That seems like a lot, but that’s <$12/user in microtransactions and ~$43/user in games. That’s like… 2 microtransaction purchases and a couple indie games each.
But the sad reality is that the mtx are in all likelyhood,concentrated in a small group of users.
From their report report :
[ For years we’ve seen an encouraging pattern. Hit new releases are excellent at generating new first-time purchasers, and we’ve tried to build many platform features to encourage those new users to stick around, find more great games, and play with friends. To gather data illustrating the effectiveness of that approach, we went all the way back to 2023 and identified the biggest 20 releases of that year. We looked at every new first-time purchaser generated by those products (that is, an account making a purchase, or redeeming a Steam key, for the first time) for a total of 1.7 million new users. Then we followed that cohort of new users. The stats below represent what those players did from January 2024 through early March 2025.
…That cohort of players has gone on to spend $20 million on in-game transactions across hundreds of other games—plus another $73 million on premium games and DLC across thousands more products. ]
So they are not average gamers, more like new blood in steam, and the numbers are for money they spent additional after the reason they came to steam.
just did the math, I’ve averaged about $165/yr on steam, with very little (though not none) microtransactions. like maybe less than $50 total in 15 years.
I think I probably have a similar average on my 18 yr old account, except the only microtransactions on my account are credits from selling any hats, skins and duplicate weapons I unlocked for free in TF2 and CS 😅
Would that even count as a “whale”?
Less than 20 dollars per user on “microtransactions” which the article goes on to define as “in-game transactions”. And 73 dollars on direct steam purchases of games/DLC which very well could just be a single newly released game.
So… one “battle pass” or two or three cosmetics for a live game and a new game or a season pass or two of DLC for an older one?
$20 million on microtransactions
Please don’t.
$73 million on games and DLC
$42 per person average? Those are rookie numbers!
I feel like a lot of the microtransaction revenue is DLC as well. But like someone else said, there are the rare games that are free to play and don’t have super predatory mtx like Path of Exile or The Finals.
Fuck paying for them in full priced games though
20 million divided by 1.7 is about $11 per person, which isnt really that high.
I also think theres a distinction to be made between microtransactions in f2p titles and microtransactions in AAA premium titles. I logged something like 4000 hours in Mechwarrior online and I bought mech packs because I wanted to support the devs.
I think that’s entirely fair.
I do wonder how much of that money has gone to the developers themselves, and not just some executive
Man, I downloaded my data from steam for the past ten years I’ve been active and the total $ amount made me sad. It’s definitely not $42 a year…
I’ve been on steam for over 4 years and I’ve spent a whopping $0.99.
You monster!
\s
Lmao. I mostly play the free games. I also have the heroic launcher and I’m signed into gog, epic and prime on it and so far, they’ve given me 85 free games. I have a lifetime supply of games.
I realise i must be an edge case but i think my steam account of 10+ years is positive money wise. Got thousands of hours in the same few games and sold my old €100 CS inventory for about €500 PayPal when the market boomed.
The amount of money I’ve spent on my system to play those few games at more fps tho, lets not calculate.
It’s like 60 / month I bet 😂
Valve says the data proves “Steam isn’t just a storefront—it provides social community, game discoverability, interactive events, and a deep set of game-enhancing features to attract and retain players who will be checking out new games in the future.”
I think it proves that Steam is the largest storefront on PC and that PC is growing and replacing other platforms.
I haven’t seen an interactive event on Steam for, like, a decade. Unless they’re counting sales as interactive events. 🤔
They used to have, like, gamified events where you’re earning things (like maybe trading cards or badges or other Steam profile items) by playing a small little browser game inside the store page. Those were always fun.
They kinda died along side the flash deals. I miss the crazy sales, but I understand why they removed them.
The Next Fests might count. They kind of fill the role that something like PAX does, encouraging you to try out demos.
Yeah I’d say that counts. It definitely feels like a community event to me and doesn’t cost money to participate
one example of a steam interactive event was when valve was actively giving viewers who were watching the game awards through steam a raffle to get a free steam deck
No, that’s just a raffle. They had mini games during the sales.
