Valve's Director of Buisness: "Steam sales don't 'Cannibalise'" - Polidicks

[quote]You love Steam Sales. I love Steam Sales. EA, however, don’t love Steam Sales. Just a few weeks ago their senior vice president made his opinion clear, claiming that they [url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/06/ea-senior-vp-comments-on-steam-sales-%E2%80%9Ci-just-think-it-cheapens-your-intellectual-property-%E2%80%9D/]“cheapen” intellectual property.[/url] We asked the director of business management whether Steam sales have any affect on day-one purchases during last week’s Develop conference. He doesn’t agree with EA. Not even a little bit. “If that’s what we thought was happening, or that’s what we saw happening, we wouldn’t do it. Actually, all the data is contrary to that. A promotion is not a policy; a promotion is just a feature to give people more value,” said Jason, speaking to PC Gamer. “It’s not as if a 75% offer or a 50% off sale at some point in time cannibalises a sale that would have happened earlier, it’s just not true. We’re actually seeing both of them growing. We don’t see one cannibalising the other. If we did, we wouldn’t do it.” he continued. Steam sales go from the sublime to the ridiculous-ly cheap. There’s even one going on right now. Check out our story from over the weekend to see real time evidence of the Steam summer sale in progress. It’s a wonderful time for bargains. “We put Left 4 Dead 2 and Portal 2 on sale. If we thought that was killing our franchise, or hurting the value of games, or hurting the revenue we could generate as a company, we wouldn’t do it,” says Jason. “We’ve even gone so far as to give away Portal for free a couple of times. Whole days where it’s not free for a day, it’s just free.” Valve’s sales still weren’t dented: “We looked at this amazing data afterwards. The day after the sales were exactly the same, if not more,” he says. “People aren’t making a decision thinking ‘I’m always going to wait for perfect pricing.’ There are time elements to it, there are fan elements to it, there are value elements to it. People sometimes like paying the full amount on the first day because they want to play it now and they want to be a fan. “Those features you’re talking about – like the sales – we just think of them as customer features. They’re not policies or mandates. Things like this are super smart: this would be fun; people would play this game; they’d pick it up if they didn’t have it; they’d tell their friends about it.” For more from Jason, check our story on how [url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/10/valve-on-how-team-fortress-2-inspired-greenlight-we-hardly-make-anything-anymore/]TF2 inspired Greenlight[/url]. We’ve also posted Jason’s views on [url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/13/valves-jason-holtman-on-greenlights-rating-system-people-are-smarter-than-we-think/]Greenlight’s rating system[/url].[/quote] [url]http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/16/steam-deals-dont-cannibalise-sales-says-valves-director-of-business-management/[/url] Valve made a good choice on hiring their business director.

Well, I hope they continue these sales. Each one makes me more loyal of a customer.

[quote]“We’ve even gone so far as to give away Portal for free a couple of times. Whole days where it’s not free for a day, it’s just free.”[/quote] Let's not forget TF2 going F2P, DOTA2 being F2P too and the upcoming CS:GO costing just 15 bucks on release.

EA is just mad people are becoming wiser with their money, and of course they're jealous of Steams profits.

I seriously love how CS:GO is going to be 15 bucks for all platforms. Will definitely spread the joy in actual competitive gaming that is counter strike to a new audience.

I only buy games on sales, unless I really want it. I'm sure I'm not the only person, so good choice business director Jason.

Love how Origin currently have a summer sale going on as well. xD Including on their star franchise, Battlefield!

what did EA even hope to achieve by bashing Valve? everyone hates EA right now, this is not making it any better by talking shit about the most loved game developer and digital distribution service.

Valve makes so much money from steam they can afford to just give their games away.[sp]Then add in a cash shop where people will spend dosh anyways[/sp]

There are tons of people who simply won't purchase a game at full price because they don't have a lot of money. Sales allow you to make profit on those people too.

I'm surprised EA's the only one talking shit though. Being a game developer (which I'm not), it's hard not to hate Valve. They are just vastly superior than most companies around today.

Sales encourage me to spend more money than I would otherwise. There are games I've purchased this past week alone that I wouldn't have even considered before. It's a great opportunity to try new games, and to still support a great platform. Another great thing about the Summer Sale in particular, and I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I say it, is that I buy a lot of games for other people. I bought Terraria for several good friends last year during the sale, I bought Binding of Isaac for a friend, and I've even bought some games for strangers, just because it's not a huge dent on my budget. These sales are a great idea, because they open the door to all these possibilities and more, without jeopardizing the actual value of the products. I'm hoping other services, like EA, learn from this, because it means that there are more chances for games on other platforms to be included in sales like this as well. Is it funny that EA criticized and then copied? Kind of. Am I going to insult them for it? No, because I want them to follow Steam's lead on it and offer the same kind of services.

