We gamers have a problem. All of us have done it and some over and over again. We will also continue to do so in the future. What? Buying games and not launching them. The reasons are the usual: we are interested, we wait for a discount, we find it at a price that seems irresistible and we say to ourselves “then I’ll play it”. Except we don’t. How often does this happen in detail though? How much has the gaming community spent on games that they never started once?
A total calculation is not possible, but we can see the data related to Steam. According to some calculations by PCGamesN, based on information available through SteamIDFinder which shows public Steam accounts, the total money spent is probably approximately 17.7 billion euros.
How we arrived at the amount spent by Steam users
PCGamesN used, as mentioned, SteamIDFinder which however only shows public accounts, which are 10% of the total ones in the world. According to this data, 1.77 billion euros were spent on games that never launched. If we expand the figure to 100%, we arrive at the final 17.7 billion euros.
Obviously it is not the real figure but just an estimate. Furthermore, it is necessary to specify how the indicated site works. SteamIDFinder does not know how much you have actually spent, but simply sees which games are part of the library and which have not been launched. Then associate the official price with each of them and then calculate the total.
The writer has verified and the Steam account would have over €1200 worth of games never started. The truth, however, is that most of these were purchased at very low prices, a few euros or even a few cents via Humble Bundle. The real figure is minimal, essentially.
These numbers, however, allow us to get an idea of how much is actually bought but not used by players. At least developers and publishers earn something from these unnecessary expenses. If you want to see how much of your library has never been launched and how much it’s worth, you can check it here by entering your Steam ID number.
