Valve Counters EA's "Devaluing IPs" Talk

i dont see the problem, origin have a bigger problem with the country prices, i can buy almost every game in Origin through origin india with a proxy and only pay 20euros instead of 50euros or more

The Steam sales are just replacing brick and mortar store sales. If a game has been out for a year, you expect it to drop in price. Add to it that after a certain point, any extra sales are pure profit, so you make more money overall getting all the people who were deterred by the price before.

I never minded steam. But do not want to use Origin. I think the people who buy the games should have the choice to choose what program they want to use. Me and a couple of friends just do not buy EA games anymore because we do not want to get stuck on Origin. Yes I know that if I buy games on steam I am stuck with steam, but at least steam is user friendly and has a huge library of games.

Electronic Arts puts the EA in backpedal.

I don’t understand EA.  It isn’t like we all need another reason to look at there logo on a product to walk away.  Let the truth be told, I might buy a EA game on Steam, but from Origin never in my life because it’s a piece of junk.  

Don’t get me wrong when Steam was young it was clunky as all heck as well.  But it was always a gamer’s market and not a corporate show case shelf to itself and its own greatness (yes, that is what I feel Origin is).  Not to mention Steam didn’t have a competitor to really blue print itself after because it was a much “newer” concept at the time.  Valve has always treated their IP’s to the same sales EA complains so much about.  I guess in the end the difference is Valve wants people playing the games, enjoying the games, in fact roping you into new IP’s you hadn’t played before.  EA just wants to see your CC# and 60 bucks pending from it.  Really nothing more as long as you keep coming back.

Happens all the time for me.  I see a new game coming out in the next few months. Surprise, surprise Steam just tossed up the first two games in the series for sell.  I check them out, end up buying them both, and then buying the latest release, at full price mind you, and would likely purchase the next upon release.  Not to mention.. heh.. I keep buying them from Steam so they get to keep making their cut as well.  Sounds like “business” to me that makes total sense.  It even roped me into the Mass Effect IP.  So how about them cookies EA.  Without Steam I would have never even played those games or bought them at all.

EA are children.
Valve should have just ignored them like a mother ignores an unruly toddler.

you paid for portal 1? I’m pretty sure i got it for free a few months before portal 2 release
 

I stopped buying EA products.  I would say having “EA” on you product hurts more then having a discount.  

Here we see the difference between a Dilbert pointy-haired upper management type convinced his business/marketing school tripe means something and someone who prefers to look at data more like an engineer or programmer.  

As long as the latter keep running Valve, they will continue to get more respect than EA from the community.   

Meh EA is just pissed because they dont have the bulk of games yet so they can put some major itltes up for 75% and there for cant keep up with steam. If they go all out with origin and tie some other companies to origin they will do the same thing with sales and all that. It hurts their digital sales when someone ells can dish out games at much lower price ofc. 

Funniest of all was the talk ffrom a couple of weeks ago about going free to play in the future which makes these kind of statements kinda funny and hollow. 

Cheers and have a nice day folks

EA should just start doubling the price on all their games to counter the atrocious efforts of valve to devalue their ip with consumer friend sales, how dare they! Kids, want deadspace 3 for christmas?  its usually $99 but our IP safe Christmas sale you can pick it up for just $199 its literally twice as good! that’s how it works right?

This whole debate is counter factual and no matter what kind of data Valve wants to present their conclusions are coloured by their business model and conjecture, just the same as EA. 

The reason I say the debate is counter factual is because there is absolutely no way to accurately calculate or even really estimate the number of potential “lost sales” that the future possibility of a discount could represent. In other words, we have no way to know how many situations occur like Jason described where he knew deep down a game would be cheaper later so he decided to wait it out.

Similarly we have no way to know if potential steam discounts may temporarily suspend a purchase, and whether or not that suspension will eventually lead to some future transaction.

What I’m saying is that both companies are talking their own book. Obviously they both have competing distribution outlets (origin/steam) and so they are going to have fundamental differences in how to maximize profit.

One last point is how translucent EA becomes when they basically come out and say “Yeah…you’re not getting any discount we are in the profit maximizing business…” in not so certain terms.

Sadly that philosophy is having a negative impact on some of their recent releases.

And Valve…Don’t talk again until the words coming out of your mouth are:

HALF-LIFE 3