# Steam holiday sale Dec 20-Jan 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864 "2010-12-20T19:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/221 "2011-01-03T17:36:42Z")
My own haul: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Flatout: Ultimate Challange Team Fortress 2 Titan Quest Titan Quest: Immortal Throne Company of Heroes Crysis DogFighter Everyday Shooter Far Cry 2 Flotilla Guns of Icarus Just Cause 2 King Arthur - the Roleplaying Wargame Mirror’s Edge S.T.A.L.K.E.R (both games) Total cost: $57.51. ---
**Author:** ![dark2phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dark2phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dark2phoenix)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/222 "2011-01-03T20:29:42Z")
I got a ton of mileage out of Oblivion using all the fan added content. It’s not as extensive as NWN was, but it’s pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/223 "2011-01-03T21:18:08Z")
Looking at the steam storefront and seeing the normal page makes me feel empty and sad in the pants ☹ ---
**Author:** ![dark2phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dark2phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dark2phoenix)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/224 "2011-01-03T21:22:55Z")
I always wondered if it hurts regular sales to have “Sale orgies” like this. I mean, I deliberately didn’t by Mass Effect 2 and Civilization V because I knew they would end up on a sale like this. I mean, from the publisher’s point of view its +money without any more work, but I wonder if anticipation of the big sales costs them anything. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/225 "2011-01-03T21:32:33Z")
I would think it has to, at least on the big titles, but Gabe Newell has said that not only dues it not hurt the long term sales rate in the game, the boosted sales (versus the pre-sale rate) actually continue beyond the actual discount period when I guess the sudden interest in the game and having friends that bought it causes more people who missed it during the discount to buy it at full price. Personally, I would guess significant discounts of major games out for less than 6 months probably cost them money, but for anything else (titles that aren’t huge, and older games) the new interest it spurs outweighs the lost profit per unit. The unique nature of digital sales puts the incidental cost of each unit near 0, so they can find the optimal point on the price/sale numbers graph in a way that traditional retail can’t since there’s a significant cost per unit to overcome. I would guess that, like me, people tend to spend more when they can get more for it. If steam didn’t have crazy sales all the time, I might only have 50 or 60 games instead of my 300+. I’d pay more for each, but the overall amount of money I’d be spending on games would go down. If the average person is anything like me, it quickly becomes obviously why letting lots of people buy lots of stuff for cheap becomes the better route in the end. The fact that they’ve not only continued but expanded these sales must mean they’re pretty financially successful over the long term. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/226 "2011-01-03T21:40:23Z")
Monday Night Combat never went on sale, beyond its -10% pre-order bonus. That game looks pretty awesome, especially for only $15. Everyone in the beta seems to rave about it, but that’s usually how a beta goes unless your game is terrible. I saved so much from not buying Super Meat Boy at least that I’ll grab it once my RMAs show up. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/227 "2011-01-03T21:45:30Z")
> [@](#): > > I would think it has to, at least on the big titles, but Gabe Newell has said that not only dues it not hurt the long term sales rate in the game, the boosted sales (versus the pre-sale rate) actually continue beyond the actual discount period when I guess the sudden interest in the game and having friends that bought it causes more people who missed it during the discount to buy it at full price. I think we’ve noticed that too. A few of us by a ton of games, then convince others to buy a few of the ones we really like. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/228 "2011-01-03T21:47:31Z")
Steam does owe me like a several hundred dollar commission. I WILL TAKE IT IN HATS, VALVE. HATS. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/229 "2011-01-03T22:30:15Z")
Trope made a post-sale [poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=591542) to see how much of a degenerate you are. Please check one. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/230 "2011-01-04T01:48:26Z")
Bastards never put Arkham Asylum back up on sale. I hate you, Steam, you cheaters! (But with Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, and Serious Sam 1 & 2, plus some other goodies, I’ll be busy until the July 4th sale anyway) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/231 "2011-01-04T02:32:55Z")
Batman was $7.50 during the sale. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/232 "2011-01-05T01:36:40Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Batman was $7.50 during the sale. I believe I have some experience with that … 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864.md?page=11)