Veterans of Steam have learnt to avoid those pesky season sales. Why? Because according to the law of the infinite backlog, one does not simply purchase any additional games unnecessarily… or something like that. Trust me, I’m a scientist*!
Seriously though, those who have been on Steam long enough are basically guaranteed to have a library filled with many untouched titles. That backlog exists only because it’s essentially impossible to say no to cheap games… IMPOSSIBLE – and that right there is fact.
You’d think we all would’ve become immune by now, learnt to say no, and especially learnt to avoid being suckered into really good deals. Apparently not, because, big surprise, the recent Steam Winter Sale was a huge success (via PC Gamer):
At least 46 million copies of games found their new owners during Steam Winter Sale. And it only includes those games that sold over 1,000 copies, as smaller changes are barely detectable by Steam Spy. That’s 50% more compared to Steam Summer Sale.
If we assume that all of those games were sold on Steam (it’s probably not the case because of bundles and third-party stores) and account for regional pricing, we can conclude that Steam Winter Sale brought at least $270M in revenue.
It was noted in the original blog post that these statistics above were gathered using Steam Spy, meaning they are not 100% accurate. Valve confirmed the Winter Sale’s success though, in a blog post of their own. Popular, well known games sold well, but so did all the others.
As with past years, popular hits continue to sell well during major sales events. But what about the thousands of other titles on Steam?
We looked at performance of the group of games outside of the Top 500 in revenue terms. This group collected 35% of product page traffic during the sale, which is over 4x their share of traffic from the previous winter sale. And these weren’t just idle views–we also saw 45% growth in the revenue generated by this group of games as compared with the last winter sale.
We have no idea just how much the revenue grew with regards to triple A titles. Seeing as Valve is filled with a ton of other games though, that grew by 45% in revenue… well, you can bet that almighty Gaben is smiling from ear to ear with all the money that is rolling in.
Did you buy anything in the Steam Winter Sale? I resisted so well, so so so well, right up until the last day. I grabbed Life is Strange, and… the entire Star Wars franchise because REASONS. My backlog is looking nice and healthy… and pretty much unfinishable these days.
*loljokes
Last Updated: January 12, 2016
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 09:35
I bought games, I even played a couple & finished one of them! New record! WIN!
Hammersteyn
January 12, 2016 at 09:37
I bet it was that minesweeper clone you finished 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 09:43
Heh, that game is cool.
But I finished The Marvelous Miss Take. 😉
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:51
I only played 20 hours of games this holiday according to steam… I had to evacuate my home in search of an air conditioned home for most of the holidays thanks to the sun crashing into my house.
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 09:52
heh – well you know what happened to me 😀
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:54
Hahaha that AMD could make perfectly over cooked steak for you xD
hairyknees
January 12, 2016 at 10:22
TEACH ME SENPAI!
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:24
Of course, and in return you must help my uncle who is a very wealthy Nigerian prince to get money out of the country!
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:45
Got all 5 episodes of Life is Strange, Rust and of course you always buy that one game you will never play and mine was Space Engineers.
Mossel
January 12, 2016 at 09:50
Life is Strange is awesome! I really enjoyed it.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:51
Looking forward to it, I know nothing about it except that it is awesome apparently.
Loftus
January 12, 2016 at 09:52
Is Rust still a thing ? Did it ever got out of Alpha ?
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:53
Now in Beta. I like survival games but any sort of PVP I dislike, so this one is just to play with some friends while my Warframe cools down a bit 😛
Loftus
January 12, 2016 at 09:56
I was excited by the idea of the game, but that excitement started to fade and now i gotten spoiled by triple A games. Even some indies look better then what Rust Looked years ago, have they at least done some graphic upgrades ?
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:57
I think you are thinking of the old Rust, there is a new one with awesome graphics
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 09:57
Warframe! *comment derailing begins*
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 09:58
And I was trying to take a break. Yesterday I wanted to play Life is Strange but instead I finished all 3 Sorties, leveled Wukong to max with 2 new weapons and farmed Ash MF P.
xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:01
I hit max rank in New Loka yesterday – everything unlocked for purchase. Now just to get the rep. Closing in on MR20 as well.
Still farming for Ash? heh
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:04
Dropped last night finally.
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:05
I’m thinking it might just be easier for me to buy it on trade.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:06
Never! xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:13
Defense missions are my least favourite. ;P
And that stupid Volt MF P chassis while I’m at it.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:14
That Sortie 3 def mission last night was a nightmare and I had an AFK’er at 4 waves left.
