What Are Your Steam Game Sale Percentage Off Preferences?

[swillfly]

I typically wait until any games on my wishlist are at least 60% off before I consider buying them.

When they are 80% off or more then I gobble them up unless there are some reasons why they're so discounted (i.e. clunky console port, unfinished/abandoned by devs, etc.)

Steam publisher sales seem to happen frequently so if I miss a sale then a few months later it seems there's another.

Do you have a percentage off preference before buying?

[Spawn of Totoro]

I don't have one. Mine is a specific dollar amount. Under $20 for major titles and known develoeprs. $10 for Indi/unknown developers.

Percentage isn't the best way to look at it as you could be missing out on good deals. For example, if a game is typically 50% off of $60, so $30, then they change the base price to $30 and have a 50% off sales, it would then be $15.

So in that case, it would still be a great deal, but would still not meet an 80% off requirement.

[swillfly]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

I don't have one. Mine is a specific dollar amount. Under $20 for major titles and known develoeprs. $10 for Indi/unknown developers.

Percentage isn't the best way to look at it as you could be missing out on good deals. For example, if a game is typically 50% off of $60, so $30, then they change the base price to $30 and have a 50% off sales, it would then be $15.

So in that case, it would still be a great deal, but would still not meet an 80% off requirement.

That's very true. Yeah, I tend to look at stuff under $20 for "AAA" and under $10 for indies/earlys too.

I suppose I'm shrewd on principle except when it comes to people providing me a service in-person.

[ElvisDeadly]

I buy what i want when it's a price I am happy to pay.

It depends very much on what the game is and how much I want to play it.

I also look at the actual price rather than the percentage discount.

And always remember to factor in how much the DLC usually costs and how essential it is to own.

[rawWwRrr]

I go by actual amount and not percentage as well. No set amount but what I feel is justified. Some games I'll buy at launch for full price if it's definitely something that I want to play right away or feel deserves the release price.

[Nightlight]

I typically wait for 70/75% off deals. I am flexible, though, as I consider other things when I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy a game I'm interested in.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

I go by actual amount and not percentage as well. No set amount but what I feel is justified. Some games I'll buy at launch for full price if it's definitely something that I want to play right away or feel deserves the release price.

^^this.

Though usually when I purchase a game on release, it's a card/board game I've been eyeing for a while and which cost € 12 or less anyway.
Last 2 AAA games I got on release were Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4, 2017) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4, 2018, though with trade in netting me a 60% discount on release day) and both were totally worth it for me. Certainly the former, one of my favorite games ever.

[Tito Shivan]

I stopped looking at % off few years before flash deals went the way of the dodo because developers were already changing their sale strategies. Many started slashing the base price then offering 'apparent' lesser discounts which at the end of the day still accounted for a big discount price.

For example I have a backlog too large as to consider spending anything from full price to $30 in a game. (Exceptions apply) And $10 is my safeline for buying into an Early Access title I'm following but still not sure I will enjoy it.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Tito Shivan:

I stopped looking at % off few years before flash deals went the way of the dodo because developers were already changing their sale strategies. Many started slashing the base price then offering 'apparent' lesser discounts which at the end of the day still accounted for a big discount price.

For example I have a backlog too large as to consider spending anything from full price to $30 in a game. (Exceptions apply) And $10 is my safeline for buying into an Early Access title I'm following but still not sure I will enjoy it.

And them some have chosen to keep their original price and never change it, so they can simply put a higher percent during sales and make more then they used to with a price drop, since people will still be buying it at full price when not on sale.

[Daedalus007]

The highest price I've ever paid for a single game 'on sale' recently via Steam was $25 and that was only because Denuvo was removed and I wanted to prove a point. As far as other games, my primary purchases are Steam Keys via the 'Humble' Store because giving 10% or more to charity automatically is a really awesome thing and I want to support that kind of mentality.

As for the most expensive game I've ever purchased, that would be the expansion pack for the original Baldur's Gate 2 (Shadows of Amn) way back in early 2000s off of Amazon for like $45 USD at the time because I adored the series and wanted to support the developers at the time. RIP my choice but no regrets ;)

Minor mini-rant below. Just elaborating on my choices.

