Steam rakes in almost a billion in 2010

[Minvaren]

Article here.

There's a top 10 list at the link.  Was nice to see Portal so high up there, even this far after its release.

[Thrawn]

Was nice to see Portal so high up there, even this far after its release.

and equally as depressing to read the top 5.

1. Generic FPS
2. Generic FPS
3. Mediocre Sequel (also an FPS)
4. Generic FPS
5. OMFG WHAT DID YOU DO TO THIS GAME I USED TO LIKE Sequel

[Ginaz]

Does this mean PC gaming is dead...again?

[SnakeCharmer]

Now that Steam is available on the PS3 (and I would guess the 360 isn't too far behind), that old saying could possibly be true.  Hell, if I could use a keyboard and mouse to game with on a PS3/360, I'd never buy another PC game again.

[Sjofn]

Does this mean PC gaming is dead...again?

Of course!

[Paelos]

I bought one of the games in the top 10, and I wish I hadn't.

You know what I'm talking about.

[Merusk]

Was nice to see Portal so high up there, even this far after its release.

and equally as depressing to read the top 5.

1. Generic FPS
2. Generic FPS
3. Mediocre Sequel
4. Generic FPS
5. OMFG WHAT DID YOU DO TO THIS GAME I USED TO LIKE Sequel

"Gamer" means FPS player, or did you miss the memo?

[Malakili]

I was glad to see Chaos Rising and Portal in the top 10.

[Teleku]

I bought one of the games in the top 10, and I wish I hadn't.

You know what I'm talking about.

Wait, does that mean you haven't actually gotten Portal yet?   

[Paelos]

Never bought portal. No interest in it.

Flame away.

[Malakili]

Never bought portal. No interest in it.

Flame away.

I thought literally everyone in the world bought the orange box when it came out.

[Rasix]

Never bought portal. No interest in it.

Flame away.

Keep flying that "I don't want to play good games" freak flag. It must be in tatters by now.  At least other weirdos like Hrose, Geldon and Hyu manage to branch out while being secure in their insanity bubble.

Good enough?

[Ingmar]

It goes on sale for $2.50 or whatever all the time, and its not like you have to buy a PS3 or something to play it. Dunno why you wouldn't at least give it a chance at that price.

[Paelos]

Keep flying that "I don't want to play good games" freak flag. It must be in tatters by now.  At least other weirdos like Hrose, Geldon and Hyu manage to branch out while being secure in their insanity bubble.

Good enough?

Yeah that was pretty solid.

I'm sure I'll get it at some point, but I've got a backlog that includes Fallout 3 still.

[Rasix]

Game's pretty short.  I'm not a huge fan of FPS or puzzle games (nor am I great at either), but it was fun to play through once. 

[Prospero]

Hell they give away the original Portal on a regular basis. There's no valid reason to not play it outside of being armless.

[Azazel]

I'll add my voice to the portal vibe. I didn't get the "OMFG THIS IS TEH BEST GAME EVAR!!" thing from it that so many seemed to, but it's a short, fun game, well worth the discount price they throw it up for all the time, and short/fast enough to play through as a break between longer titles (like F3).

[Malakili]

I'll add my voice to the portal vibe. I didn't get the "OMFG THIS IS TEH BEST GAME EVAR!!" thing from it that so many seemed to, but it's a short, fun game, well worth the discount price they throw it up for all the time, and short/fast enough to play through as a break between longer titles (like F3).

The game itself is good not all-time great or anything, GlaDos is really what stole the show.

[K9]

So... PC gaming is dead I hear? 

Also Portal was a brilliant little game. For a sideshow piece it was witty, imaginative and fun and does not outstay it's welcome. It's about 1.5 hours from start to finish and that's pretty much where it should be.

[Sjofn]

Game's pretty short.  I'm not a huge fan of FPS or puzzle games (nor am I great at either), but it was fun to play through once.  

Same here. I was avoiding it because a) I hate most FPSs and b) I hate puzzles like I hate Hitler. And yet ... it is probably one of the best games I've ever played. And yeah, it was probably because GLaDoS is fucking awesome.

[bhodi]

I realized that I own 7 of the 10 on that list. I don't have call of duties or fallout.

However, in my defense, the only one I paid full price for was civ 5, and that was a horrible, horrible mistake. I also got one of them for free with my vid card. I got 2 of them in a big THQ pack, and the rest during thanksgiving/christmas sales for at least half off.

