2023 Steam Black Friday Performance Report
Download PDFDec, 2023 2023 Steam Black Friday
Performance Report
“A year of records, despite the slowdown in overall games industry”
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User engagement keeps breaking records on Steam despite the post -lockdown
return to non -digital lives
Peak Users In -Game on Steam During November Periods
Nov -19 Nov -20 Nov -21 Nov -22
5.3M
6.7M
7.8M
9.4M
Nov -23
9.7M
+28.3%
+16.3%
+20.3% +3.4%
Record amount of engagement on the
platform
• The games industry has been flat or even
declining since Covid as players return to
normality post -lockdowns and struggle with
tighter economic climate
• However, Steam has continued to see
engagement increase
• This has largely been driven by:
▪ Lack of next -gen console availability
driving players to PC
▪ More publishers starting to focus and
release games on Steam (even Sony!)
▪ Continued strength of PC indie
developer space
▪ PC being the preferred platform in many
markets where gaming is still growing
fast
November Peak Active Players In -Game on Steam, by Year,
2019 -23 (M Players)
2
Black Friday sales have been stagnating on Steam in 2021 -22;
2023 is the first year of significant growth since Covid
Unit Sales on Steam During Black Friday
Nov -19 Nov -21 Nov -22 Nov -23 Nov -20
53M
67M 69M 68M
77M +27.5% +2.2% -1.2%
+14.0%
Record amount of games sold on
Steam during Black Friday
• November 2023 was the biggest Black Friday
for Steam in terms of units sold
• Units have been stagnating since Covid as the
post -lockdown normalisation and return to
nonvirtual lives has reduced new game
purchases
• The 2023 boost has largely been driven by
great game releases and steeper than usual
Black Friday discounts
November Total Units Sold on Steam, by Year, 2019 -23 (M Units)
3
2023 saw a strong release schedule and deep Black Friday discounts as titles
were fighting for attention
Black Friday Steep Discounts
Games like EA FC have done deeper discounts than
ever before during Black Friday
Extraordinarily strong release schedule this year with
great Black Friday deals
EA FC was -50% off on all platforms during its first discount since
launch
– 40%
Black Friday
Discounts
– 40%
– 20%
– 0%
Sold an estimated
over 1 M units over BF
despite not being on
discount!
– 34%
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Slightly declining revenue is a sign of fiercer competition among publishers for
an increasingly fixed size of the pie
Black Friday Games Revenue
Nov -19 Nov -20 Nov -21 Nov -22 Nov -23
$588M
$751M
$942M
$1,093M $1,076M
+27.8%
+25.3%
+16.1% -1.5%
Revenue down YoY despite the
increase in units sold
• 2023 November saw -1.5% YoY decline in full
game revenue
• This was largely driven by steeper than usual
discounts boosting units, but at lower average
selling price
• Players’ overall lower disposable income this
year and higher competition for games due to
strong releases has led to a push to the
bottom as publishers are fighting for attention
November Full Game Revenues on Steam, by Year,
2019 -23 ($M)
5
Lower prices despite a slate of strong new releases might be a trend for years to
come
A Change in the Black Friday Pricing Trends
$11.2 $11.2
$13.7
$16.1
$13.9
Nov -19 Nov -20 Nov -21 Nov -22 Nov -23
+0.2%
+22.6%
+17.5% -13.6%
Price pressure likely to continue
• In many ways, the 2023 average game price is
a return to more “normal” Black Friday prices,
with 2022 being the outlier
• However, 2023 also saw many strong new
game releases, traditionally meaning smaller
discounts as there’s still a bulk of interest
towards these games in the early life -cycle
• The largest game launched this year, Baldur’s
Gate 3, was the exception and did not go on
discount at all during this Black Friday
• Most other releases were already 40% or more
discounted less than a year after their release
• This pressure to compete for attention is likely
not subsiding in the coming years as
subscription deals and competition between
publishers puts pressure on pricing
November Average Game Price on Steam, by Year, 2019 -23 (USD)
6
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Pricing https://vginsights.com/pricing
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