I've had a look at ten recent releases and 'coming soon' games on Steam, and compared their prices with the cheapest available retail prices. I've included delivery, and any coupons available.
Pro Cycling Manager Season 2009
Steam: £29.99
Retail: £22.95
Street Fighter IV
Steam: £29.99
Retail: £14.98
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Steam: £34.99
Retail: £22.73
Virtua Tennis 2009
Steam: £26.99 (that's 10% off, normal price £29.99)
Retail: £21.49
Trine
Steam: £19.99
Retail: £14.99
ARMA II
Steam: £29.99
Retail: £17.99
Overlord II
Steam: £29.99
Retail: £14.95
Bionic Commando
Steam: £26.99 (that's 10% off for preordering, normal price £29.99)
Retail: £17.73
The Steam version unlocks on the 28th of July, the retail version ships on the 17th of July.
East India Company
Steam: £34.99 (Comes with free "Pirate Bay" DLC)
Retail: £24.99
The Steam version unlocks on the 31st of July, the retail version ships on the 7th of August.
Aion
Steam: £34.99
Retail: £23.99 (use coupon "buyat0902" to get that price)
The Steam version unlocks on the 25th of September, and the retail version ships on the same day.
So, of the ten selected games, the average Steam price is £29.89 and the average retail price is £19.68, meaning that in this sample, Steam is 52% more expensive than buying retail. Put another way, buying all ten of these games from Steam would cost £298.90, and buying them all from retail would cost £196.79. Also, for new releases, sometimes Steam is the quickest way to get your game, and sometimes retail is.
Now, this is a far from scientific study, but it's certainly somewhat damning of Steam. How I (and I suspect a large proportion of it's customers) use Steam is as a portal through which I get some great special offers from, but there are obviously people buying new releases at these high prices.
Apart from anything, purely from a consumer standpoint, it is crazy that it costs less to get some data, print it on a disc, put in in packaging, ship it to a retailer and let them ship it to you that it costs to make the same data available for download. Bear in mind that it is impossible to sell, or otherwise transfer the license of Steam versions games, and the retail version seems like a far better deal for gamers.
Which is a shame - I certainly would prefer to use DD more than retail, it is more convenient for me, and it is better for the environment, but I am not willing to compromise on value to do so.
Steam is pretty expensive
PSN Collection: Power Pack, PSP - £2.17
PSN Collection: Power Pack, PSP - £2.17
Spend £5 or more for free P&P.
Contains:
fl0w
Beats
Syphon Filter: Combat Ops
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