Game Retail is becoming a Social Platform
Hardcore PC gaming may be dead at retail, but the potential of the market is opening up online as more and more of hardcore PC games become available as direct digital downloads. And while they may be a specialized group the players who show up on to buy a hardcore PC game have some distinct advantages as an audience:
1) They know what they want and how to ask for it.
2) They’re willing to pay to play.
3) They looking for an opportunity to get deep into an experience, not just grab a quick hit and get out.
Valve’s Steam platform is the clear frontrunner in this growing market. While at first blush it may appear to just be a store, dig underneath the surface of Steam and you’ll see that they’ve managed to leverage a lot of the same kind of dynamics that power the Facebook juggernaut, although in more subtle ways. They’ve added matchmaking and achievements to their games, and do an excellent job of making sure that the player feels they’re getting something of value every time the log in.
Hardcore PC Gamers can be an eclectic and skittish group. Building trust with a community like that takes time and understanding. But nothing communicates the power of Steam more clearly than going to your home page and seeing a game that you originally bought over a decade ago still ready and waiting for you to download it in case you might feel like playing it again.
And it isn’t just steam. Gamersgate and Stardock are interesting case studies in how the line between the retail experience and the application you’re buying is blurring more and more every day.
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