a Humble Bundle.

So between amassing a large backlog due to Humble Bundles and a lack of EA titles that appeal to me, this Steam Sale ended up being boring.

 

[manimal]

good ol days are gone, they have the market share they want and the devs have other digital distros so prices are stabilizing. I persnoally am glad I got in on the sales a few years ago and have 400+games on backlog..

I only picked up two things this winter and three this summer spending about as much as I did buying 70 games a few years ago.

 

[clok1966]

Only thing i noticed is I have almost everything unless its less than 2 months old.. COH2 was about all i didn't have and it was $19? for a game that has been $59, it seems like a good mark down to me, no it wasnt $9.99, but man the game was just released a few months ago. Also the Xcom add on, half price, nope, sorry all looked good to me.

again all i notice is about all the great deals i click on "you already have this game" damn.. i buy way to much.

as for the "wont play nice with EA" wow.. have you read up? EA broke STEAMS agreement, not the other way around. I wont even go into the details its very easy to find on google (if you skip the biased game sites and look at a few legal sites that have the info). and for saying this i know, Im a STEAM fanboy.. no.. hate to have a Client to buy games (gog does it the right way).. but hating having one (steam) i sure as shit not going to install another...

 

[gothamhunter]

Part illusion part competition

1. We are becoming saturated with their games. They used to be "more amazing" because we had a lot of selection to choose from. Now, I rarely buy anything during the sale because I already own most of the games that would interest me. AAA titles of this year are still discounted, but they'll be heavily discounted next year, which is when I'll get them. I'm sure this is how it's been for most of us.

2. Because of this (them having access to more games at heavy discounts that aren't this years AAA), we often see BETTER deals on AAA titles from this year elsewhere (Amazon, GMG, etc). This makes us think that the Steam sale sucks, but in reality it's how it always has been: AAA titles of this year discounted, AAA titles of yesteryear HEAVILY discounted.

 

[Texashiker]

Or did it happen a while ago, and I didn't notice? The prices and selection during the holiday sale were a bit underwhelming.

It has been that way for the past 3 - 4 years. The last great sale I remember was somewhere around 2009.

Steam seems to have moved away from the bundles and focusing more on individual games.

Last steam sale:

Stalker bundle, deep discount - no
Quake bundle, deep discount - no
Unreal bundle, deep discount - no
Bethseda bundle, deep discount - no
Elder scrolls bundle, deep discount - no
Fallout bundle, deep discount - no
2k bundle, deep discount - no

What did go on deep discount was the half-life bundle.

It seems that publishers no longer want to offer their complete bundles at deep discounted price like what they used to. Rather than offer an elder scrolls bundle, it is reduce skyrim by 75% while leaving Oblivion and Morrowwind at 50% off.

I have not seen a Stalker bundle on deep discount in probably 2 years? For that matter I do not remember seeing any of the Stalker games on deep discount in a long time.

Something I would like to see is a mix-and-match bundle on deep discount. This would be where steam gives gives us 75% off any 3 games of our choice.

Why not a zombie bundle with games like left 4 dead, left 4 dead 2, walking dead and how to survive all for a single low price?

One thing is for sure though, steam is moving away from offering great titles on deep discount to offering indie or little known games on deep discount. There is nothing wrong with getting new developers exposure. But I would like to see some of the popular games go on sale.

 

[Super56K]

There's plenty of other digital storefronts to shop from. People complaining about Steam sales is akin to someone mad about milk prices at Kroger when it's cheaper at the grocery store across the street. I personally found a lot of great deals direct from Steam, but I spent my money pretty evenly across Amazon, GMG, PSN, and the various bundle storefronts. I guess I fail to see what was underwhelming about these past sales because there were cheap games everywhere for weeks on end.

 

[Savatar]

I was eye-balling some games (some of which were Pop Cap games) that were lesser known, but they didn't go on a 75% sale as well... in previous years they had a Pop Cap sale - but not this year. So, as you guys have already said, they do seem to be getting away from publisher sales - which definitely causes the sales to be more focused. However, you will still often see related games on sale when another title is on sale from the same series... for example, I am pretty sure Morrowind and Oblivion were on sale, but just not advertised, on the same day Skyrim was on sale this year. They just didn't display it on the main page.

 

[irishScott]

Also worth noting the inclusion of early access sales. I guess they're making Valve money, and I'm excited about the prospect of some of them, but they aren't finished products. It's like giving you a discount on a kickstarter pledge, only worse because they typically have private funding and aren't accountable in any respect to those that buy through early access.

 

[thedosbox]

It seems that publishers no longer want to offer their complete bundles at deep discounted price like what they used to. Rather than offer an elder scrolls bundle, it is reduce skyrim by 75% while leaving Oblivion and Morrowwind at 50% off.

I think the focus on percentage discounts is a little misguided when you're talking about games/bundles that are currently listed at $20.

 

[zinfamous]

There were still plenty of great sales. You likely didn't notice because you already had those games.

Also, steam doesn't set prices.

Also, this:

You know what?
If Steam sucked donkey balls for the next two years I still woudlnt be able to get thru my current library.

 

[Texashiker]

I think the focus on percentage discounts is a little misguided when you're talking about games/bundles that are currently listed at $20.

In December 2009 I bought the unreal bundle for like $13 - $14. For the past few years the bundle has not been anywhere near that price.

Same goes for the id bundle. Before Quake 4 was added the bundle was $21 - $22. Now it is almost double that price on sale.