Back when the Steam Sale started, I wasn’t overly impressed. It’s not that the sale was bad, but I was just so used to those flash sales offering ridiculous discounts on games. And remember the voting? That was such fun to vote on which game we wanted to see discounted. The Sale used to have a frenetic, frantic feel to it. This time is was much calmer, allowing gamers to make considered choices about which games to buy on sale, without feeling like they might miss out if the game went on flash sale. It seems slow and steady won the race.
According to Steam Spy, this year’s Steam Summer Sale generated $223.2 million in revenue. That’s a ridiculous sum, especially considering that in 2015 the Steam Summer Sale netted developers $160 million – that’s an increase of 40% this year.
Interestingly, the sales were more evenly distributed across the whole sale period, unlike typically where they’d spike on the first and last days. However, it’s the percentage discounts that I find rather intriguing.
The removal of daily and flash deals also made developers more cautious with their discounts. An average discount this year was 50%, instead of the 66.67% from last year.
[…] The median revenue for the games with a 75% discount was $33.5K this year ($40K last year), $40K for 66% ($75K), $60K for 50% ($90K), $106K for 33% ($90K) and $120K for 25% ($90K last year).
It seems the games with the biggest discounts weren’t necessarily the biggest winners this year, with the 33% and 25% discounted titles coming out with huge growth and earnings. Without the frantic pace of snagging games when they hit 66-80% off on flash sales, it seems gamers were happy to think about and they purchase games with smaller discounts.
I didn’t buy anything during the Steam Sale. My other half purchased a game on my wishlist for me, but otherwise it was a pretty tame period for me. Then again, I have a huge backlog of games, so there was really no point in buying all the things – I’ll probably only get to play them around December anyway, so I can just wait for the next Steam Sale instead. I suppose it’s also good for developers; instead of having games wallow in people’s backlogs for ages, gamers will buy the games they really want and then play them (hopefully), discover new titles and developers to enjoy and thus keep an eye out for future interesting experiences from the same studios.
Did you pick up any cool titles during the sale? What was the average discount that appealed to you?
Last Updated: July 11, 2016
Pariah
July 11, 2016 at 08:34
Picked up a few games – one that I’d played before – but all I was really happy with. Grim Dawn, Kingdom’s of Amalur, Beyond Eyes (this is beautiful btw), and War for the Overworld. R700 value, but I can proudly say I’ve already played all 4 of them.
Captain JJ off track
July 11, 2016 at 09:27
Kingdoms is excellent. Especially for that price. Did you get the complete edition with all the DLC? They do add quite a bit. Grim Dawn is also on my wishlist, but I’ve got too many ARPGs to work through at the moment, so gave it a skip.
Pariah
July 11, 2016 at 09:29
I played the original Kingdoms a few years ago – loved it. At that price I bought the full one with all DLC – It’s still just as good. I’ll get into that soon. And Grim Dawn – well I’ll be getting there as well, but it’s exactly what I’d hoped and expected it to be. Modern day Titan Quest (one of my fav ARPGs of all time)
Captain JJ off track
July 11, 2016 at 09:37
Oh nice. Grim looks fantastic. Hoping to get it on the next sale.
R1ker
July 11, 2016 at 10:17
I actually also went and got all the dlc that i was still missing. As you said – that game is still excellent.
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 11, 2016 at 08:41
Well I must be enjoying MGSV because I’ve spent over 30 hours on it already since picking it up during the sale, I’m even replaying the odd mission to complete the extra objectives.
VampyreSquirrel
July 11, 2016 at 08:41
All I got was South Park The Stick of Truth for R67 (I think).
Pariah
July 11, 2016 at 08:42
R2 off from a gem of a comment/occurrence 😛
VampyreSquirrel
July 11, 2016 at 08:48
Yeah, missed opportunity.
Mossel
July 11, 2016 at 12:34
Me too! Epic game so far.
Commander Bob
July 11, 2016 at 08:41
I picked up a few games but compared to my earlier Steam sales I spent almost nothing. I made a personal rule that I don’t buy any game unless it has a 75% (or more) off attached to it.
Captain JJ off track
July 11, 2016 at 09:22
Same here. Very few games actually reached 75% at this sale.
Admiral Chief Maximum Effort
July 11, 2016 at 13:21
Saw a few 90% off gems, and by gem, I mean polished turds
Greylingad[He Charges!]
July 11, 2016 at 08:59
I bought so many games….
Onza
July 11, 2016 at 09:00
I spent a lil too much on the sale , the prices just where too briliant. Ended up with . GMOD , hyperdimension neptunia series(3games),divinity enhanced collectors edition,torchlight 2,terraria, super meatboy . Some of these are just experimental but hey all for under R600 . bargain !!!!! 😀
Admiral Chief Maximum Effort
July 11, 2016 at 09:12
Hehehe got GMod as well!
Are you playing any local servers?
Onza
July 11, 2016 at 09:59
Not gonna lie ey man with all the games ive bought my internet is a constraint in terms of data cap :'( as such i haven’t downloaded GMod just yet , unfortunately .
Pariah
July 11, 2016 at 09:30
Those are all worth probably double what you paid. Great selection!
Captain JJ off track
July 11, 2016 at 09:22
I bought so little. Least I’ve ever bought on a sale.
miaau
July 11, 2016 at 09:39
Trick is, I think we all buy too much stuff. most of us were trained from a young age to be consumerists.
I look around my house and sometimes just despair. Toys,toys, more lego, toys and THEN we start on my daughters toys as well (5 packs of different types of blocks, of course)
Captain JJ off track
July 11, 2016 at 09:46
Yea, that’s very true.
I also have the LEGO problem by me.
miaau
July 11, 2016 at 09:52
That is great, I think. Hmm. Lego
it is when I see things that we paid loads for that are not being used properly.
Captain JJ off track
July 11, 2016 at 09:54
I find I’ve gotten a bit better with it as I’ve gotten older though.
miaau
July 11, 2016 at 09:37
In other news: I bough Dragon Age : Inquisition game of the year edition and restarted the game.
For R169, full game, all DLC.
on Xbox Live, summer sale. Um. Hehem. (Clears throat again, for effect)
Playing Archer Rogue. Not enjoying it that much yet, to be honest. Sort of getting into it and some later skills look awesome. The game is fun, though.
(Clears throat again, for effect)
Viper_ZA
July 11, 2016 at 13:12
Bought this on PC but never got my full attention. Dying to have a crack at it again tho xD
miaau
July 11, 2016 at 15:27
I played it through when it first came out, took almost 3 months, including two week long breaks (closer to two weeks 2nd time). Was fun, a bit too big to be honest, i.e. starts to get a bit irritating, more stuff to see and do the whole time.
R1ker
July 11, 2016 at 10:15
I picked up Deponia the complete collection. If i did not know any better you would have sworn this game was made by Lucasarts when they were on the peak of their point and click games
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
July 11, 2016 at 13:15
Got Tomb Raider and Doom.
Also I missed the flash stuff and the mini games. It adds a bit more.
Tiaan Pat
July 11, 2016 at 13:20
Got Civ 5, was a massive saving and all the dlc included. Was 93% off… Full retail was R1380 or something like that, awesome game, only thing that bugs me is that dx12 dll bombs out every now and then.