Why does Xbox live not offer the same kind of amazing deals that steam offers?

[Dockings]

I guess I just want to vent some frustration over the whole Xbox Live Arcade and Games on Demand system. My friend has Steam and he is always talking about the absolutely ridiculous deals they constantly offer (ie. games that are barely a year or two old with all their DLC for under $10) Surely there must be some of you out there who have both Steam and Xbox Live. I would buy a TON more games if they offered cheap purchases like this and I'm willing to bet a lot of other people would as well. What do they stand to lose by offering amazing deals, and how is Steam able to get away with it?

 

[Claptrap]

I truly don't know why Microsoft doesn't do similar sales. The Steam sales work great because people buy games impulsively just because they are cheap. There are many people that mention that they buy Steam games during sales but then never play the game and weren't actually too interested in the game, but liked the discount. Steam sales are just magical, like a unicorn! Except REAL! They have hundreds of indie items on sale as we speak (soundtracks, games, DLCs, bundles) on Steam. I haven't see a PSN or XBL sale that comes close to being that huge, though PSN's sales are fairly decent if you are a PS+ subscriber.

 

[SkintTight]

I was wondering the same.

 

[prefect_lark]

It's a similar answer to the "what's with all the ads?" thread. This is going to sound cynical, and I'm not trying to be, just realistic. They don't need to have these sales. I would love it if they did this, too.

So what can you do? You can write them. You can fill out feedback forms on their website and suggest this, say you are more likely to buy one on sale than one at full price, though you'd rather be able to play it on your Xbox. Get them talking.

 

[DiamondCardz]

Because unfortunately, Microsoft is a little greedy, even though they are a multi-billion dollar business. They'll do anything to make extra cash, and they don't want to offer sales that cut their profit, sadly. It's a shame that they don't, because Steam, as you said, does very insane deals quite regularly - something I enjoy, actually.

 

[BlackSolaris]

Well, there are a few minor sales from time to time, but something like the sales from Steam is not possible because of how the business model with Microsoft. I think they would lose more money than they would gain in the process.

 

[HickJ]

Microsoft just wants that dollar. Like all businesses. They wanna bleed the customer dry as much as possible. I just hope a large portion of this money is going to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to help people.