Valve is increasing Steam’s Daily Deals program to assist six video games per day as an alternative of 4, “permitting us to shine a highlight on extra video games whereas giving us a deeper pool of gives to pick out from.” And in case you’re undecided what Steam’s Daily Deals program is, you are not alone, however don’t fret, that will get defined too, and it is really fairly attention-grabbing.
“Daily Deals have been round on Steam for nicely over a decade, and the characteristic has developed fairly a bit through the years,” Valve wrote in a Steamworks replace. “In 2024 alone, the Daily Deal program helped hundreds of video games acquire devoted visibility on the Steam homepage and related tags pages, serving to these titles earn tens of hundreds, to lots of of hundreds of {dollars} every within the course of.”
Also value noting is that Daily Deals aren’t essentially one-day affairs just like the dearly departed flash gross sales of days alongside in the past: The “main visibility and promotion runs for twenty-four hours,” however the reductions usually run for per week, which “makes the promotion accessible to extra gamers and permits the sport to learn from increased visibility on Top Sellers and different charts all through Steam.”
Eligibility for Daily Deal promotion is predicated on plenty of elements, together with “demonstrated buyer curiosity or trending momentum in income over the previous few months,” whether or not any reductions are on supply, and whether or not it is already been showcased: “All types of curated promotions are restricted to roughly every year in order that different video games have a chance,” Valve wrote. For these video games chosen, the influence might be vital, as mirrored within the 2024 stats:
- 2,843 video games from 1,160 completely different builders and publishers had been featured in Daily Deals.
- These video games got here from builders in 68 completely different international locations world wide.
- Each sport featured as a Daily Deal usually will get over 10 Million impressions on the Steam retailer through the one-day promotion.
- Each Daily Deal spot might be centered on a single sport, or can result in a multi-game sale occasion. The largest multi-game sale occasion was the Czech & Slovak Games Week, which featured 277 video games from builders positioned in that area.
- The vary of income generated from the Daily Deal that includes is broad and relies on lots of elements such because the age of the sport, the low cost share, the curiosity within the sport, and so forth. We’ve seen video games earn anyplace from ~$10,000 to $2,000,000.
- 87% of Daily Deals in 2024 had been for video games that had by no means beforehand been featured as a Daily Deal. Some had been new releases whereas others had been titles that we had been now capable of spotlight on account of the updates to our program.
That’s lots of video games, though nonetheless a comparatively small slice of the Steam pie: Nearly 19,000 new video games had been launched on Steam in 2024 alone. But for builders who make the minimize, the highlight might be profitable, and it is also good for Steam customers attempting to kind by way of the deluge—which is why Valve has determined to extend the variety of Daily Deals from 4 to 6.
“In the previous yr, we discovered working 4 spots as an alternative of two is basically additive, and it lets Steam higher match the appropriate sport with the appropriate participant,” Valve wrote. “Because of this, we’re increasing the Daily Deals program to assist six titles per day, permitting us to shine a highlight on extra video games whereas giving us a deeper pool of gives to pick out from and join with the appropriate consumer as they view the homepage and every other areas the place the Daily Deal seems.”
For builders, Valve has additionally added a brand new “promotion recap” enabling them to see how their sport carried out whereas below the highlight, in addition to a brand new Daily Deal historical past choice with an in depth breakdown of gross sales and visitors.
It’s not an Earth-shattering change general, however it’s excellent news for builders struggling for visibility, and it additionally guarantees to assist customers combing by way of Steam’s totally large library in quest of one thing each new and, hopefully, good. When coping with a behemoth like Steam, each little bit helps.
