How high is your proverbial Pile of Shame? On Steam, games are said to have been purchased but never played, the value of which would surpass the gross domestic product of many countries.
In younger years, there is time, but often there is not enough money to buy all the games one desires. Later, it flips: Thanks to a job, the money is there, but there isn’t enough free time to play everything one wants. The situation has even worsened in recent years due to the never-ending service games.
However, for many, no time is not a reason not to buy. As soon as the first discount deal comes around, many gaming enthusiasts strike. This leads to a considerable “Pile of Shame” over time, or a “Tower of Shame” of purchased but unplayed games. Optimistic souls like to call it a “Mountain of Joy,” the mountain of (potential) joy.
Also interesting for Steam users:
How much is the Pile of Shame on Steam worth? The people responsible for PCGamesN and SteamIDFinder teamed up to answer exactly this question. They looked at publicly visible accounts in the SteamIDFinder database to find out how much money the respective Steam users have spent on games that have not yet been played.
It should be considered that only about ten percent of the Steam accounts worldwide are publicly visible through SteamIDFinder. The result of the research:
- On the 73 million verified accounts, there are games worth 1.9 billion US dollars that have remained unplayed in libraries.
- If this sum is extrapolated to all Steam accounts, it would amount to about 19 billion US dollars.
- This is more than the entire gross domestic product of countries like Malta, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Mongolia, or Palestine (figures from October 2022, via Wikipedia).
- With 19 billion US dollars, one could buy ZeniMax Media twice. For the company, which also includes Bethesda, Microsoft had to spend about 8.1 billion US dollars in 2021 (adjusted for inflation, approximately 9.108 billion US dollars).
What gems are slumbering on the Pile of Shame? Unfortunately, the author of these lines has quite a few. This might be due to the MMORPGs that typically consume a lot of time. The victims include Command & Conquer 4 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, as well as Darksiders 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.
However, classics like Fallout 1 + 2, F.E.A.R. 3, the two Guacamelee! parts, or the JRPG The Last Remnant are also left unplayed in the library. Additionally, there are various Lego games that were intended for fun co-op rounds with the kids, but have not yet found any appeal. Here’s a current price tip: Survival game from Germany is now fully launched on Steam, available for just under 10 €
