- Steam Sales are one of the platform’s most lucrative strategies
- Publishers will soon be able to make sales more often
- The new rules will come shortly after the release of the Steam Deck
In March Valve will reduce its Steam discount cycle to 28 days. This means publishers will be able to put games on sale more often.
Valve Will Implement a New Rule
When it comes to PC gaming, Steam remains the king of game distribution platforms. At the beginning of 2022, Valve announced Steam hosted almost 28 million users concurrently and predicted a very favorable year.
When one asks how the platform is continuing to be so popular, one has to take into account the sales Steam often has. Normally many other gaming distribution services tend to have special offers around festive seasons like Easter or the Christmas holidays. Valve often takes it up a notch by including many more holydays into their sales calendar.
However, one perhaps more lucrative marketing model is the fact that game developers can often make discounts for their games. The catch is that there is a long period of about six weeks after a sale ends in which a publisher or developer may not make another promotional sale. That period will, from March 28, be reduced to 28 days, or just four weeks. This means that 28 days must pass before another discount can be advertised for the game. Despite that, developers will be able to offer their products more often than they were able until now.
Some Extra Changes Come with This
The new rule comes with some exceptions. These include Steam’s big sales like The Lunar New Year Sale, Summer Sale, Autumn Sale, and Winter Sale.
Along with the waiting period change, Valve released some other updates. For example, now discounts can’t be changed once they take effect. Developers now also have beta access to a new bulk discounting tool, which can help publishers who have a multitude of games under their belts. This should help them participate in sales that are happening in the Steam store throughout the year.
Interestingly enough, these will be implemented not long after the much anticipated Steam Deck launches on February 25. Perhaps Valve is making these changes as a part of a larger business plan for their upcoming console. It makes sense that future Deck owners will be able to take advantage of the new rules.
The catch is they might have to wait many more months to catch their favorite game on sale. Currently, there are about 100 games playable on the Steam Deck. Regardless, the new rule should benefit both players and publishers.
