Valve: 25 Million Steam users, 205% sales increase in 2009.

[J Arcane]

Hear that, oh Gamestop, or retailers who have treated us as red-headed stepchildren for so long now?

That is the sound of your irrelevance. (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/01/29/valve-announce-25-million-users-for-steam/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RockPaperShotgun+%28Rock%2C+P aper%2C+Shotgun%29)

You keep treating PC games like shit, and numbers like this will just keep climbing as gamers go elsewhere to get their shit. I don't buy the argument that digital "hurts" retail. What hurts retail is a constant lack of support and marketing, Steam and the like are just picking up the slack you left behind to suckle at the console teat like so many hobby shop owners once suckled at the teat of Pokemon and Magic.

[roboninja]

Don't hold back, J Arcane; tell us how you really feel. :D

Good numbers for Valve, and not at all surprising. It is pretty much the only place I buy PC games now (other than the odd title at a competitor's DD storefront).

[Dukefrukem]

I stopped buying from gamestop entirely... so yeh. Go valve.

[CappinCanuck]

Don't hold back, J Arcane; tell us how you really feel. :D

Good numbers for Valve, and not at all surprising. It is pretty much the only place I buy PC games now (other than the odd title at a competitor's DD storefront).

He's right... a few days go I called a Microplay store and asked when they were getting STO and BFBC2. The guy actually laughed at me and said, in a highly snobbish tone, "We don't sell PC games anymore." He accented the PC word to make his disdain known. Quite alright with me :) I don't usually buy with Steam, but I always buy online or from Amazon. Suck it stores.

[kyrieee]

25 million accounts != 25 million users

[NotJeff]

Without knowing 205% of how much, and what Gamestop's annual sales are, I see no reason to assume this makes anyone irrelevant, and that info isn't in this article. Although Gamestop being irrelevant to those of us who HAVE embraced DD is about all it's worth caring about ANYWAY, right? No skin off my back if the guy down the street is going into GS.

[J Arcane]

25 million accounts != 25 million users
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62158

"Active accounts" also rose 25% to pass 25 million, of which ten million have Steam Community profiles--though Valve does not explain what constitutes an "active" account.

[Dukefrukem]

25 million accounts != 25 million users

from the article;

10 million of the accounts have Steam profiles...indicates a dedicated hardcore PC gaming player-base of a minimum of 10 million. Which is significant.

and

Steam at one point during the last year had more than 2.5m concurrent users, which when converted in the nonsense of “player minutes” makes more than 13 billion per month

[Nura]

He's right... a few days go I called a Microplay store and asked when they were getting STO and BFBC2. The guy actually laughed at me and said, in a highly snobbish tone, "We don't sell PC games anymore." He accented the PC word to make his disdain known. Quite alright with me :) I don't usually buy with Steam, but I always buy online or from Amazon. Suck it stores.

I take it you just said "Oh, guess i'll have to spend all my gaming money else where".

[CappinCanuck]

I take it you just said "Oh, guess i'll have to spend all my gaming money else where".

No, I said "thank you and have a good day." C'mon, he works at a Microplay... let him cling to his superior... whatever specialised knowledge they have.

[Widgetcraft]

Eww... who buys PC games at Gamestop? I'd rather buy that shit at Wal-mart. Gamestop just jams the boxes in those little metal shelves where they keep the used DVDs. I don't think I've ever seen a PC game at a Gamestop that wasn't beaten to shit. At Wal-mart, they're practically untouched (because that ARE untouched :p)

But yeah, I prefer buying stuff from Steam these days. It's just easier to deal with, and they have good prices.

[kyrieee]

Okay... you proved my point?

[Satertek]

I can only think of 2 games I've bought retail in the last 5 years. The Orange Box (got it $10 cheaper) and Oblivion.

[Primus]

As a digital distribution and DRM platform Steam is amazing. Since building my new rig, absolutely 100% of my PC game purchases have been on Steam.

