Why Valve allowing developers to make sales is a good thing

Valve recently began allowing developers to create their own sales on Steam. On the surface, this doesn’t necessarily seem like big news: games are always on sale in the Steam store, and there are discounts aplenty during Steam Sales. However, the real news from last week’s developments can be found in the finer details.

Let’s start by talking about those Steam Sales, which happen four times a year. Yes, they’re excellent times to pick up the year’s hottest games at incredible prices (holy crap I sound like a car salesman), but the smaller, lesser known games can get lost in the shuffle. You’re not necessarily looking for the diamonds in the rough, but instead the big games everyone is talking about that you couldn’t otherwise afford. The smaller guys are sharing the spotlight with everyone during the Steam Sales. Do you know when they’re solely occupying the spotlight? During the sales they set themselves.

In the past, we’ve seen examples of sales being able to help developers in trouble. While yes, the ability for the little guy to offer discounts whenever they’d like is a good thing, the bigger factor at play here is their time in the spotlight isn’t as crowded.

The amount of hype and hysteria over mass Steam Sales can be, for some, intimidating. There are so many games, so many sales, so many timed deals, so many specials. There’s a lot to take in, and not enough time to buy everything available.

That’s all about to change, though. More deals, more attention, more games, more money spent…

Wait. Oh god. Oh god no. This is an awful idea.

Dammit, Valve.