Private Games, New Shopping Cart, and Longer Launch Discounts. Steam With More Updates
Steam is introducing a long-tested feature for private games and doubles the length of time for which a game's launch discount can last.
New shopping cart and private games are now available on Steam. The two functions were tested by Valve as part of the client beta since last year and have now been introduced to all platform users in a new update.
Just a reminder: the new shopping cart offers several small but useful improvements. These involve purchasing a gift for multiple friends simultaneously, syncing across all devices, and the option to add the bought game as a "private app." The latter option enables you to conceal specific items from the collection from other users, including friends and random visitors to a given profile.
Longer discounts for the premiere
For years, Valve has been introducing various improvements to Steam, not only for regular users but also for developers and publishers. The latter will appreciate the new platform update, although the change they are interested in is mentioned in a separate post. Valve has twice extended the period during which the premiere discount can be valid - from 7 to a maximum of 14 days.
Until now, these promotions have been in effect for precisely one week. Now, devs can choose any number of days within the range of 7 to 14, which was a change desired by many game developers.
The main goal was to prevent them from delaying the release date if it came before the start of seasonal sales. Valve doesn't allow the price of a game to be lowered within 30 days of its release or the end of its premiere discount. Extending this discount makes it easier to offer a lower price for the game during the peak shopping period of Steam sales.
The function remains fully optional, although there is still a limit: the game at launch can be discounted by no more than 40%. Furthermore, Valve advises developers to restrict their discounts to the range of 10-15%.
