Valve says sorry for Summer Sale Grand Prix confusion, gives away 5000 more games

(Image credit: Valve)

The Steam Summer Sale Grand Prix has sputtered to its inevitable finish, with an easy win for Team Corgi and a promise from Valve to do better next time around.

The summer sale for 2019 was relatively unremarkable as these things go, but the Grand Prix event was something else entirely. It confused the hell out of everyone, and some indie developers worried that it was leading users to dramatically cut back their wishlists. Valve tried to compensate with rule changes aimed at cutting into Team Corgi's huge off-the-line lead and making the game more "fun to play," but Corgi still won and I still don't really understand why. Or how.

"Thank you to everyone who participated in the Grand Prix. We realize that the race track had some unexpected turns—we tried to straighten them out when we could, and we’ll anticipate the curves better next time we invite you to the races," Valve wrote in its checkered-flag wrapup.

"As an extra gift for those that participated, we have randomly selected 5000 users that contributed from any team in the Steam Grand Prix to receive the top game from their wishlist. Users that were randomly selected will receive their gift within 48 hours from the end of the Steam Grand Prix."

Note that the race is over but the Pit Stop—where you can spend the tokens you somehow earned in the event, on Steam backgrounds and emoticons and stuff—will be available until 10 am PT/1 pm ET on July 9, which is also when the Steam Sale itself comes to an end. And for those of you who are curious, Team Corgi was followed by Team Tortoise in second, Team Hare in third, and Teams Cockatiel and Pig, with absolutely zero wins each, in a humiliating tie for dead last. Good job, everyone.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.