[HaemishM]

So... PC gaming is dead I hear? 

Only at retail. 

Steam and the Steam Sales are market changers. They are the niche distribution service that PC gaming has needed to embrace for years. Those numbers just prove it. Brick & Mortar PC gaming is dead as it should be.

Also, if you haven't played Portal, you really are missing out on a fantastic experience.

[K9]

I wonder how much is Valve's cut, and whether any of that is going to get me episode three any time in the next decade.

[Wasted]

I wonder how much is Valve's cut, and whether any of that is going to get me episode three any time in the next decade.

30% is the figure I've heard mentioned a few times.

[Kageru]

I'm more interested to see if there's a second stage. The advantage the PC has is being open and vendor independent (which is also a disadvantage in making hardware work, sigh, and getting big budget exclusives) and a good distribution network could make it a way for smaller and experimental titles to get exposure. Minecraft, while not on steam, being a good example of something that the environment helped foster. Other encouraging things are niche games, imports from xbox-live and even iphone games and games that are "works in progress" like Global Agenda and retail games that never would have made it to the local market (Magicka, Recettear, that Bizarre train simulator). It may make the PC platform a much more interesting place, and of course steam is well placed to take advantage of any growth in the market.

Magicka is currently top on the steam best seller list and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have found that game in EB.

[tgr]

While I was sceptical towards steam the first 2-3 years after halflife 2 (I did not have confidence that it would actually stick around), I have to admit that steam is probably one of the best things to happen to PC gaming the last 10 years. I've no idea how hard it is to get your stuff on to steam, but I'd be willing to bet it's lowering the entrypoint for most developers to get their shit published by a long long way, and it's sort of restoring my faith in PC gaming. Obviously most of the games released by small teams aren't the most blitzy when it comes to graphics, but I often feel they make up for that in playability.

I'm having a hard time pointing out the reasons why I really don't like today's AAA games. My current theories are 1) non-gamers (i.e. investors) have too much of a say in how games are made, 2) too many people are involved in making games these days, with too much input, or more probable 3) I've just changed too much for the current flock of 5 mill unit+ sold games. vOv

[UnSub]

Does this mean PC gaming is dead...again?

If Steam really is responsible for 70% of PC game sales, then you've got an answer for that.

I did see if I could find comparative console revenue figures, but can only see all up aggregates (i.e. hardware and software).

I've also heard that 30% cuts for online games distribution is standard.

[Mrbloodworth]

I still miss my boxes from buying all those steam games :/

[Rasix]

I still miss my boxes from buying all those steam games :/

I don't.  I started chucking boxes long ago. The first time you actually have to move all of your shit; you contemplate putting a bunch of boxes in boxes. That's when they went into the trash.  

Smaller form factors now are nice, but still pretty useless.  Now that manuals are a thing of the past, they can go to straight console like packaging.  But as a whole, I'm kind of done with buying physical media for PC games.  I'd be done with that for consoles if they had a good system in place.

[Tebonas]

What Rasix said. I am now in the stage of buying old games off Steam or GoG just so I can ditch my boxed copies.

[Yegolev]

I'm sure I'll get it at some point, but I've got a backlog that includes Fallout 3 still.

Irrelevant.

EDIT to say: fuck boxes.

[Sky]

I've still got my boxes, but the room slated to be my library is about half the minimum I had intended. So, they're taking up shelf space that will soon be needed. Hate to ditch some of the great boxes from the mid 90s.

[Strazos]

Move around too much, so no time for boxes.

Recently purchased all the Infinity Engine greats, plus Fallout 1 and 2, and ToEE from GoG, for about $50...just because. Can put them all, plus patches/content updates, all on to 1 or 2 discs.

[Azazel]

What Rasix said. I am now in the stage of buying old games off Steam or GoG just so I can ditch my boxed copies.

I do the same, kinda. I don't plan to ditch my boxed copies, but when I make my next (and hopefully last) move into a much(!) bigger place I plan to have my boxes on a shelf, in the same way you have a bookshelf filled with books you've already read. Of course, most of those these days are DVD cases, since I ditched 95% of my big card boxes years ago.

[Lucas]

You know, I always loved those *real* boxes of the past, but now it's a whole different matter unless you buy the so called "collector" editions.

For someone like me who grew up with the awesome boxes by Origin, Psygnosis and Sierra, looking at today's DVD ones is just immensely sad.