[opsin]

The founder of GoG didn't think to look in Steam itself to uninstall a game? Wow. If he did, what did he thkn delete local content meant? Just cause he's an idiot doesn't make Steam malware. Idiot.

Also, like most people, I use Steam for most of my PC games buying now, especially after a broadband upgrade made downloading 5GB not take a week. The sales however have been evil and filled my hard drive with great games for under a fiver each. The bastards!

[Goronmon]

The founder of GoG didn't think to look in Steam itself to uninstall a game? Wow. If he did, what did he thkn delete local content meant? Just cause he's an idiot doesn't make Steam malware. Idiot.I think he was saying that the only reason he installed Steam is because you had to if you bought the PC version of Modern Warfare 2. After uninstalling the game, he wanted to uninstall Steam since he wouldn't need it anymore, but had troubles getting it off his system.

Despite using Steam all the time myself, I can see how that would be frustrating.

...idiot. ;)

[opsin]

After uninstalling the game, he wanted to uninstall Steam since he wouldn't need it anymore, but had troubles getting it off his system.


Well, I've never had a problem uninstalling Steam either. Did it a couple of times when I was reorganising where it was on my hard drives. I don't know, I was beginning to assume he was just talking abiut DRM coming with MW2 or something, but I thought Valve didn't let anyone use anything third party?
I don't know.
I know nowhere near enough to judge, but it's the internet. So he's still an idiot!

[Goronmon]

I was beginning to assume he was just talking abiut DRM coming with MW2 or something, but I thought Valve didn't let anyone use anything third party?Steam most certainly allows for third-party DRM on top of the built-in Steam stuff.

[Pale Ale]

Eww... who buys PC games at Gamestop? I'd rather buy that shit at Wal-mart. Gamestop just jams the boxes in those little metal shelves where they keep the used DVDs. I don't think I've ever seen a PC game at a Gamestop that wasn't beaten to shit. At Wal-mart, they're practically untouched (because that ARE untouched :p)

But yeah, I prefer buying stuff from Steam these days. It's just easier to deal with, and they have good prices.

I dunno man, at the local Gamestop, PC games live in those hard plastic cases. The ones at Wallyworld are free range cardboarders. Free to be fondled, molested, or knifed

[TrackZero]

I think he was saying that the only reason he installed Steam is because you had to if you bought the PC version of Modern Warfare 2. After uninstalling the game, he wanted to uninstall Steam since he wouldn't need it anymore, but had troubles getting it off his system.

Despite using Steam all the time myself, I can see how that would be frustrating.

...idiot. ;)

Exactly. Though all his quote shows is his ineptitude at using Windows, nothing regarding Steam. ;)

[J Arcane]

You know, I like buying retail. I still like having an actual CD, and even occasionally getting a real manual. There's a physicality to it that is comforting.

But more and more, even my favorite retailers for PC games are giving it the short end of the stick, and that means I more or less don't get a choice. They just aren't competing, or even pretending to try.

It's like when you walk into a restaurant and there's no one there to seat you. You might stand around a few minutes, hoping to see some waitress poke her head from around the back or something at least, but just as likely you're going to turn around and walk out, and go somewhere that seems to want your business.

Steam wants my business. GoG and D2D and Impulse seem to want my business. Gamestop doesn't. Fred Meyer's doesn't much seem like it anymore either.

So fuck 'em. They'll twist it around and claim that it's DD's fault their games sell for shit, but in the meantime, as the numbers prove time and time again, they just don't matter to the PC market much anymore.

[Widgetcraft]

I dunno man, at the local Gamestop, PC games live in those hard plastic cases. The ones at Wallyworld are free range cardboarders. Free to be fondled, molested, or knifed

They don't have those hard plastic cases around here. They're seriously just packed into these little shelves as tightly as possible, even if they means crushing boxes.

[Kelegacy]

DD for PC is a GOOD example of DD done right. GoG, Impulse, Steam, D2D...they rock with cheap, awesome games.

