This holiday’s upcoming Steam sales are going to be different, and we think you will be happy with the changes.
Valve has revealed in advance that there are two big sales on schedule. This month will have the Black Friday/Exploration sale on November 25, 10 AM PST, to December 1, 10 AM PST. After that, there will be the Holiday sale, from December 22nd 10AM PST, to Jan 4th 10AM PST.
Valve has made arrangements with developers to have only one discount for individual games, to run the length of the sale. They have explained that this will allow developers to get as many sales as possible, and it will also allow them to get the word out on their sales as effectively as possible.
Valve’s full statement is below:
In past sale events, we’ve asked for two discounts—a duration discount that runs for the length of the sale, and a feature discount that runs in the event that a game is featured on the front page. This year, to optimize the sale for customers and to allow us to feature and recommend your products in more ways to more customers, we’re asking for just one discount, to run the length of the sale.
We’ll still be highlighting top games on the front page for 24-48 hour spans, but those products will stay at their most competitive discount, before and after being featured. It’s not a major change, but it does make the sale a lot more valuable for customers, and it allows us to build sale tools that highlight and recommend products all sale long, instead of just during front page features.
To put this in context, GOGcom still does daily deals for their big sales promotions, but makes sure to also offer all the games again on sale for the closing hours. In the past, games that GOGcom gave away in these promotions were also discounted for the closing hours.
The dynamics for Steam and GOGcom are different, of course, as they are infamous for creating obsessive behaviors in the most avid Steam users. Do you like this change to Steam sales? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
