Does anyone even buy games full price on steam?

krazykidd

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With the summer sale that started , i was wondering if anyone even buys full price games on steam , or does everyone just wait for a sale ? Because there will be a sale at somepoint . Hell sometimes there are even Day1 sales ( from what i've heard ). I'm curious because how do developpers make a profit if their games are only being sold at a discounted price .

Now i don't claim to know anything about business or economics , hence why i'm asking this.

TL;DR: Do you buy games on steam for full price?

Bonus question: How do developpers make a profit if their games are mostly sold at a discount ?
 
Dec 14, 2009
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Well, when you say 'full price' they tend to cheaper out the gate to begin with :D

But yes, if it's a game I really want, I'll get it day one.
 

krazykidd

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Daystar Clarion said:
Well, when you say 'full price' they tend to cheaper out the gate to begin with :D

But yes, if it's a game I really want, I'll get it day one.
When i mean fullprice , i mean no discount . As in no 10% to 99% off.
 

Ushiromiya Battler

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Feb 7, 2010
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I don't think I've ever bought a game for full price on steam in my 7 years of service...

Either there's sales and if I want a game on day one there's usually a nice pre-order price.
 

ItsNotRudy

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krazykidd said:
Daystar Clarion said:
Well, when you say 'full price' they tend to cheaper out the gate to begin with :D

But yes, if it's a game I really want, I'll get it day one.
When i mean fullprice , i mean no discount . As in no 10% to 99% off.
Normally developers would have to pay for printing the discs, packaging, exporting, you'll be paying the store a % of the sales etc. Now it's only Steam that wants a few %
 

DoPo

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Jan 30, 2012
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krazykidd said:
TL;DR: Do you buy games on steam for full price?
I've bought few games full price, but they were mostly smaller ones. I think the last one I bought full price was Torchlight 2 for £15. Well wurth the full price, although it already feels like a discount.

krazykidd said:
Bonus question: How do developpers make a profit if their games are mostly sold at a discount ?
Easy - say, 10 people would buy the game full price, but if you do a 50% discount, 21 people would buy it. Or, alternatively, people would actually buy your game - getting increased exposure and even more units sold after the sale ends. It's a win-win option - gamers get cheaper games, developers get more money.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/174587/Steam_sales_How_deep_discounts_really_affect_your_games.php
 

MysticSlayer

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It isn't uncommon for a company to put on a sale where the product is being sold at a loss. For Valve, this seriously benefits them as Steam is likely undercutting all the competition at the time, bringing in more customers for full-price products. In the case of both Valve and the company that developed/published the game, this also has the benefit of more people buying the game at full-price after the sale as those pleased with their purchase during the sale will start spreading the word about how great the product is. The thing is, while there are plenty of customers that wait for good sales, there are plenty that are willing to buy while the game isn't on sale, making up for those who buy while one sale.

Also, while Steam is well-known for sales, it should be said that they aren't the only ones who run sales like they do. You can almost always find a few products at stores on sale, and anyone who's ever shopped for electronics knows summer is a great time to do it because of all the "Back to School" sales. The difference between Steam and a company like Best Buy, Amazon, or Walmart is that while Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart have a vast array of products they can put on sale, Steam has a very focused product list (basically, nothing but games). It also helps that Steam heavily advertises all its sales products, while going to a retail store requires you to look around for the products on sale. Even on their websites, you generally have to go to the product category you are looking for before you can really start seeing the sales, unless, of course, you are signed up for the company's newsletter. This isn't Steam putting on more sales because they are more financially capable of doing it due to the presumed lower costs of digital distribution. It is simply them following a common business practice on a very focused product list.

As for myself, I generally buy on sale, but if it is a game I'm really looking forward to, I may buy day one. If it just had a sale I missed but people are really getting excited about it, I may also buy it at full price.
 

shrekfan246

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May 26, 2011
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Yeah, sure. Not all that often, mind, but every now and then. Though I guess it depends on the definition of "full-price", since I usually think of it as "before price cuts". I bought Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Portal 2, Bioshock, and Beyond Good & Evil for full price, but none of them cost over $20 individually when I did purchase them.

I suppose I am most likely to pick something up when it's on some crazy 75% off deal though.
 

