Holiday Sales Recap

Since mid-November, I have been anticipating the upcoming holiday sales the major digital distribution services put up each year.  Last year, they were fairly average, except for Valve’s Steam service which put their entire catalog on sale.  I simply could not wait to see what the holidays would bring this year, and how companies would step-up the competition in this rapidly growing market.  While some sales were decent, I feel I may have set my expectations too high once again.

The Sales
As the Christmas holiday approached, sales began rapidly popping up on digital distribution services.  An especially nice bonus this year was how early the sales began to appear.  Excluding Steam, all the services placed their deals up weeks ahead of Christmas, and some even provided daily countdown deals to keep users coming back.  What makes this nice is it allows for games to be bought and gifted to others or for oneself, and consumers can budget their holiday funds accordingly.

As for the quality of the sales, I must say I am disappointed.  I imagine many people who are reading this are saying I must be off my rocker. There were some good deals in the mix, no doubt, but I could have purchased many of the games marked down at retail for even less.  One of the more glaring examples is Steam recently placed Devil May Cry 4 on sale for $22, while I found many copies of the game for $6 at Half Price Books. Granted, not everyone has access to these stores, but even online retailers were much cheaper, as Amazon had the game for $10.  Many other games were the same way, and I found myself shrugging off most deals. For gamers in places like Australia, where prices are typically inflated beyond reason, this sale was a huge hit.  However, for Americans and many Europeans, better deals could be found elsewhere.

Something else that I found disconcerting is how the Impulse and Gamersgate sales appeared to have fallen short of the competition this year.  The two services no doubt offered a decent selection of games at reasonable prices, but a majority of the games were smaller, more obscure titles.  This is not to say the games were bad, in fact some of them were excellent, but it pales in comparison to the larger sales other services are bringing to the table with a plethora of high-profile titles.  I was truly expecting more from these two services, and it feels like a missed opportunity to gain some ground amongst the competition.

Of course, it is easy to blame the companies for what appear to be lackluster sales, but I wonder if something else is happening in the background that we cannot see.  The Valve Steam sale is incredibly popular amongst PC gamers, and is one of the most anticipated game sales of the year.  Is it possible that large publishers are moving a majority of their sales to the Steam service?  Do they feel other services are not worth the effort?  Moving business to one service would no doubt relieve the stress of coordinating contracts between multiple services, as well as coordinating payments afterward.  This is speculation, and Direct2Drive did post some good deals on well-known titles, but Steam no doubt won with the most publishers and games to offer.  I am hoping next year these services can improve upon their offers, and provide better competition for the marketplace.

Regional Pricing
Shortly after the first anniversary for regional pricing on the Steam service, the holiday sales went into effect.  Sadly, little has changed over the past year, and the sales prices for games continue to be higher than what major European online retailers offer.  Games continue to be priced at a 1€ to $1 ratio or higher, needlessly inflating the cost of games.  Additionally, some countries continue to be charged in the wrong currency, causing more headaches for consumers and making digital distribution a less appealing option, even during holiday sales.

One would expect there to be some difference between pricing, but not to the same degree it is through Steam.  For example, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor costs three times more for the rest of Europe than for the UK, and overall more than US consumers paid. Crysis: Maximum Edition cost US consumers $13.50, while European consumers were asked to pay €20 ($28.59). As for other services, the results are mixed. Impulse and Direct2Drive tend to be the more friendly towards European consumers, but still have their hiccups when it comes to pricing. Gamersgate also varies somewhat, but tends to be more on the average to high side.

Billing Errors
One recurring theme this holiday season is billing errors.  The Steam service has consistently had billing issues for many users according to their official forums, and Impulse has improperly charged some consumers by using the wrong currency.

In regards to the Steam billing errors, I speak from personal experience.  I attempted to purchase one of the daily deals, only to be stuck at a shopping cart that would not go forward.  After entering in my information and confirming my order, I hit the purchase button, upon which it sat there for 10 minutes with a “waiting…” message.   During this time, the game appeared in the “My Games” list, but I was unable to launch it.  Eventually, the website told me the payment was declined, but the Steam client persisted in telling me my payment was still processing.  I was left wondering what is going on, and did I even get charged?  This was extremely frustrating, and I was not sure whether to try again and risk getting charged twice.

