The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

[Infinitron]

Behold the new phenomenon - STEAMSTARTERS. Games that are released on Steam Early Access with a multitude of Kickstarter-like "tiers" that you can buy:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/200110/

Now all Steam needs to do is let you display a counter of how much money you've earned throughout Early Access and Kickstarter will really have a competitor.

 

[DalekFlay]

They should really test our metal with a $2,000 "we'll make it singleplayer" tier.

 

[Durwyn]

They should really test our metal with a $2,000 "we'll make it singleplayer" tier.

Checks Psyonix games record...

How about NO ?

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/215554/New_report_reveals_most_popular_games_on_Steam.php

Obviously topped by F2P and multiplayer trash.

Civilization V sold 5,84 million units? I wonder how many of them just bought but never played it.

 

[Spectacle]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/215554/New_report_reveals_most_popular_games_on_Steam.php

Obviously topped by F2P and multiplayer trash.

Civilization V sold 5,84 million units? I wonder how many of them just bought but never played it.

Not many is my guess. Civ V is consistently in the top 10 of the "current players" list on Steam.
It's an extremely popular game, whatever old-school fans may think of it.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/215554/New_report_reveals_most_popular_games_on_Steam.php

Obviously topped by F2P and multiplayer trash.

Civilization V sold 5,84 million units? I wonder how many of them just bought but never played it.

Not many is my guess. Civ V is consistently in the top 10 of the "current players" list on Steam.
It's an extremely popular game, whatever old-school fans may think of it.

You just had to check the source, guys.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/04/introducing-steam-gauge-ars-reveals-steams-most-popular-games/

 

[MicoSelva]

That is a surprisingly interesting article.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Depends on what you mean by "Played", as I assume it just means that someone actually run the game. If you look at achievement stats for all these "super popular AAA" games then you get a much clearer picture. The top unlocked achievement for CiV is the one given for exploring the first ruin, which you do around 30 seconds after starting your first map, 78% people have this. The top unlocked achievement for actually winning a map (not surprisingly by a domination victory) sits at a whooping 23%...

 

[stony3k]

Also note that Steam stats are skewed by people playing in Offline mode (so single player games tend to get under counted compared to multi-player) and also Steam Achievement Manager (although this might be a small effect). However it was interesting to see how popular Skyrim is among the unwashed masses.

 

[tuluse]

Depends on what you mean by "Played", as I assume it just means that someone actually run the game. If you look at achievement stats for all these "super popular AAA" games then you get a much clearer picture. The top unlocked achievement for CiV is the one given for exploring the first ruin, which you do around 30 seconds after starting your first map, 78% people have this. The top unlocked achievement for actually winning a map (not surprisingly by a domination victory) sits at a whooping 23%...

Civ5 mid and late game is so boring I've never finished a game despite 51 hours played.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

There's also the fact that played time tracking started working correctly around 2009, so these figures are likely skewed for Orange Box and other early Valve games.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Depends on what you mean by "Played", as I assume it just means that someone actually run the game. If you look at achievement stats for all these "super popular AAA" games then you get a much clearer picture. The top unlocked achievement for CiV is the one given for exploring the first ruin, which you do around 30 seconds after starting your first map, 78% people have this. The top unlocked achievement for actually winning a map (not surprisingly by a domination victory) sits at a whooping 23%...

Civ5 mid and late game is so boring I've never finished a game despite 51 hours played.

1. Playing a 4x game for 51h and not finishing a single game is kinda weird.
2. Like I pointed out, over 20% don't have the achievement that you will get in the first minute, the most popular achievement for maxing out a policy track (which is something that you will do in what, 10-20 minutes?) was unlocked by 39%.
3. I picked CiV as an example, as that's what people were talking about. From the top of my head, codex favorite "slam dunk", FNV - the most popular achievement, given for completing the tutorial quest is at 87%. Great success, only 13% didn't even run the shitty game they paid money for. However, 2nd and 3rd most popular achievements, given for recruiting one companion and completing the first non-tutorial main story quest, both sit at 49%

 

[tuluse]

1. Playing a 4x game for 51h and not finishing a single game is kinda weird.

I know. My friend keeps asking me to play with him. So I do, but we never finish the games.

 

[Spectacle]

Despite all, I find it interesting that the only games in the top 20 that aren't free2play and/or valve showelware are an open world single player RPG and a turn based historical strategy game. That's not what marketing said is supposed to be popular.

 

[Metro]

Keep in mind both Skyrim and Civ5 are Steamworks titles so the only place you can legitimately play them on PC is via Steam.

 

[LESS T_T]

More detailed data and Q&A:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/04/steam-gauge-addressing-your-questions-and-concerns/

Steam Top 100

Spoiler

The 100 most played games on Steam
All data in this chart was estimated using the method detailed in our Steam Gauge feature on March 30, 2014. Games with an asterisk in that column were released before March 2009, according to Steam, and therefore this may not fully reflect gameplay data from before that date. Developer/publisher/release date information comes from Steam; discuss any discrepancies with them.

 

[Turjan]

One question that came up for me when looking at the data: Bethesda claims they sold more than 10 million Skyrim copies, but Steam shows "only" less than 6 million owners. Ars technica claims their error margin is below 10%. Does that mean that lots of people who got the game never bothered with activating it?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Terraria at 15, Starbound at 67 and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter at 72 (the only SSam game in the top 100). Also, HL2 episodes are stupidly low, compared to almost anything else Valve has released.

 

[Infinitron]

One question that came up for me when looking at the data: Bethesda claims they sold more than 10 million Skyrim copies, but Steam shows "only" less than 6 million owners. Ars technica claims their error margin is below 10%. Does that mean that lots of people who got the game never bothered with activating it?

No, it means consoles exist.

 

[Turjan]

No, it means consoles exist.

Heh, seems I had a temporary brainfart. Thanks. I tend to forget those filthy things.

 

[aleph]

I am amazed that 3.6 million people play terraria

 

[Turjan]

I am amazed that 3.6 million people play terraria

Well, it's a pretty amazing game. I just looked, and in the "currently played" list, it's still at #21.

 

[aleph]

Well, it's a pretty amazing game. I just looked, and in the "currently played" list, it's still at #21.

Yeah, I know that it is amazing. I just had thought that it is more of a niche game. Hell, it's almost mainstream it seems.

 

[Turjan]

The strict Steamworks requirement brings the numbers up though, at least compared to many other indie games that have DRM-free versions that you won't see on Steam. However, I still think that the big replay value is the main reason.

 

[tuluse]

Yeah, I know that it is amazing. I just had thought that it is more of a niche game. Hell, it's almost mainstream it seems.

It was outselling CoD when CoD launched.