Consoles...I don't know. The prices for some retail games on XBL and PSN make me laugh.

[MagGnome]

The future of PC gaming is very bright right now, and I'm glad to see it. Steam, GOG, Impulse, D2D, Gamersgate - they all have a lot to offer. I don't bother with retail anymore. I bought Oblivion from Amazon last year because it wasn't on any DD service at that point. The last game I bought at retail before that was Sins of a Solar Empire when it was released. An odd choice for retail, I know. I linked it to Impulse and now I don't even need the disc to install it.

Most retailers have shoved PC games to the margins or dumped them entirely. The flagship downtown Minneapolis Target store surprisingly did the opposite. I was there a few months ago and they had remodeled the entire electronics department. Being the flagship/test store, they remodel all the time, which can be somewhat confusing. I wandered around for a bit and marveled at how nice it looked, but I was somewhat confused because I couldn't find the PC games. I thought they had gotten rid of them, but they had actually moved them to the very front of the department! I hadn't even thought to look up there. They had an entire row right in the main aisle, and they were displayed very nicely. It was great to see the platform given so much attention in a retail setting. I took some pictures, so I'll see if I still have them on my HDD or camera.

[Kelegacy]

I'm glad it's brighter as well, Mags. It's much healthier than when I decided to go with a 360 rather than upgrading my PC. However, next gen I might go the opposite route. And the PC has DD that I can get behind. The consoles still have a long way to go.

[Doogie2K]

I dunno man, at the local Gamestop, PC games live in those hard plastic cases. The ones at Wallyworld are free range cardboarders. Free to be fondled, molested, or knifed

At my local GameStop, PC games are one shelving unit (i.e. all the shelves from ceiling to floor, for approximately 18"), and every box that isn't a Blizzard Battle Chest or Mass Effect 2 (which is kept behind the counter, too) is beaten to hell and back, and probably violently used at some point in their past. The only PC game I've bought at GS since UT2004 was Sins of a Solar Empire last year, and only because I wasn't initially aware of the DD option.

[SilentScreams]

Wow, you'd think with all the money Steam is raking in, they would invest in some decent download servers.

[MagGnome]

Wow, you'd think with all the money Steam is raking in, they would invest in some decent download servers.

This.

Impulse's downloads are much faster than Steam's. It's a little ridiculous.

[Goronmon]

Wow, you'd think with all the money Steam is raking in, they would invest in some decent download servers.I generally see speeds ranging from 500MB/s to 1+MB/s. Is that not good?

[Voodoo]

Wow, you'd think with all the money Steam is raking in, they would invest in some decent download servers.

I'm really surprised that Steam hasn't moved onto having Bittorrent built into their client. Hell, Blizzard uses it heavily for all their WoW patches and for the distribution of its games from their site. Even Relic is using it for distribution of their patches via the Relic Downloader.

[roboninja]

I generally see speeds ranging from 500MB/s to 1+MB/s. Is that not good?

Yeah, same here. Must be lucky, because I have zero complaints about speed.

[MagGnome]

I'm on DSL, but I'm not expecting blazing fast speeds. However, my downloads on Steam are always very slow (usually around 75-100KB/s) and my downloads on Impulse are significantly faster. It was that way when I was on Cable internet as well, although the speeds were higher on both services.


I generally see speeds ranging from 500MB/s to 1+MB/s. Is that not good?

500MB/s? Wow! :p

[SilentScreams]

Yeah, my Impulse and Usenet speeds are both consistently around 700kb/s - 1.2mb/s (well, Usenet never drops below 1.2), but with Steam I'm lucky if I can get 200kb/s.

[iHap]

Wow, you'd think with all the money Steam is raking in, they would invest in some decent download servers.

The only times i see Steam servers bogged down is on release/pre-download nights. Other than that i always max my connection at 2MB/s

In Settings>Downloads make sure you set the location nearest to you.