By Kyle Krueger

In mid-February 2009, at the DICE Summit, Gabe Newell uttered the five words that could cause even Electronic Arts to shake in its boots; “Video games are too expensive.”

Now, it’s easy for him to say, being a former Microsoft developer and the President of Valve Software. However, maybe he’s onto something. Newell cited some numbers pertaining to sales during one of Steam’s weekend deals, and they are bordering on the outrageous. Among the figures he presented were statistics for an unnamed game that saw a revenue increase of 18,000 percent and an increase in copies sold of 36,000 percent during its weekend deal. The other numbers were no less astounding, and they all supported Newell’s claim.

It’s no secret that Steam is changing the way video game developers do business. Some publishers are now releasing games exclusively through Steam, and still others choose to use Steam as their DRM. Recent releases such as [blippr]Dawn of War 2[/blippr] can be purchased at a brick-and-mortar store, but still require Steam activation upon install. Still others such as [blippr]Saint’s Row 2[/blippr] and [blippr]Unreal Tournament 3[/blippr] have arranged with Valve to allow their CD keys to be entered into Steam, unlocking them as if they had been purchased via Steam.

What does this all mean? Well, if you recall, a few months back, Bungie Audio Lead Marty O’Donnell criticized the first-sale doctrine, saying that video games should be exempt; what this means is that the end user should not be able to resell their video games when they’re done with them as it takes sales away from the developers. Many gamers and gaming press, myself included, were quick to call O’Donnell out on his declaration. After all, who is he to deny us the right to sell off a video game once we’ve beaten it?

While the outcry following this announcement was overwhelming, going almost unnoticed was the fact that once you buy a game through Steam, that game is non-transferable. This is obviously a special case, as it is difficult to resell digitally distributed content, but it raises the question, why is it okay for Steam to do it, while it isn’t for Bungie?

There are several possible explanations for this discrepancy. Firstly, one could argue that O’Donnell was referring to console gaming, which lends itself well to reselling, as there are no required CD keys and discs are interchangeable. On the flip side, many PC games these days require registration with the provided CD key, essentially making the product specific to the first user. Moreover, the market for secondhand PC games is much, much smaller than the Gamestop dominated market for used console games. PC gamers are accustomed to not being able to sell their games, and, as such, Valve doesn’t face the antagonism that console-centric developers face.

I, however, submit an alternative explanation. Gabe Newell’s recent declaration brings to light an interesting idea; maybe people who purchase games through Steam aren’t looking to sell their games like they would had they purchased them for consoles. Imagine purchasing Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360. You go to your local retailer, dish out sixty dollars plus tax, and when you’ve had your fill, you turn around and sell it to Gamestop for ten dollars. On the other hand, say you purchased Left 4 Dead via Steam during the weekend deal for a mere twenty-five dollars. The math does itself. After selling the 360 version, you’re out fifty dollars plus tax, and have no game to show for it. However, after playing through the Steam version, you’re only out twenty-five dollars, and you still have a game to play, should you want to. Obviously, it would be nice to be able to get even five dollars back for your game, but if you’re still ahead on the numbers, who cares?

This carries through to the later stages of a game’s life. In a year or so, a new copy of Left 4 Dead for the 360 may only be selling for forty dollars. Likewise, Gamestop might only be willing to pay five dollars for the game. However, if you purchase the game on Steam, you might be able to get it for a cool twenty bucks, and still be ahead of the curve.

Sure, sure, I will be the first to admit that it’s not the same when you’re ordering games through Steam on launch. You’re paying full price for the game, and if you end up hating the game, you’re stuck with it. However, most games get a 10% discount on Steam if you preorder. It’s not an ideal situation, but I can guarantee you that it helps ease the pain that our wallets feel when buying online. For whatever reason, Steam gets a break in this regard, and I think they deserve it. Digitally distributed games already have a few strikes against them from the onset, but with online distributors offering such deep discounts on their products, perhaps it all balances out.