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Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99View Prime Day Deals Donkey Kong Bananza Switch 2 stock Recommended reading I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye Steam expert points to the games you never see quietly "making hundreds of thousands of dollars for small devs" as a key sign "Steam is doing okay" Hits like Schedule 1 are a dangerous bar for indies, Steam expert says: "That top potential has completely warped people's brains about what they should be making" Desperate to fight Steam, Epic burns money like firewood – but admits the Epic Games Store kind of sucks and "there's still a ton of work to be done" with "long overdue features" After handing out millions, Among Us dev says its indie fund has a signing rate roughly 8x higher than most publishers, most of its games are under $500k, just 6 are $1 million or more, and RPGs are king Action Games Vampire Survivors kicked off a game development gold rush, but has a legitimately new genre emerged between the cash-ins? Simulation Games Steam's fourth most popular game isn't really a game at all, but it's doubling as a "marketing tool" so effective its devs don't mind that "it's actually losing us money" Valve "cracked the problem that Netflix was struggling with" using diehard gamers and their backlogs, Steam expert says: "You get access to a bunch of drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly" Austin Wood 7 July 2025 "Hobbyists buy stuff not because they actually want to consume it, but because they are collecting it" When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Valve) "The power of Steam as a platform is that it enables hoarding," reckons Steam expert and games marketing analyst Chris Zukowski, arguing that "Valve cracked the problem that Netflix was struggling with" by tapping into hardcore gamers who love a fat backlog. "Most people who buy your game won't play it," Zukowski argues in a blog post, and that ratio will only skew higher for games that appear in bundles like Humble Bundle. He touches on the attention economy that all entertainment faces nowadays, pointing to Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings saying that the streaming platform is competing with other entertainment services, video games, and even sleep. "Now you are reading these quotes, developing your game, hoping that it will sell well, and you might fear that if Netflix, Fortnite, and sleep are all competing for a person's time, how are you, tiny indie, possibly going to steal an hour away from these giants?" You may like I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye Steam expert points to the games you never see quietly "making hundreds of thousands of dollars for small devs" as a key sign "Steam is doing okay" Hits like Schedule 1 are a dangerous bar for indies, Steam expert says: "That top potential has completely warped people's brains about what they should be making" The reason "Steam makes indies so much money compared to all the other platforms" is that Valve has "built up an audience that is full of super diehard hobbyists" who aren't necessarily competing in that attention economy because they don't actually have to play the games they buy, Zukowksi reasons. "Hobbyists buy stuff not because they actually want to consume it, but because they are collecting it," he continues. He points to the famous "pile of shame" found in almost all hobbies, and perhaps especially on a platform like Steam where purchases are just a click away. Just as your eyes may be bigger than your stomach, your interests may eclipse the time you can feasibly spend on them. But you can still spend money. (Image credit: Valve) In 2024, Zukowski notes, Simon Carless found that over half of the median Steam player's library is unplayed, and he also cautioned devs that a lot of people will buy a game but not play it. (Zukowski admits 2/3 of his own library is unplayed.) This brings us back to time and attention. "Valve cracked the problem that Netflix was struggling with: how do you sell to people who have so much entertainment at their fingertips that they don’t have enough hours in the day to play and watch it all," Zukowki says. "Valve basically added infinite hours to a gamer’s day, it is a theoretical future day where gamers might someday spend hours playing your game (but let’s be honest, won’t)." Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Steam obviously isn't the only gaming storefront with a library that can soak up games, but it is home to downright legendary sales, it gets the most games, it has better social and curation features than any other gaming storefront, and it has a lot of fun tools that let users organize and visualize their digital collection. There are hoarders on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms, to be sure, but in my experience and observation there ain't no backlog like a Steam backlog. Zukowski's Steam Next Fest survey data found that, "for the median game most people only wishlist a game without even playing the demo. THE DEMO IS FREE! If players are so interested in the game, why don’t they play it!" This doesn't mean demos are unimportant or less valuable, mind you. It's just reinforcing the point that "regardless if it is a free demo, or a full game, hobbyists find satisfaction in collecting. Even if they know deep down that they will never actually play it." "If Steam shoppers were rational and only bought games they were going to play, we would sell a lot fewer games," he says. "Half this industry would be gone. Knowing Steam players are hoarders explains why you give them that 30%: you get access to a bunch of drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly." While Zukowksi doesn't think this trend is something to stress over, he does add that it may support games with a "very clear genre" because that can feed into this behavior of, "Ah, I love open world survival crafting games! I know this! I am definitely going to play this once I am finished with the other 20 OWSC games in my collection." Whereas "if your genre is ambiguous, you won’t be picked up by hoarders." With serendipitous timing: I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye. See more Games News Austin Wood Social Links Navigation Senior writer Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye Steam expert points to the games you never see quietly "making hundreds of thousands of dollars for small devs" as a key sign "Steam is doing okay" Hits like Schedule 1 are a dangerous bar for indies, Steam expert says: "That top potential has completely warped people's brains about what they should be making" Desperate to fight Steam, Epic burns money like firewood – but admits the Epic Games Store kind of sucks and "there's still a ton of work to be done" with "long overdue features" After handing out millions, Among Us dev says its indie fund has a signing rate roughly 8x higher than most publishers, most of its games are under $500k, just 6 are $1 million or more, and RPGs are king Vampire Survivors kicked off a game development gold rush, but has a legitimately new genre emerged between the cash-ins? 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