Valve released the report of the 2020 of Steam, with data growing in all sectors and the desire to land in China in 2021. The growth compared to the previous year was significant and not only thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also had its role. In any case, the data were positive even before the start of the emergency. The results were truly excellent, with “new highs for monthly active users (120.4 million), daily active users (62.6 million), peaks of concurrent users (24.8 million), new buyers (2.6 million per month), hours of play (31.3 billion) and the number of games purchased (21.4% increase compared to 2019).”
Great success also for the different events launched throughout the year: Lunar New Year Sale, Spring Cleaning Event, Summer Sale, Halloween Sale, Fall Sale, Winter Sale, and 2020 Steam Awards; that broke previous sales records and benefited a lot of developers, not just triple A, with a 36% increase in games that made more than $ 100,000 during the various promotional periods.
“In addition to these sales, we have put a lot of energy into ensuring that the games will be displayed in the catalog. We have developed tools that make it easier to organize official themed sales and special events, and to support the large number of conferences, conventions and game festivals organized by teams outside of Steam. Due to the cancellation of several gaming industry events, getting developers to have the opportunity to introduce their products to potential customers has become more important than ever.“
As already mentioned, among Valve’s 2021 resolutions, there is the official landing in China in partnership with Perfect World, an increasingly attractive market for the Western videogame industry. Let’s read all of Steam’s resolutions for the year just started:
- Steam China: Together with our partner Perfect World, the team has worked hard and we are really close to launching this program to bring Steam to China in early 2021.
- User Experience Improvements: We are trying to fix the issues most users encounter when interacting with Steam; Basically, we want to make the process of buying, installing and running games as easy as possible.
- Steam Access: We still have plans to update the Steam mobile app and make it easier for users to access and account security. The Steam Points Program: We’re thinking about new ways to reward users, including those who aren’t particularly interested in the Steam Community features.
- Linux: We are continuing to invest in the technology needed to improve the compatibility and performance of games via Steam Play. We are also planning new ways for potential users to play on Linux and take advantage of these improvements.
- Steam Labs: In addition to implementing existing experiments, such as 010 – Exploration and 012 – Exploration for discounts, we are experimenting with new ways to allow players to browse the catalog in the year to come.
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