Industry analyst calls PC gamers 'drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly'

Games industry analyst Chris Zukowski has shared a few choice words about PC gamers, specifically those on Steam, in a new blog post. "The amazing thing about Steam and its player base is that they buy games they aren't going to play," Chris writes in the opening, as part of a message to game developers. "More than likely, the person buying your game is not going to play it."

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The post makes the point that, in the current entertainment field, with services like Netflix and HBO Max, alongside live-service games like Fortnite, game developers are competing for people's time in a fragmented market. However, when it comes to Steam, Valve's platform is so successful and lucrative for game developers of all sizes because the audience is "full of super die-hard hobbyists."

This means it's more about collecting games and building a library without worrying about "how much money they are spending." Granted, it doesn't hurt that Steam's annual Summer Sale (which is still live) brings significant discounts to a wide range of games annually.

Chris Zukowski makes the argument that Valve has solved the problem that streaming giants like Netflix have been dealing with, attracting new customers or sales when people have a sea of entertainment "at their fingertips" with not enough hours in a day, week, or even year to "play and watch it all."

Not one to mince words, Chris adds, "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."

Of course, when most hardcore PC gamers think about games they own that they haven't played or barely touched, the phrase "pile of shame" enters the picture. A growing list of games that continue to be overlooked, instead of playing the same title for years, or jumping into something new versus something that's no longer in the mainstream conversation.

Although "drunken sailors" is a humorous way to describe Steam and PC gamers, Chris does provide some interesting stats in his lengthy post. 10% of people who buy a game on Steam also buy a second game at a discount, highlighting the impulse-buy nature of Steam and its regular sale events. And to show that he's also one of the many "drunken sailors" out there, he notes that in his Steam library of 558 games, only 187 games have been played - 33%.