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Since the dawn of recorded time, big seasonal Steam sales have included daily deals that make the whole process downright ritualistic. Wake up, check Steam sale deals, feel the life being drained from your wallet, etc. Soon, that will no longer be the case.


Instead, games will just be at their lowest prices for the duration of the sale. No daily deals or flash sales, whatsoever. After rumblings that Valve will be changing the way it conducts Steam sales for the upcoming autumn and winter sales, Eurogamer confirmed it by way of a notice Valve sent out to Steam developers and publishers:

“We’ll still be highlighting your top games on the front page for 24-48 hour spans, but those products will stay at their most competitive discount, before and after being featured.” “It’s not a major change, but it does make the sale a lot more valuable for customers, and it allows us to build sale features that recommend your product all sale long, instead of just during its front page feature.” “For a brand new release, if you can’t get approval for your best discount for the full length of the sale, that’s OK and we can work on a plan for that game. But the vast majority of your catalog should be running its best discount for the duration of the sale.”


It’s change that might make sales less “fun”—less akin to waking up on Christmas morning every day, only Santa is Gabe Newell and he takes your money—but it also sounds far more useful. No more waiting around in hopes of catching a game when it sheds the final vestiges of its price tag, no more feeling vaguely exploited by the zeitgeist-y “GOTTA GET IT NOW” nature of it all. And sure, traditionally a lot of games used to go back to their daily deal prices during sales’ waning hours, but that wasn’t particularly useful to non-eagle-eyed Steam users.



I’m on board with this change. I think it’s better for Steam users overall. Plus, knowing Valve, big sales will probably still be accompanied by games or game-like structures that make them feel eventful. What do you think?

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