Listen, we all have a gaming backlog. Let's face it, there's just so many games coming out at any given time that it can be hard to keep up with things. More so, there are entire console generations that people may have missed, helping add to that backlog. Some are bigger than others, and some are nearly infinite. The fact remains, we all have a backlog.
And because backlogs are always growing, there are certainly titles that have never been opened. And with how finicky backlogs can be, there's a good chance they may never be opened and played. With that in mind, the team over at PCGamesN decided to crunch the numbers to find out how much the backlogs of Steam users are worth. The results are genuinely mind-boggling.
$1.9 Billion In Games Have Never Been Played
To get to the bottom of the backlog pile, PCGamesN utilized SteamIDFinder's database. According to their research, 10% of all Steam users' IDs are public. That amounts to 73 million gamers, which is no small number. And based off that figure, PCGamesN was able to calculate that a combined $1.9 billion of games have been purchased and never played. That $1.9 billion is roughly $1.4 billion in Euros.
But the wild figures don't stop there. That's because by multiplying that number by ten in order to account for the profiles that are not public leads to a figure that is $19 billion. Yes, that's right. Reportedly, $19 billion worth of games have not been touched. There's no word as to what game most comprises that list, but if we had to guess, The Witcher 3 and Grand Theft Auto V definitely are up there based on how often they're on sale.
Nineteen billion is no small figure, so we crunched the numbers to find out what exactly Steam's backlog pile could purchase. For example, $19 billion would be more than enough to own any one of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. The largest valuation is the New York Yankees at $7.5 billion, per Forbes. If social media is more your fancy, then you can scoop up X from Elon Musk for a cool $12 billion or so. That's because its value has been well down since Musk acquired it, making it a major bargain.
Elsewhere, that sum should be enough to get the mystical History Supreme yacht. No one's actually seen it, but it's valued at $4.8 billion and allegedly has a statue made from T. rex bones. And, of course, there's no shortage of small islands and countries near that figure, either.
That said, you're probably better off trying to tackle your backlog, instead of adding to it. Because, according to Steam, when you die, it'll go along with you. That's due to accounts not being transferrable upon death. Time is ticking.
