15 years ago, Gabe Newell revealed the secret to Steam's success, but competitors couldn't achieve the same results
Valve managed to turn sales into a real event that evokes special feelings in some players.
Recently, players recalled an old interview with the head of Valve. In 2011, Gabe Newell spoke about the successful experience of conducting sales — they tried to turn them into an event:
What we've been successful at is Steam sales. They work great: buyers get a huge number of games, and developers get a lot of support. In the last summer sale, we tried to add a story and make the sale itself something entertaining.
At that time, Gabe admitted that Valve would do this more often:
I think in the future we'll be doing this even more often, because it helps to get people interested and push them to try things they haven't tried before. In other words, the overall revenue of developers grows when the platform itself or the format through which it happens is already entertainment in itself.
Steam sales indeed continued to be designed as events. Sometimes Valve added a competitive element or various mini-games, distributed digital decorations for profiles, and released collections of digital items that could be bought with points. Themed sales-festivals are also often held, highlighting games of certain genres or categories.
Other companies also hold sales in their stores, but they have not yet replicated Steam's success. Players, like atape_1, believe that Valve was the one who started organizing such sales, and that's why its promotions are perceived as something special:
I think everyone has pretty decent sales now. But Steam sales still feel like something special, like an event — probably because they were the first to do it, and it stuck in people's minds. At least, it certainly did for me.
lietajucaPonorka noted that some Steam users started buying games they don't even plan to launch:
Steam has perfected the art of selling you digital things you'll probably never use — and you don't even plan to use them, and you're perfectly fine with that. Gym membership sellers make similar attempts. But they still make you feel guilty [for a useless purchase]. Imagine buying a movie ticket and not going to the show. Imagine there's a promotion where tickets are sold at a 90% discount, and people who aren't going to come anyway just buy them up.
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