Foolery

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Jun 5, 2013
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Good question. Nope. Games on Steam, that aren't on sale can be had for lower prices elsewhere. Even around the time of release. The last game I bought full price on there was Torchlight II, as a pre-order. Greenmangaming usually has a 20% code going or buy this game, get another with it deal.
 

mad825

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Ultratwinkie said:
krazykidd said:
With the summer sale that started , i was wondering if anyone even buys full price games on steam , or does everyone just wait for a sale ? Because there will be a sale at somepoint . Hell sometimes there are even Day1 sales ( from what i've heard ). I'm curious because how do developpers make a profit if their games are only being sold at a discounted price .

Now i don't claim to know anything about business or economics , hence why i'm asking this.

TL;DR: Do you buy games on steam for full price?

Bonus question: How do developpers make a profit if their games are mostly sold at a discount ?

Lack of overhead. Steam cuts out so many costs games really could be cheap and profitable.
ha, steam cuts the price of games to compete with the retail market. Most of the games that are on sale are on par with most games on Amazon.

Only the flash sales are usually worth it.
 

ScrabbitRabbit

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I never buy games full price on Steam, because they're always cheaper on Amazon by about £5, sometimes up to £10. I very rarely buy games on Steam, period, anymore unless they're digital-only and small because my internet sucks. Last year I bought a metric shit-ton, though.

Of course, all my retail games are still registered to my Steam account.
 

josemlopes

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The only game I ever bought full price on Steam was Max Payne 3 and since I have 100+ games on Steam I think I can say no.
Now I mostly only buy games lower then 10$ (bought Batman AC for 5$ so it really doesnt take long for a game to drop price)
 

vashthblackseed

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I did pre-order BioShock Infinity from steam, that was full price; unless you count getting BioShock and XCom: Enemy Unknown for free as not
 

BarbaricGoose

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I do not. Well, VERY RARELY.

There's usually one, sometimes 2 games I'm willing to pay full price for per year. I've bought about 50 games so far this year and haven't spent $200. Thing is, cause of the great deals, I usually regret my purchases if they're $60. I paid $60 for Dishonored. REALLY regret that...

OT: Why are today's so shitty? Capping at 50% off? Also, I'm pretty sure it said Deadlight was gonna be 75% off, and now it's 50% off? I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but that's some bullshit. Edit: The deals seem to be fixed now... 75%... ahhhhh... normal.
 

CardinalPiggles

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Yes people buy games full price on Steam. How do you think new games end up on the top sellers list?

Short term, sales won't net a dev/publisher any more or much more than selling full price. But as the sale goes on more people buy the games than ever before, and some buy games they thought they would never buy. It also increases brand recognition/exposure. And sequels get higher sales numbers partly because over time more people are picking up their predecessors, and it's almost like getting the demo for the sequel, because it gives you a decent idea of what the sequel will be like.

For example I didn't get Torchlight 1 until Torchlight 2 started getting hyped. Having played and enjoyed TL1 I pre ordered TL2.

Personally I've bought a fair few games full price on Steam, simply because I can't wait sometimes. Especially if it's a story driven game like Bioshock: Infinite. You can't always avoid spoilers.
 

JEBWrench

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At full price? I bought Scribblenauts: Unlimited, Crusader Kings 2, and Knights of Pen and Paper +1.

So three games out of 187.

More than one percent!
 

Xanadu84

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Top notch looking indie games, I buy at full price. Because they are generally fairly inexpensive anyways, so waiting for a sale is less important. Oh, I do buy indies on sale, but generally those are the ones I wouldn't have bought at a higher price, or was willing to wait for. AAA games Ill buy day 1 if it looks exceptional. For example, new Bioshock games. Realistically, sales only make me buy slightly fewer games at launch, but make me buy a LOT more on sale. Pretty sure they have reached a point where they are extracting the maximum amount of money they can manage out of my wallet.

Publishers make money because the market forces are absurd. You don't sell Steam games used, so they can have a MUCH longer tail, where sales can actually contribute to a companies bottom line. Digital Distribution and no used games completely hacks apart overhead costs and baloons ROI, and ridiculous sales are just the natural consequence of such an extreme force pushing down prices, while new games keep the $60 price point, thanks to the artificial anchoring of that price point in the physical retail market. Plus, Valve know their marketing, and they are very willing to play the long game, where they eventually reap the rewards (In the form of piles of cash) of cultivating a powerful, mutually beneficial consumer ecosystem.
 

Tiamattt

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Hm, really can't remember the last time I actually did. It might actually be my pre-order of Poker Night of Inventory 1 from waaay back. Everything else in my inventory was either bought on a sale, or a gift when the game was also on sale.