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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 appears to earn an estimated $30 thousand on Steam per negative review
GameDiscoverCo has released an unconventional analysis of Steam sales data, highlighting metrics like revenue per negative review. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 reportedly earns an estimated $30,000 for every negative review, indicating significant revenue despite player dissatisfaction. The analysis also touches on player sentiment, game abandonment, and the impact of multiplayer and free-to-play models on reviews.
Steam Community Shows Valve Some Love, and It’s Heartwarming
The PC gaming community has shown overwhelming support for Valve, celebrating the company's positive impact on the platform through Steam. This outpouring of appreciation, largely originating on Reddit, highlights Valve's customer-friendly approach and smooth operation of Steam, especially in contrast to recent negative news from other gaming companies. The community's positive sentiment is seen as a significant boost for Valve, particularly with the ongoing success of the Steam Deck.
Gabe Newell stepped back from game design during Portal 2's development, because 'he always wanted to be part of the team, but being Gabe and being in his position, that never really worked'
Valve CEO Gabe Newell stepped back from active game design during the development of Portal 2 because his position made it difficult to be a collaborative team member. While he was involved in earlier titles like Half-Life and spearheaded acquisitions, Newell realized his presence could stifle developer creativity. He now focuses on higher-level company strategy and other ventures.
Gabe Newell "stepped back" from making games at Valve after Portal 2 because everyone kept agreeing with him when he wanted "to be part of the team and come up with ideas"
Gabe Newell has reportedly stepped back from actively developing games at Valve, including after Portal 2, due to a perceived lack of genuine collaboration. According to Portal 2 project lead designer Josh Weier, Newell found it difficult to contribute ideas as a peer when surrounded by individuals who were hesitant to challenge him due to his prominent position.
Apple turns 50 today: here's what it does better than PC (no foolin')
Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary, highlighting its strengths in silicon design and integrated hardware-software ecosystems, particularly with its M-series chips. While PC gaming remains a weak point, advancements in Arm architecture and translation layers suggest a growing potential for gaming on Apple devices.
Steam Users Demand Answers as Two-Word Post Goes Viral
A two-word post on Reddit's Steam community, "Explain yourself," has gone viral, garnering nearly 20,000 interactions and uniting thousands of Steam users who feel something needs addressing. This organic moment highlights growing player awareness and scrutiny of gaming platforms' business decisions and policies, putting pressure on Valve to respond.
"That is an $11,000 gold texture": Steam researcher says "supporter packs" make a lot of free money because PC gamers love to spend on their favorite games
Steam researcher Chris Zukowski argues that PC game developers should offer supporter packs and digital soundtracks as day-one DLC, even for free-to-play titles. He highlights examples where these offerings generated significant revenue with minimal development effort, suggesting PC gamers are willing to spend extra on games they enjoy through these non-gameplay affecting DLCs.
Adult games may be an unintended beneficiary as FTC pressure payment providers like Visa and Mastercard not to debank Trump supporters, but I doubt it
The US Federal Trade Commission has sent letters to major payment providers like Visa and Mastercard, urging them not to deny services based on political or religious views. This action, intended to prevent discrimination against Trump supporters, could inadvertently benefit the adult games industry by discouraging payment processors from bowing to pressure that previously led to content delistings on platforms like Itch.io and Valve.
The video game payment processor crisis may be getting better, thanks to the American Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued warnings to payment processors like Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, and PayPal, stating they cannot deny service based on political or religious views. This action may alleviate the ongoing crisis affecting video game developers and platforms, such as Itch.io and Valve, who have faced restrictions on content and payment services due to pressure from these processors.
Evening Legal Briefs
The FTC has indicated that Mastercard's past actions pressuring Steam to remove NSFW games were not viewed favorably. Separately, a legal ruling may allow a class-action lawsuit against Meta concerning alleged torrenting activities to proceed.
Remember when Mastercard pressured Steam to remove a bunch of NSFW games? The FTC says that's not cool—sort…
The US Federal Trade Commission has sent letters to major financial services companies like Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and Stripe, expressing concerns about potential political or religious discrimination in their services. This action follows Valve's report that Mastercard pressured Steam to remove NSFW games, a claim Mastercard denies, stating they only allow lawful purchases. The FTC's investigation could impact how payment processors handle content restrictions.
How to Stay Safe While You Buy Games Online
This guide provides advice on how to safely purchase video games online, emphasizing the importance of reading terms, checking sellers, and using familiar payment methods with a clear transaction history. It highlights the differences in refund policies across major digital storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Store, and Nintendo eShop, and stresses the need for account security measures like two-step verification to prevent fraud.
How to Stay Safe While You Buy Games Online
This guide provides advice on how to safely purchase video games online, emphasizing the importance of reading terms, checking sellers, and using familiar payment methods with a clear transaction history. It highlights the differences in refund policies across major digital storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Store, and Nintendo eShop, and stresses the need for account security measures like two-step verification to prevent fraud.
Garry's Mod creator partners with Valve in deal that ensures games made in his sandbox gem's new successor can be sold royalty-free on Steam: "It's just waiting for us now"
Valve and Garry Newman have partnered to allow creations made in S&box, the successor to Garry's Mod, to be sold royalty-free on Steam. This deal ensures creators using the Source 2 engine-based tool will receive full returns, similar to using Unity. S&box is set to launch publicly in April, with some games already listed on Steam.
Xbox adding Copilot AI to consoles is "horrible in so many different ways," says former Valve dev who worked…
Former Valve developer Chet Faliszek has criticized Microsoft's upcoming Copilot AI assistant for Xbox consoles, calling it "horrible in so many different ways" and unnecessary. He argues that the AI removes the social aspect and community-driven problem-solving that makes games engaging.
It's not just the PS5 getting price hiked; Intel's new gaming processors are already more expensive after less…
Intel's new Arrow Lake Refresh processors are already experiencing price increases shortly after launch, with models like the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus seeing significant markups on retail sites. This follows recent price hikes for the PlayStation 5 and reports of increasing costs for Xbox Series consoles, contributing to a broader trend of hardware inflation driven by AI infrastructure demands and component shortages.
SteamOS 3.8.1 Preview should finally solve some WiFi performance issues
Valve has released SteamOS 3.8.1 Preview, a minor update focused on resolving WiFi performance degradation issues that have affected Steam Deck users. The update also addresses excessive trackpad sensitivity on some early Steam Deck LCD models, building upon the features introduced in the 3.8.0 Preview release.
Facepunch signed a license with Valve to allow standalone releases from s&box
Facepunch Studios has signed a new licensing agreement with Valve that allows users of its Source 2-based game, s&box, to export and release their creations as standalone games on Steam royalty-free. This development, a spiritual successor to Garry's Mod, aims to foster a diverse ecosystem of player-made and independent titles. The company is also working on its own licensing framework for developers and plans to pilot the feature with select individuals.
Steam Revamps Regional Pricing System to Better Assist Game Developers - GameHaunt
Valve has updated Steamworks pricing tools to support automated regional pricing across 37 currencies using three distinct conversion models. These new features aim to assist solo developers and small indie studios in setting fair prices without manually tracking exchange rates. The system offers options like Exchange Rate Conversion, Purchasing Power Conversion, and Multi-variable Conversion, while developers retain full control over final pricing.
Steam’s regional pricing tool for dev suggests Filipino players could afford a “$60 games” for around PHP 1,199
Steam has introduced a new regional pricing tool for developers, suggesting a price of around PHP 1,199 for a $60 game in the Philippines based on local purchasing power. While this does not guarantee lower prices, it provides developers with a framework to set more affordable regional pricing, potentially increasing game sales in markets like Southeast Asia.
