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Steam grows by 205% in 2009 -- and now has over 25 million users
Build it and they will come...Build it and they will come!
Holy feces, folks, get this: people are paying for downloadable content.
Yes, stick this in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. MPAA/RIAA/ESA -- Valve's numero uno digital content distribution software, Steam, now has over 25 million active users. Those 25 million users managed a peak concurrency of 2.5 million games players, racking up more than 13 billion player minutes per month.
But of course, the proof is in the profits: there are now over 1,000 games available on Steam, distributed by over 100 developers and publishers -- big-boys and independents alike. All told, Steam sold 205% more units in 2009 than the previous year.
Gabe Newell, the president and uber fuhrer of Valve, was quick to add that Steam has grown immensely each and ever year of its existence. Steam's only been around for five years, but in that time there have been numerous improvements and additions to the range of products provided by Valve, resulting in a greater-than-100-percent increase in sales year-over-year since its creation.
Despite Steam's success, and I certainly wish it all the success in the world -- DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION WORKS DAMMIT -- I think we'd all like them to focus on getting Half Life 2: Episode 3 out of the door.
Any time now. This year. Please.
Comments
12
Subscribe to comments2late2dieJan 29th 2010 7:24PM
I have a love/hate relationship with Steam. I love it 'cause it lets me buy tons of great games, both new ones and old classics, and it's all very convenient and for the most part just works
I hate it because it's like a drug - they have sales every week, sometimes awesome sales, and I just keep whipping out my credit card like it's December 2012. They're having a $2 sale of all X-Com games (and I don't mean that each one goes for $2, I mean the whole pack of 5 games goes for $2)! Now, how the heck am I suppose to resist that - you tell me that.
Damn it Steam! I have a mortgage to pay!
Sebastian AnthonyJan 29th 2010 7:58PM
Hehe, the crazy sales have actually caught quite a lot of attention. I think Valve came out and said that it didn't actually hurt the bottom line...
Digital distribution man! It's the way forward.
kojo87Jan 30th 2010 2:50AM
dude i feel the exact same way. i snagged Psychonauts for $2 the other day. Braid for $2.50 a few weeks ago. i got Lost Planet for $5. Tomb Raider Anniversary for $5. KOTOR for $10. Prey for $5. Rockstar pack for $30. Indie pack for $10. how are you supposed to not buy them at those prices? next thing i know i have 63 games on my account and i haven't played half of them because Team Fortress 2 is still the most addicting game ever!
oh and Valve I NEED HL2 EPISODE 3 RIGHT THE HELL NOW!
NeoDarkSaverJan 30th 2010 5:51AM
my way of resisting? imagine good 2 dollar ice cream.
AemonyJan 29th 2010 10:31PM
Digital distrubution is the way I've prefered to buy my games these last years. The last retail game I bought in years was (for a now unknown reason) Spore, and now in the Christmas madness sales I even bought a couple of games cheap which I already have retail, but wanted them on my Steam account as well.
Steam's digital distrubution + the awesome sales = The perfect combination. Buying Bioshock, Mass Effect, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Defense Grid for like a total of €11 is just perfect for me. Nothing retail can beat that!
I'd would like Steam to continue having those sales because as some mentioned it catches the impulse buyers. Heck, I even bought Psychonauts for €2 just the other day because it was cheap and had a metacritic of 87. Never really heard of it before and neither have I tried it, so I'm still wondering what I bought.
Now just any day now Mass Effect 2 is the thing to buy. I just need to make sure I have the money for it.
jakejkjawJan 31st 2010 9:20AM
You know you could enter the cd key into steam and get the game, right?
AemonyJan 31st 2010 10:42AM
Yeah, you can do that if you have a supported game that Steam accepts a retail CD key for. Sadly, almost no games are supported this way, mine included.
See the complete list of Steam's supported retail CD keys here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601
chodorowiczJan 30th 2010 9:13AM
heh, I'm waiting for EP3 and praying that it arrives soon too :D
Alex ThurgateJan 31st 2010 6:58AM
Hmm with all there profits they still dont see fit to update Counter Strike Source which is one of there most popular games... Its a shame money makes the world go round.
AshTRJan 31st 2010 7:08PM
You do have to add in the fact that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 required Steam though.
dfgdfdfgFeb 1st 2010 5:06AM
My view on steam, summed up pretty well: http://xkcd.com/488/
MarkusFeb 5th 2010 2:03PM
:) my friend has half life 2 , episode 3 , :) he got to try it , would anybody buy it for 300$ ?