What does the Steam Distribution Agreement say about discounts after release of a game ??

[MONZUN]

hey all,

i've a question that i'm sure some people can answer as some of you most likely have the necessary informations on this topic.

according to the steam distribution agreement, is there a clause that forbids a publisher who publishes his game to put it on sale (on a discount below the asking price at the release of that particular game) within a timeframe after its release ??

i'm asking because 1. i couldn't fins the steam distribution agreement myself so i couldn't read up on that myself and 2. i heard sometime half a year ago when red dead redemption 2 was released on steam and a week later reduced in price by 20% that actually valve forbids publishers to discount a game in the first 30 days after its release. is this true ??

would be incredible if someone who has some details on this topic could enlighten me. i would love to know this because i want to buy sea of thieves but the steam summer sale will be soon so i'm wondering how likely it is to go on a discount by 25-50%.. its 50% off on the microsoft store right now so i kinda fear that it might go on sale for 25-50% on the steam summer sale, but then it just released on june 3rd, which is nearly exactly 3 weeks before the summer sale starts.

if i can be 100% sure it won't go on sale i would buy it right away, but i would be really angry at getting "scammed" (at least it would feel like a scam, i know its not a scam as its my personal decision, but stuff like this never feels good. some of you might understand this :D) if it then goes on sale for like 50% off.. would really suck as i'm a student still and need to save money as best as i can but also really want to get the game on steam and start playing so i'm in a dilemma between wanting to buy and play it right away sooo much but stil not wanting to lose 10-20€ only for not waiting for 2 weeks more.. -.- :P

anyway, long story short, hope someone can enlighten me :D:D:D

have a great day everyone
LIFE3TERNAL

[MONZUN]

anyone who can manage to give a real answer instead of a pathetic provocation maybe ?

[Crazy Tiger]

Steamworks documentation is public: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/discounts

[MONZUN]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Steamworks documentation is public: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/discounts

ahh thanks. idk why i couldn't find it lol o_O but now i should get my answer


/e: this basically means microsoft cannot put sea of thieves on sale discounted in the steam summer sale right ?! i mean seems like its forbidden (and if they do it anyway i most likely will be able to get a refund regardless of playtime i assume as they would break their contractual agreement right ?!

Discounts for seasonal sale events cannot be run within 30 days of releasing your title or 30 days from when your launch discount ends.

/e: whats interesting is that red dead redemption 2 broke those rules as it released on december 4th 2019 on steam and got a sale a week alter and participated in the steam winter sale 3 weeks after release. looks like those rules are worthless :(