@CoolDadTx Most big publishers have their own math and internal logistics on how, when and how deep to put their titles on sale.
It’s extremely rare, for example, to see some specific titles ever go under 50%. Don’t think I ever seen Sekiro go under 50%, and it was only after the DLC launched that I saw Cyberpunk go under 50%, but the DLC was not on sale. We now are at a point where Cyberpunk’s DLC bundles are at around 58% off.
Big publishers have a lot of data on trends and what needs a boost via a sale. I will agree with you on one thing: Ubisoft. They are extremely aggressive with their sales and it’s a huge part of why I tend to avoid buying their games early unless I’m extremely hyped. I have way too often bought a Ubsoft game only to see them hit 70% off before I even sit down to touch it, and that highly discourages me from being an early adopter for their games. I think that’s one of their biggest issues, they have devaluated their offerings with their sale frequency. Alas, that’s a bit of a different topic.
Back on the impact of these sales, many indies take advantage of these sales to gain visibility, plus a solo indie selling 5000 at $2 thanks to these sales (assuming they get that lucky) is likely getting enough money to pay the bills for 2 or 3 months out of a game that was likely already not selling. Not only that but once the sale is over, their titles might had climbed up on store’s algorithms and be visible for a few days or weeks after. This can result in a few more copies sold, especially if a buyer starts playing the game and their friends see the game on their friend list activity feed.
TLDR: yes, these sales move the needle for almost everyone involved.