Today’s Moment of Empathy: The Steam Machine Launch
Gamers of a certain stripe have their eyes on the clock this morning. When 10 a.m. Pacific strikes, it marks the moment when they get their shot at the first of a highly hyped gaming deck, the Steam Machine. Yet, 10 a.m. Pacific marks something else. A moment of empathy.
First up, if you’re not a gamer of a certain stripe, think of the Steam Machine like this: a powerful gaming deck that has one foot in the PC world and another in the world of consoles. Namely, it’s a slick way for gamers to play their PC-platform Steam catalog games on big TV screens in a “small and mighty package.”
Needless to say, gamers have been waiting for this moment, with itchy mouse fingers poised, ready to order.
Enter your moment of empathy.
Rather than inviting the usual server-withering rush of competing orders that would otherwise fry an ecomm platform at 10 a.m. Pacific, Steam has made purchasing available through what they call “a randomized reservation order.”
Let’s turn to Steam’s explanation in their words. Because their words were pretty damn good.
“Why a randomized reservation order?
“We underestimated customer interest when we recently released the new Steam Controller, and we wanted to create a system that would be less frustrating and more fair for everyone.
“A launch that starts at a specific day and time tends to reward bots, people with fast internet connections, talented gaming fingers for quick F5/refresh reactions, and those who can schedule their life around that moment.
“By accepting reservation signups over the course of a few days, without any incentive to be first, we're hoping to take away some of that friction. The longer timeframe also allows us to do some extra validation on the signups to make sure they're real accounts, with only one per household.”
