Gabe Newell gave a video conference at a Sports/Entertainment Class. In the video below he talks, among other (sales related) subjects, how the crazy Steam sales aren't that crazy at all.  
 
    

• 01:40 - 06:30 the history of Valve and marketing
• 07:20 - 09:37 the difference between digital and traditional retail sales and finding out the right approach to the "digital" audience 
• 09:37 - 15:55 the value of the costumer in relation to customizing the value of the product and the experimentation involved due to the lack of direct parallels 
• 15:00 - 17:15 the power of hindsight
• 17:20 - 19:48 the amount of stress on Valve employees and independence 
• 19:55 - 21:45 the correlation between age and the age of technology 
• 21:50 - 23:10 whether the current state of the economy influences innovation and independent game development 
• 23:30 - 24:30 his favorite game he has made, his personal favorite game he has played, on Mario Sunshine as well as Mario Galaxy  
• 24:45 - 26:10 on how dropping out of school makes you a billionaire and male prostitution 
• 26:20 - 32:30 Valve's job requirement and the importance of adaptation, knowing your audience and staying current with the changes in the industry
• 33:10 - 35:25 from inception to finished product (includes Tippecanoe Valley High School lunch announcement)
• 35:45 - 37:20 popularizing Steam, using costumers to create new costumers instead of outside business partners
• 37:28 - 40:10 gaining experience, the significance of failing and the people you work with
• 40:25 - 42:55 developing a game and knowing which tools to use on which project, final words, the weather

DOTA2

-75% discount = 4000% increase in sales; basically x10 sales at baseline price, plus additional revenue from publicity after the sale. It's always been estimated as such, but it's nice that it's confirmed now. 

he hasn't mentioned half life 2 ep 3 within the first six minutes why does gabe hate me

Pretty much what they've been saying on the Bombcast. The loss is worth it to get Steam on peoples systems. Then the next time they see a big PC release coming up they have a little icon on their desktop reminding them they can get the same game delivered digitally, and possibly at a better price.

" Pretty much what they've been saying on the Bombcast. The loss is worth it to get Steam on peoples systems."

" @Chris2KLee said:

" Pretty much what they've been saying on the Bombcast. The loss is worth it to get Steam on peoples systems."

but they don't lose money. "

You gotta love this Company.

Wow. I wish one of my high school classes would have had a video conference with someone like Gabe Newell.
 
Pretty interesting about the sales, but I think it makes sense. I know I've bought games after friends of mine bought something on sale and had positive things to say about it.

I'm only half way into the video, gabe newell is brilliant and has the right formulas for marketing sucess. He looks for the results though experimentations rather than use preconcieved notions and rationality which doesn't produce the same results like most store copy pc games.

Gabe hates Super Mario Galaxy? Fuck that guy!

" Pretty much what they've been saying on the Bombcast. The loss is worth it to get Steam on peoples systems. Then the next time they see a big PC release coming up they have a little icon on their desktop reminding them they can get the same game delivered digitally, and possibly at a better price. "

" @Geno Didn't he say 40x gross revenue? "

That was very insightful.