14 DAY TRIAL // Jason Rohrer, the developer of The Castle Doctrine, says that the frequent and massive sales that Steam launches at regular intervals through the year are a problem for video game developers and their fans because they create a culture of waiting rather than active engagement.
He writes on his official site that, “Your fans love your games and eagerly await your next release. They want to get your game as soon as it comes out, at full price. But they are foolish to do that, because a sale is right around the corner.”
It is better for a player to wait and then get a game when it is on sale rather than support the developer by picking it up for the full price when it first launches.
This means smaller communities and less long-term appeal for games and less revenue for studios.
Rohrer says that he will not allow The Castle Doctrine to appear on sale.
A representative from Valve believes this position is wrong because it undervalues the passion that some gamers put into the titles they are following and supporting.
The company believes that, “our pre-orders are bigger than they used to be. Tons of people, right? And our day one sales are bigger than they used to be. Our first week, second week, third week, all those are bigger.”
Our irrational nature makes us desire things as soon as possible even if they might become available later for a lower price, which tends to explain the huge success that games like DayZ have had on Steam Early Access and the funds that are offered to developers via Kickstarter.
In the long term, Valve has said that it plans to eliminate its own Greenlight program in order to give developers, even small ones, even more control over the way their titles are sold on Steam.