As I write this post we are in the middle of the “Steam Summer Sale” where the popular gaming platform offers deep discounts on thousands of PC games. Like many gamers of a certain age I find myself buying cheap games to add to my library but never get around to actually playing them.
A recent analysis by PCGamesN highlights a staggering amount of unplayed games worth billions of dollars in users’ libraries. This got me curious about my own Steam library, and I decided to delve into this issue further. This is the subject of my latest video.
PCGamesN estimates that there are approximately $1.9 billion worth of unplayed games in publicly accessible Steam profiles. This figure only accounts for about 10% of the profiles in the Steam ID database, suggesting that the actual amount of unplayed games could be significantly higher. The variability in game prices and sales makes it difficult to pinpoint an exact value of these unplayed titles, but it’s safe to assume it’s at least several hundred millions of dollars.
Curious about my own collection, I discovered that I have around $2,000 worth of unplayed games in my Steam library, accounting for just over 50% of my overall library. Many of these games were acquired through bundles or sales, often at significantly reduced prices, so I think my actual cost is much lower. Despite having played only 48% of my games, I continue to add more to my library.
You can check out your own “pile of shame” by making your Steam profile public and searching for it on SteamIDfinder.com. You can also keep track of unplayed games inside of the Steam interface by using their filtering options as demoed in my video. You can turn your filtered search into a “dynamic collection” that will automatically update the list as you work your way through the unplayed games.
One downside of these digital libraries is a lack of true ownership. I can’t sell these unplayed games like I could with a CD or cartridge based game. What’s worse is that any issue with the account can result in losing access to all purchased content – after all you’re merely purchasing a revokable license to play the game.