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Forbes recently listed Valve co-founder Gabe Newell as a name you need to know in 2011. Newell made it on the prestigious list of super important people for Valve’s continued success in the growing digital game sales market. According to the NPD group, digital sales for PC games surpassed sales from retail stores in 2010. As more consumers opt to purchase games online instead of visiting retailers, Valve’s online game store Steam is leading the charge with 70% of the market share for digital downloads. The online store also recently boasted that it has over 30 million active user accounts.
According to Newell, Steam enjoyed its best year ever in terms of sales, citing a sales growth that exceeds 200%. Although specifics on revenues are not available, Forbes’ 2005 profile of Valve found that the company was expected to surpass $70 million in revenue that year. Since then, Valve and Steam have continued to grow, releasing well received titles with regular updates, like Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. The service’s catalogue of titles now exceeds 1,200 games, with recently released AAA titles, like Call of Duty: Black Ops and Fallout: New Vegas.
Competitors are also taking note. Microsoft has recently re-launched its own online games store – and US retailer GameStop now allows customers to place a hold on titles at their local store or have them delivered to their door via their online catalogue.
[Source: Forbes]
Nov 16, 2010
UK retailers threaten to ban Steam, claim that service is killing the PC market
“Publishers are creating a monster – we are telling suppliers to stop using Steam in their games,” says retail executive
Steam reaches 30 million accounts
That’s 10% of the US population
Cleanser247 - November 17, 2010 10:29 p.m.