Evidence emerges of Steam loyalty discount scheme

by Mark Tyson on 12 May 2020, 15:11

Tags: Valve

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SteamDB project lead and developer Pavel Djundik has uncovered what he thinks are pre-traces of a loyalty scheme in the making. Steam code samples shared on GitHub are highly indicative of Valve developing some kind of regular customer benefits. Additionally purported dates for the Steam Summer Sale have leaked.

Dealing with the most straight forward piece of news first, the Steam Summer Sale has been confirmed to begin on Thursday 25th June and end on 9th July. With the sale kick-off such a long time off it is still possible that the dates might shift somewhat, though not by any significant degree. Expect the Steam Summer Sale to start in roughly 6 weeks time.

Valve looks like it is investing in developing a customer loyalty scheme, which may possibly debut in time for the Steam Summer Sale. UK shoppers will be well aware of loyalty schemes, with many people wielding wallets stuffed with various retailer branded plastic, and keychains bristling with the smaller barcode / QR code marked versions. Likewise the Steam scheme will furnish a customer with redeemable points for their purchasing activities.

Database mining brings up the following indicative strings in the Steam code:

  • LoyaltyRewardDefinition_CommunityItemData,
  • LoyaltyRewardDefinition_BadgeData,
  • LoyaltyRewardPurchaseBonus,
  • and more…

Djundik reckons that shoppers will be able to earn "reward items, redeeming points for badge levels, and possibly game discounts". Social aspects of Steam look set to be spruced up at the same time with comments and new reaction emoticons in the UI. Strings indicate users will be able to add 'heartwarming', 'hilarious', 'helpful', and other common reactions to posts and comments.



HEXUS Forums :: 21 Comments

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Why would they be begging for our loyalty?
Are they worried about losing business to Epic, or something?
Ttaskmaster
Why would they be begging for our loyalty?
Are they worried about losing business to Epic, or something?

I'd likely see this as an extension of the existing trading cards arrangements - something I don't personally give two hoots about but I know a lot of people love.

They don't really need to fear Epic, at least not yet - their money will run out eventually and once the bribes and underhand, anti consumer practices stop the incentive for anyone to use their platform drops through the floor.

Early numbers show that even after a 6-12 month wait, sales of the bribed epic exclusives are just as strong on Steam, and hopefully that trend continues.
Oh well that'll be alright, then. The sooner Epic die, the better.
It's always great when large corporates get to win and eliminate all challengers. It's not like Steam has ever done anything bad or unfair….
Ummm this doesn't sound too different from any previous Steam summer/winter sale.
You get rewards for buying more stuff in the sale.
Turning that feature into something permanent would be nice, but it will most likely exclude externally obtained products (through steam keys).
Ttaskmaster
Oh well that'll be alright, then. The sooner Epic die, the better.

Not at all, as i've said many times - the competition is needed, but just not by introducing console style timed and permanent exclusives into a previously open platform like a PC. evenmoreso not by bribing the publishers (not developers I must add….this isn't their fault!). It's still amazing the authorities have not stepped into this given how bad it is for the consumer, but the they are slow to act when it comes to tech so who knows.

Here's the thing though - if Epic stopped all the exclusivity rubbish, they wouldn't be able to compete with Steam. Why? Their launcher and store is rubbish, feature poor, and the company has a terrible record on security (much worse than steam).

Epic could have invested all that bribery money into their platform and product and given valve something to *really* worry about. They took the lazy approach though which is fine short term, but disastrous for the PC gaming community as a whole in the long run if it keeps going.

I'd much rather support platforms like GOG which are much more open and don't get involved in the “bad” side - look how fast they are growing and the support they get by well, not screwing over the PC gaming community…