Digital is all well and good but I miss the option of physical media, especially if we could make backup copies to use/abuse and keep the originals safe and unused in their CD cases.

Valve gets all this (undeserved) blind praise despite being a for-profit mega corporation that has never bothered to do charitable things except once in a few years when it suits their (tax avoidance) purposes.

Ethical piracy exists and I put my money to back up my stated ethics/values. I contend that Denuvo is malware (if it looks/acts/works like malware then it is malware) and I'll continue supporting games that are Denuvo-free from the start and avoid games that have ever had Denuvo.

Unfortunately even after making points in buying games once Denuvo is removed, the existing publishers using Denuvo haven't stopped using it. The next step for me is blacklisting the purchases of any games that have ever had Denuvo.

[crunchyfrog]

Not exactly. I employ precisely the same trick I've employed for ALL games regardless of platform, since the mid 1980s.

And no it is not determined by the amount of money off.

It's simply this.

I don't get interested at all in hype for games. I take no notice until user reviews come out, and then I check into them (saves disappointment and gives you clearer focus). By the time I've read a few choice reviews I have a good idea what the game's about, how good it is, and whether it's for me. But most importantly, I tentatively give it a rough value of what it's worth TO ME.

For example, I've just been doing a weekly round up of games on various stores, and I've been looking at Death Stranding for the PS4. When the reviews showed it to be a marmite game, I thought "yeah, I can go for this" and I gave it roughly a £10-15 price tag for me.

It's getting there now, so I'll likely buy it in a few weeks.

Basically, the main reason I take no notice of percentage off thresholds is because it doesn't actually mean anything as a threshold. If a game is overpriced (*cough* Activision) then 60% off it says nothing compared to a fairer priced games with the same percentage off.

In short it's a bit of a fallacious threshold, and I'd say that my system or something similar is being more honest with yourself.

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

I don't think I've paid full price full price for any game in my library.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by Daedalus007:

my primary purchases are Steam Keys

I think most of my Steam games come from Fanatical and Humble.

Originally posted by Daedalus007:

Unfortunately even after making points in buying games once Denuvo is removed, the existing publishers using Denuvo haven't stopped using it. The next step for me is blacklisting the purchases of any games that have ever had Denuvo.

You are one person. You buying a game after Denuvo is removed or blacklisting games does nothing in that regard. You think you make a point, but inreality you don't, as plenty of other people will compensate for it.

[swillfly]

Lots of valid points - thanks folks!

The most important take-away I'm thinking is caveat emptor "let the buyer beware" - which is to say -> exercise caution prior to any purchase and research it. There's no shortcuts there AFAIK.

Without getting off into the DRM/Denuvo tangent I'll say simply that I prefer no extra software besides the essential product but it's not a dealbreaker for me unless it causes gameplay grief substantiated by numerous outside reviews/experience.

I like crunchyfrog's "what is this worth to me" arbitrary angle as this dictates how likely I am to lean towards a purchase or waiting until later anyhow.

As for supporting devs, it seems that during an initial kickstarter or during early alpha/beta is the time to throw them money (if so inclined). I can't imagine the devs getting anything out of sales once something has gone gold and they're off a project. I'm not sure though. Any devs wish to illuminate how (& when) it's best to support their efforts?

I guess the percentage off really isn't that important -muchlike all the grocery coupons. Likely a way to promote sales and move merchandise.

[GunsForBucks]

I don't care. If there is a game I like I get it.

That said I don't buy new games at all. New games tend to be unfinished and take lots of what I call "dev cycle" after release to be a full product.

When things hit a GOTY status where it goes on sale with all dlc is when I typically buy.
For example I got Kerbal Space Program this year just after they announced a KSP2. It was a game I had been looking at for a while but was in no rush to buy.

I also dislike games that "die", like multiplayer only games that have to be online. You end up at the whim of the devs to be able to play it at all. Waiting as I do for games lets me know what they are doing and what to expect from the game.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Like Spawn of Totoro I have a target price - £5.00 - rather than a target percentage discount.

A lot of the newer games simply aren't dropping that low so there's a pull between how much I want the game and how many games are sitting unplayed in my inventory.

Like Guns for Bucks an edition that includes all DLC will be more attractive.

S.x.