The average has barely changed, but the median suggests a rise in cheap games
  • Orcocracy [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    4·
    2 hours ago

    According to the article, the median average is down, but the mean average is not. Therefore, while some games are indeed cheaper, the bit the article leaves out is that some are also not, and some are actually more expensive. It’s hard to draw massive unqualified conclusions from what looks like fairly noisy averages.

    The other point the article makes about big discounts on Steam sales isn’t quite true any longer and isn’t backed up by any provided data. I don’t think the massive discounts from the early to mid 2010s happen quite in the same way any longer, and a quick glance at price trackers suggests that many games haven’t matched or beaten their historic lows in years.

    • BelieveRevolt [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      1 hour ago

      The thing about sales in definitely true, Steam got rid of the flash sales during the big winter and summer sales which had the biggest discounts (although I think that’s a good thing since that practice makes people spend more money due to artificial scarcity, but that’s for another topic).

      I think some companies have also hiked up their sales prices, one personal example I have is Yakuza 0: when I bought it a few years ago, it routinely went on sale for $5.99/€4.99, but now you can see on SteamDB that since October 2024 the lowest price has been $/€10.99. https://steamdb.info/app/638970/