Steam is Scrapping Ninety percent Discounts on Games
Many of these online sales are a fraud, as anyone who has ever participated in them knows. Many stores will temporarily increase prices for a short time, and then base future discounts on this higher price. This trick can make consumers believe they are getting a better deal or even a discount, but in reality the product is being sold at the regular price or higher.
Valve is a Groovy game developer who has become the emperor online storefronts. It has made a decision to stop disingenuous marketing on Steam. Kotaku has reported that Steam will make changes to its discounting policies starting 28 March to better reflect players’ needs.
Prices must be adjusted for at least one month before they go up or down, prices cannot be changed while a discount is active, and discounts must remain in effect for at least 24 hours. Fans of PC gaming will notice the most significant change: the elimination of discounts of 90% or more and 10% or less. This will prevent games from appearing on the sales page, even though they are seeing very little reduction.
These are the changes that Valve has listed:
A launch discount can be offered, but after the discount expires, there will not be any further discounts for 28 days.
After a currency exchange price rise, it is impossible to reduce your product by more than 28 days.
You cannot redeem discounts within 28 days of the previous discount, except for seasonal events that are Steam-wide.
You cannot offer discounts for seasonal sales events within 28 calendar days of the release of your title or within 28 calendar days after your launch discount ends.
While a promotion is in effect or planned for the future, you may not adjust your price.
It is impossible to discount a product more than 90% or 10%.
Discounts cannot be extended beyond two weeks or last for less than one day.
It is not clear if this will stop underhand sales or if it will just push publishers to find new ways to sell their games. For example, putting up a game for two different prices and giving a slightly different description to confuse players. This is just an example and it’s not based on Horizon Forbidden West .
