Steam Users Are Buying Games They’ll Never Play, Says Industry Analyst
Despite Epic Games’ years-long effort to challenge Valve’s dominance in the PC gaming market, Steam continues to reign supreme. Even with Valve’s 30% revenue cut—substantially higher than Epic’s 12% (and recently 0% for the first $1 million)—game developers overwhelmingly prefer Steam. But why? Industry analyst Chris Zukowski offers an explanation that goes beyond platform features and sales infrastructure: Steam has cultivated a user base of digital hoarders.
In a compelling analysis posted on his blog, How to Market a Game, Zukowski explores how Valve solved a core dilemma of modern entertainment—how to monetize user interest in a world saturated with content. His conclusion is that Steam doesn’t just sell games; it sells the intention to play.
“Valve cracked the problem that Netflix was struggling with: how do you sell to people who have so much entertainment at their fingertips that they don’t have enough hours in the day to play and watch it all? Valve basically added infinite hours to a gamer’s day,” Zukowski wrote.
According to his research, many users simply wishlist games or purchase them during events like Steam Next Fest or the Summer Sale without ever trying free demos or launching them once. In fact, even demos go ignored, despite being free and accessible.
To illustrate the trend, Zukowski points to Chris Wray, a writer with a whopping 6,062 games in his Steam library, of which he has only launched around 20%. You can see the data breakdown on his SteamDB profile, which further proves Zukowski’s theory of a culture of accumulation over actual engagement. While some of these games were provided for reviews, the majority were personal purchases.
This behavior helps explain why developers are still willing to accept Valve’s 30% cut: because Steam is filled with power users who will buy games impulsively, whether or not they plan to ever play them. Steam’s vast user base isn’t just loyal—it’s uniquely conditioned to purchase now and play later (or never).
Steam’s ultra-aggressive discounting strategy, exemplified by events like the current Steam Summer Sale, reinforces this buying behavior. Deep discounts lower the psychological barrier to purchase, turning even mildly interesting games into irresistible “just in case” acquisitions.
How many games do you own on Steam—and how many have you actually played? Are you a digital hoarder too? Let us know your backlog confession in the comments!
