Chris Pereira over at 1UP recently wrote a well-balanced, though-provoking article on Steam Sales, Indie Bundles, and the value of games. I would highly encourage anyone interested in the gaming industry to read the article. Go on. I’ll wait. Now here are my thoughts on the matter. Most games reach their target audience within 6 months. These are the dedicated fans, and the guaranteed sales. After you reach the six month mark, sales start to decline. This is when the Steam Sales and Indie bundles kick in. There may be small sales early on, but we’re looking at 20-33% off instead of the 75% or more, or even the name your own price. By the time we start to see the door-busting sales Chris is referring to, I think a developer/publisher/distributor has reached most of their target audience and are trying to reach out beyond to the folks who may not normally be interested, or for a smaller team, an audience who may not be aware of said game until they see it plastered on the front page of a sale. TL;DR, I think Steam and the Indie Bundles have reached a happy medium.NOTE: I make a lot of generalities here. There are exceptions to these rules, but they are just that. Exceptions.