PC is the fastest growing market. Consoles are slumping and I think the return of Steam Machines done right would accelerate the market shift.
They’d be a shoe-in now that Valve developed Proton so well
The 1.7 million customers who originated from a top 2023 release
This wording is a bit strange, are they tracking the new steam accounts that signed up to buy a specific 2023 title (like Baldur’s Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, or Starfield)?
If so it says more about the specific demographic attracted to that unknown title than it does about Steam in general.
Edit:
The methodology is explained here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4145017/view/751641001553035271
To gather data illustrating the effectiveness of that approach, we went all the way back to 2023 and identified the biggest 20 releases of that year. We looked at every new first-time purchaser generated by those products (that is, an account making a purchase, or redeeming a Steam key, for the first time) for a total of 1.7 million new users.
Yeah, that’s a bit strange. Not everyone starts their account by a big game. My current steam account is quite old and first games were the ones I could afford back then as a student: indie titles, freebies, maybe one big game at some point. My previous account was only for HL / CS.
Thanks to them (the people buying microtransactions) for helping ruin the industry!
I don’t think microtransactions are inherently bad, they are just used in the most greedy, money-grabbing ways.
There are some free-to-play games that don’t restrict your access to any gameplay at all as a free player, which can only be subsidized by microtransactions. If it’s just cosmetics, and they’re priced fairly, I wouldn’t feel any concern over it.
I say this as someone who will put 100 hours into a f2p game and maybe spend $10-20 on a skin or two. I feel that it’s fair to spend that much after reaping so many hours of play.
I’d be with you if I still got to keep the game and the skins I bought in perpetuity, but that’s basically unheard of.
If it’s free to play, then some cosmetic mtx are fine, thats what I used to think, the problem is how egregious they have become. They are not designed as a way to support a game, they are designed to suck as much money as they can from you. Which is why I disagree with supporting them at all anymore.
Games should be a one-off purchase, with no extra added bullshit.
You’re kidding, right? They’re the only ones safeguarding the industry and making it so you’re not watching ads once every 3 minutes to get a few more coins in your PC games.
They provide one of the best distribution networks in the PC industry, and they constantly stand on the side of the players vs corporate interests.
I was talking about the people buying the microtransactions. I should have made that clear, I thought it could be deduced, given Valve aren’t exactly ruining the game industry by stat tracking 1.7 million users, but I can see how it was confused.
Let’s not whitewash their history. A lot of concessions they only gave up due to legal challenges, and then there’s the whole child gambling thing.
“Valve Child Gambling” brings up nothing. Care to enlighten me? As well as hand-wavey “a lot of concessions”…care to elaborate?
Their refund policies only came about because different governments sued them. Check out either coffeezilla or People Make Games on CS:GO loot boxes, the latter of which has interviews with plenty of the victims of this system that Valve allows to continue because it’s so lucrative for them.
I’ll give you the csgo gambling. That is fucked up.
But their refund policy is best in class. I don’t care how they got there, it’s better than shops give me for actual physical games…
I’d love to see what you consider an alternative better storefront.
I was specifically refuting, “They’re the only ones safeguarding the industry,” and how they got to their refund policies matters when it comes to that statement. I was not here to throw a gauntlet down, insult Steam’s honor, and challenge anyone to a duel. I prefer to shop on GOG these days, when possible, but my Steam profile says I have 991 games in my account, and I bought most of those. Valve and Steam have done lasting, measurable good to this industry and medium, but that doesn’t mean they’re safeguarding it or that it’s all good news. As to the thing about ads, I don’t think that model would actually work with the PC gaming audience, and I think Valve prohibiting it is just so that their audience still finds quality products on Steam and spends more money. Valve’s best behaviors and worst behaviors are motivated by profit.
Valve’s best behaviors and worst behaviors are motivated by profit.
That’s where I disagree. Valve is not a publicly traded company. It is not beholden to shareholders to strive for profit above all else, and it shows in Valve’s leadership.
Elaborate?
It’s easy to just spout generic steam hate, but I’d love to hear what steam does worse than other pc storefronts.
Lmao… it’s not Steam hate, it’s the people buying the MTX. I wasn’t clear enough, my bad.
Fair enough :)
