Game sales are 'bad'....

[Arcmanov]

...says this dev on his blog

I totally get where he's coming from, too.

How many times have we, as gamers, literally turned our noses up at a new title for some reason with the phrase 'meh...I'll get it in a Steam sale'?  (Looking SQUARELY at a certain member named after an anime character with a HUGE sword ).
Me?  I love a Steam sale...but I mostly look forward to discounted DLC on games that I would have purchased day-one, or even pre-ordered.

Still, it's a great way to acquire a title that you may not have wanted to buy at full price because hey, lets face it, you may not be able
to buy EVERY game you want at 50 and 60 US.  A sale is a great way to catch those titles that my be 2nd or 3rd tier on your list.

Of course, the many sales now present another conundrum, which I now refer to as 'the game collector's lament',
which basically speaks to the inability (due to time and other factors) to play every single game in your ever-growing library
of easy to obtain digital titles.  It's that very ease to simply click 'Buy' and download that has us gamers in this position.

Just this past week I purchased Darksiders 2 and it's DLC for 13 US.  Not sure when I'll get around to playing it though,
as I haven't even finished playing Darksiders 1, let alone all the OTHER games on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 that I am yet to finish.
I haven't even STARTED Infamous 2 on PS3    and Second Son is right there on the horizon.  Now that I think about it,
I haven't finished Infamous 1 either.  My backlog list is a mile long...I know.  Unfortunately...life got in the way.


The dev goes on to say in his blog that he won't be participating in any more Steam sales as an addendum to his assertions.
Some how, I think that's a bad move, but he has something to prove I guess.


What do you think?  Are game sales 'bad' for the industry, or for gamers in the long run?

[Spazosaurus]

There's just too many, I simply dont have the time...that's a statement that holds true for not only games. But movies, tv shows and just about every other form of digital entertainment in existence. I've never heard anyone lament that the music or movie industry may go into a tailspin because there's just too much content and people don't have enough time to consume it all. That's just a personal lament. Even someone with nothing else to do all day is never going to be able to play em all.

Digital games, being what they are; digital copies...you can't really "sell out" your entire inventory. You dont have to pay for manufacture, packaging, shipping and all the associated costs that come with getting conventional discs to consumers. Of course, steam is going to have to get a cut of the action, but somehow I doubt that its going to be nearly as much as the aforementioned costs.

That said, with the sales, sure you're not going to make as much $$ per unit but I imagine that volume of sales would more than make up loss of per unit revenue. Not to mention your product reaches more users because of the more accessible price. Devs have a greater chance of becoming a household name where via conventional means and prices, many people would have passed.

Of course, if yuh game on epic sale and it STILL eh selling, then obviously you have a crappy product, not even worth the storage space and bandwidth burden on the internets. Those devs are the ones going to be butthurt; and I suspect this dev is responsible for games that fit this description.

[TriniXaeno]

I'll wait for Castle Doctrine (the developer's game) to fall into a humble bundle before buying it. That way I get to help charity and not feel bad about adding to my backlog, lol

we would need a whole lot of people who will buy random games just because they are on sale---games that they had no intention of buying otherwise. Maybe there are enough of these people, and I've certainly met some of them: people who have a backlog of 50 unplayed games in their Steam library. Maybe they'll never play them. But even if there are enough people doing this, it's not a good thing. It's just people being tricked into wasting money on stuff they don't want or need. Better that they spent that money on one full-price game that they really want rather than four 75%-off impulse buys to add to their backlog.

This^^!

He is right about that, 100%



The digital age makes games a lot more affordable. That is a good thing but it does come with some drawbacks. Game Collector's Lament being foremost amongst them.

I've waxed poetic about that in other threads and my resolve has been to work my way through the games I already own before purchasing more.

Spaz is right. Same happens with movies, TV series, music...etc...

You cannot listen/watch/play them all.

Buying something you never utilize even while on sale is wasting money. Full stop. You didn't actually save a dime.

Since making that commitment in 2014, I have already beaten two games in my Steam library. Shank 1 and Shank 2. (12 hours total playtime)

Next up, Battlefield 4

As with most things in life, being dedicated to the task at hand produces results.

gg wp

[Berzerk]

Who is tha man boy..named after that anime...lol

Seriously though, I actually agree with the article. I personally havent beaten about 60% of my games, and in some way I kinda feel that the value of certain triple A titles gets diminished when you see a 60 dollar valued title go down in price by 75% within a few months. (not due to quality mind you)

For me it poses another problem, you look foward to a game, you decide to wait,for 'steam sale' then another comes, and another and another, you get all for the price of the original, and you just rush em out... let alone some stay in your backlog and never get played.
Kinda takes the whole fun aspect out of it. if you just limit to that one that outshines all the others, you might get your monies worth and then some. in any case the lustre of the steam sale kinda died on me last couple months. not purchasing any till i actually beat out my current inventory in say next 5 years?

 (well aside of titanfall, and Witcher 3 of course.)

[TriniXaeno]

not purchasing any till i actually beat out my current inventory in say next 5 years?

 (well aside of titanfall, and Witcher 3 of course.)

totally agreed

my plan is to "allow" myself the purchase of additional games after playing through titles I already own. Maybe a ratio of 3 to 1.

Complete 3 games....allowed to buy 1 new game.

That should provide enough leeway for big releases like Titanfall and the new MarioKart/SmashBrothersBrawl

On a related note, the flip side of the equation has immensely successful free2play games like Dota 2 and LeagueofLegends that mock the entire "big sale" conundrum altogether.

All the way to the bank. Free Forever and making crazy money. Seemingly not cheapened in anyway despite the zero cost entrance fee.