Can definitely confirm what Mr. Valve is saying. I preordered DXHR for example because the leak was good and all information surrounding it were positive. Okay, bad example, I ordered it from a different site because it was cheaper than Steam, and I wasn't drawn in by preorder boni, so that concept failed hard on me - but I didn't want to wait for a 50% or 75% bargain because I wanted to experience the story now not later, and I knew the game was worth discussing, and I wanted to dive into the deep story together with the community while the topic was still hot and discussions could lead to genuinely fresh conclusions. Watching a game unfold with the community - single- or multiplayer games - is a very unique experience. Not many people know of that effect and appreciate it, but those that do will go the extra mile. It's too expensive for me to buy games at full price all the time while putting money aside for eventual PC upgrades (still with my trusty 9600GT tho), but Valve's in the lucky position of selling digital entertainment for one of the most active communities out there. A community that, if you don't dive down to its bitter angry 4chan parts, cares about each other and buys friends and strangers copy so they can share their fun. And Valve actively supports that with gifts and reduced 4-player-packs etc. For this summer sale they've even arranged it so you can buy a pack, and all the games from the pack you already own are turned into gifts. Valve's alive because it perpetuates love and it quenches wallets because of ridiculously low prices. Now that's what a winner looks like, don't you think?

I generally don't buy many games unless they go on a sale like the one on steam right now, makes sense for them to gain from it

[QUOTE=nothung;36796897]I'm surprised EA's the only one talking shit though. Being a game developer (which I'm not), it's hard not to hate Valve. They are just vastly superior than most companies around today.[/QUOTE] There's probably some kind of mutual respect. Valve's been around longer than the rest of them and they're practically universally praised by the consumers. Besides, Valve hasn't talked shit about anybody else (to my memory), so they don't have any reason to. EA, though, is a whiny little toddler who thinks they're better than everyone.

Valve, why are you listening to EA's bs? They just mad you getting lots of dosh from games faster than EA with 60€ games and DLC.

Valve: "We're billionaires and our customers are happy."

Hahaha EA attempting to make an excuse for being greedy cunts

The Steam sale just got me to buy two games I would never have bought had they been full price. I would have never paid attention to them on day one because they were too expensive to consider. They're both excellent games as well (Frozen Synapse and PAYDAY).

Valve thinks it's so high and mighty, but where is HL2:Episode 3???? Worry less about press and more about making that game.. [B]Valve = slackers[/B] <-hate to say it, but it's true :(

[QUOTE=a dumb bear;36797413]Hahaha EA attempting to make an excuse for being greedy cunts[/QUOTE] EA is mad they can't do shit like this because they've got shareholders, executive boards and banks to please who don't like these sort of "radical" antics to drive profit.

[QUOTE=Im Crimson;36797697]EA is mad they can't do shit like this because they've got shareholders, executive boards and banks to please who don't like these sort of "radical" antics to drive profit.[/QUOTE] Pretty much this. Valve is in the unique position they are because they can experiment. If EA or any other distributor really were to try this, stupid investors would cry about lost profits. It's also why Origin will fail to amount to anything that equals Steam cause EA has its hands tied.

[QUOTE=Nikota;36796691]I seriously love how CS:GO is going to be 15 bucks for all platforms. Will definitely spread the joy in actual competitive gaming that is counter strike to a new audience.[/QUOTE] Worth 20$ in my opinion, even if I don't use CS:GO much, it's going to good use, that money. I hope Steam continues to grow and what they do best, be fucking awesome.

Valve seem to have the innate ability to never do anything wrong. Ever. I love valve.

[QUOTE=nothung;36796897]I'm surprised EA's the only one talking shit though. Being a game developer (which I'm not), it's hard not to hate Valve. They are just vastly superior than most companies around today.[/QUOTE] I think game [i]developers[/i] [b]love[/b] Valve, they offer distribution to a very large userbase at [i]no cost[/i]. It's the publishers that hate Valve, as they are offering a superior service. Clearly, the unnecesary middlemen in growing circumstances will lead to these publishers (ie EA) are either going to be forced to adapt to a changing market, or, as the evidence we have seen so far would suggest, they're going to die a painful death, kicking and screaming along the way.

[QUOTE=Netsc;36798024]Valve seem to have the innate ability to never do anything wrong. Ever. I love valve.[/QUOTE] this guy doesn't play TF2

[quote]Things like this are super smart: this would be fun; people would play this game; they’d pick it up if they didn’t have it; they’d tell their friends about it.[/quote] This right here is a big factor with me. I buy games I didn't even really want to buy. I see a game that's on sale for a good price, and I'll buy if I think it looks good. It might a game that I'd never even consider buying, but since it's on sale for cheap why pass it up? Seems to me like that's a pretty smart strategy. The game's already made it's major sales figures. Now the game is selling in huge volumes and making loyal fans.

[QUOTE=Sardonus;36798658]this guy doesn't play TF2[/QUOTE] from an economic standpoint TF2 going F2P was one of the most important and effective decisions valve has ever made

If it wasn't for Steam sales, I would probably not have a lot of games on steam. Software in Australia cost a lot of money, when a sale happens on steam it's kind of a god send to me because I can finally start purchasing games that are like $100 for like $30-$40. Steam in general is fantastic and their sales benefit the consumer and developer, they help me get the game I want sometimes which is nice.

Valve basically do the most profitable things possible for their business model. Things like Team Fortress 2 being free and the steam sales? They just happen to be massive money-magnets, they aren't acts of generosity.