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:18
That’s the worst. Same happened a while back to me, guy died & didn’t bothering reviving at wave 3 leaving the rest of us to do all the work. Mag (me), Trinity & Frost – not a bad team at all, but it got hectic near the end.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:08
MR 20 O.o aiming for the elite of the elite are we 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:14
Don’t worry, I’ll still play with you little people. You need me. *run*
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:15
*Runs after you with Volt P
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:17
Admiral is currently playing… bugger is still on leave.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:17
I think he is gonna hit MR12 today 😛
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:22
What an addict.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:23
I know right xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:24
He needs an interception. I mean intervention.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:26
I will bring my Blind Mirage… I mean Shrink
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:29
Did a lvl 3 sortie interception a while back – blind Excal, blind Mirage, slow Nova (me), and a Rhino I think. It was rather easy lol.
The Grand Admiral Chief Prime
January 12, 2016 at 11:21
Almost there!
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 11:40
Sweet 😛
Mossel
January 12, 2016 at 09:47
I bought a few. Wolfenstein being the most notable one I think.
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 09:52
That and Ryse were the only AAAs I bought.
Mossel
January 12, 2016 at 09:58
I actually bought FFXIII…want to see if it’s really as bad as people say. xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 09:59
I was pretty tempted by that too. Let me know. 😉
Captain JJ 4x
January 12, 2016 at 10:18
No “AAA” games for me. Only good ones with real value 😉
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:19
Agreed 😛
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 09:57
Grim Fandango Remastered and Lego Jurassic World… finished the main story of the Lego game, now unlocking stuff like characters and dinos, and collecting all the extra stuff in the game.
Grim Fandango was for nostalgia reasons… but it doesn’t look any better than the original if you ask me, there are parts that actually look crap because things were rendered over the original stuff (like pigeons) and it just looks terrible. BUT the games still awesome and funny… It’s amazing what you remember to do in games after 18 years.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:05
We didn’t just adopt games… we were molded by it 😛
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:11
Totally man, kids now-a-days don’t know what quality games are 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:11
GIT ORF MAH GAMING LAWN!
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:16
LOL! I don’t know how old you people think I am… but I could easily be screaming that at my neighbor’s kid.
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 10:19
I’m currently younger than oVg. Won’t stay that way for the whole year though. 🙁
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:22
I can always say that… so I’m ok in that aspect 😛
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:13
I watched Games Done Quick the whole week last week, it’s such a nostalgia overload when you see all your old favorite games being started up on original consoles.
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:14
Yeah, I totally understand that… and then the buggers finish the game quicker than you did the first 3 levels.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:15
TMNT in 25min O.o
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:16
Exactly!!!
Ross Woofels Mason
January 12, 2016 at 10:17
I bought Rocket League, Hitman Franchise pack, Tomb Raider Franchise pack, Armello, Ori and The Blind Forest and something else I cant even remember =p.
Ottokie
January 12, 2016 at 10:17
Ori HYPE!!!
hairyknees
January 12, 2016 at 10:22
ORI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy it 😀
Captain JJ 4x
January 12, 2016 at 10:17
Gabe looks better with his beard.
I bought three games.
Played one extensively already.
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:25
Ark or The Isle? 😛
Captain JJ 4x
January 12, 2016 at 10:49
XD
The Isle
ARK is awesome for the survival aspect, but the dino models and movements on The Isle are decades ahead of ARK.
Thought I’ve spent way more hours on ARK, because I know no one with The Isle.
VampyreSquirrel
January 12, 2016 at 10:59
Otto and friends play Ark from time to time too.
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 12, 2016 at 11:07
Doesn’t Rince have an island?
Captain JJ 4x
January 12, 2016 at 11:16
Island of Doctor Moreau?
konfab
January 12, 2016 at 16:46
Only in Minecraft IIRC
Jan Prins
January 12, 2016 at 10:29
I bought NOTHING. NOTHING!!!!!! YAY POVERTY!!!!!
hairyknees
January 12, 2016 at 11:09
TEACH ME SENPAI!
Jan Prins
January 12, 2016 at 11:53
Plan and pay for your wedding. There you go.
ElNicko
January 12, 2016 at 10:29
New Carmageddon and Ark survival were both added to the backlist. Too many games, not enough time
Peter Pan
January 12, 2016 at 13:17
Got plenty of titles! My credit card is crying in my wallet now!
Ocelotty1
January 13, 2016 at 06:59
Only 2 titles – Wolfenstein & The New Order for a fraction of their regular price 🙂