It took hours for the problem to clear up, and I was one of the lucky ones.  Other consumers began posting about the very same problem, so I knew it was not user error.  This is where things get even more complicated.  Some users noticed that when they tried to purchase the game again, despite being given a declined payment message, were being charged twice.  Some were charged and never received a game.  Others were left waiting in limbo the same as me.  One user reported calling their credit card company, only to find out the charges are being handled by a company called Global Collect  in the Netherlands, causing more confusion.

Some hiccups are expected, but this opens up more serious concerns regarding Steam and other digital distribution services.  There is no phone support to contact for help, which would be especially helpful when someone is being charged for a game but has nothing to show for it.  There is the support ticket system, but it takes a few days to receive a reply, and by then the sale is gone.  There was also no response in the thread by a developer to assure  the community the problem was being investigated, but instead the thread was closed down the next day and hidden outside the General Discussion forum.

In regards to the Impulse service, one user was charged in the wrong currency and thus paying more than he originally agreed to.  Before Christmas arrived, Impulse was running an experimental daily deal campaign that was advertised only through the Impulse client.  McKnight, a user on the Quarter to Three forums, noticed the daily deal was Demigod for $9.19.  He proceeded to purchase the title, and all appeared to go smoothly.  During a discussion on the forums, he was inclined to double check his receipt, in which he noticed a discrepancy with the final price.

As can be seen below, the receipt clearly states the user will be charged in US Dollars, and lists the product as Demigod for $9.19.  However, at the bottom right side of the receipt, it clearly switches over to British Pounds, charging McKnight £9.19 ($14.89).  This is more than the user agreed to pay, and he notes he likely would not have purchased the game at this price.  We are still waiting to see what the exact charges on the billing statement will be, but according to the receipt, it was £9.19.  If anyone else has run into similar issues, please email me so that I may add it to the list in hopes Stardock will investigate their billing system.

Price Error Receipt

Ethics
It may seem out of place to include a discussion on ethics regarding a holiday sale.  After all, they are simply marked down games where some consumers are able to obtain a great bargain. What is so wrong about that? The problem lies in Steam placing many games on sale, then marking the price down even further the next day.  This caused many users to get frustrated, as they had just purchased a game on sale, only to find the game listed as a daily deal the next day at greater savings.

In a normal sale for any store, sales prices prices tend to be the final price.  It is perfectly reasonable to assume this is still the case, and consumers began to make holiday purchases.  One moderator was cheering people to buy right away, and consumers did so as some games had a tendency to run out of keys quickly.  Those who began making purchases were quickly faulted by others for being impatient, and another moderator joined in against those complaining about price changes, saying “How hard is it to understand what  a sale is?”  Personally, I have never known a sale to have constantly changing prices. In the US, retail stores even offer store credit for price changes within a few days, but Steam simply went with the tough luck approach.

Personally, I see such behavior as questionable.  Steam is changing prices mid-sale, not offering to refund the difference, and essentially alienating the very consumers who were the quickest to support them.  Why they would want to frustrate this group, I will never know.

Conclusion
I know it may sound like I am being unappreciative of these services, and a little too hard on them.  After all, there were some excellent deals in the mix.   However, I feel that if problems are not mentioned and we continue to blindly praise these services, things will not improve.  I cannot believe the amount of billing issues that have plagued consumers this year, as threads are still cropping up of people unable to buy anything or charges not showing up.  Errors are going to happen, but Steam clearly did not prepare for the influx of users that would make purchases during this time period, and Impulse is randomly charging users in the wrong currency. These events are simply not acceptable in my opinion.

I am wary of the holidays will bring this year.  More than anything, I hope these services are better able to improve their infrastructure, and be able to handle large volumes of customers without added stress.  Additionally, I also hope the other services are able to step up the quality of their sales, and regain some marketshare.  I would like to see more balance in the marketplace, and not one or two services having all the major deals.