Surviving the Steam Summer Sale
The Steam Summer Sale recently started and every PC gamer I know is going bananas over it. I was convinced that I was not going to take part in it this year since I thought that I had all the games that I wanted. However, the power of the discounts pulled me in since the temptation was too strong. It’s only been two or three days and I already managed to buy two games. To be fair, they are awesome games and I only for them both for less than $20 combined. Anyway, I decided to write a post about the stuff I’ve learned participating in Steam’s Summer Sales throughout the years. It’s easy to succumb to every deal and the time limit pushes you to be more impulsive with your purchases. Let’s take a step back and check out the ways you can make the most out of the sale without hurting your wallet too much!
Here we go!
I was debating on whether or not I should purchase State of Decay for $4.99 a few days ago. My friend promptly replied to my dilemma on Facebook with a helpful chart to help me with my indecision:
If you’ve been around Steam long enough, you will probably notice their system and you can make intelligent predictions on future discounts. Last year, Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines was on sale for $7.49 and that game normally costs $19.99. It seemed like a really good deal for most people. I advised my friends not to bite the bait yet because it could still go lower than the current price. I’ve seen the game’s price tag slashed for a lower price in past Steam promos. I turned out to be right and the game came back with an even bigger deal at $2.49 a few days later. You can get the game right now though at $4.99 and the offer ends until June 30th. It’s a really good game and I’ve written a plethora of articles praising it in the past.
Ultimately, the chart teaches us to be patient especially when it’s still early on during the sale. It helps if you’re aware of the price fluctuations the game experienced in the past. I actually found a website that would send me an e-mail when Skyrim would finally be lower than $10 on Steam. I think I waited for two or three years before I finally got what I wished for. I bought the Legendary Edition over the weekend for $13.59. It was great deal for me because it includes all of the DLC released. The base game only costs $4.99 as well. It’s worth noting that I own the game on my PlayStation 3 and I never thought that I would buy the game again. However, several factors came into play that pushed me to avail of the deal. First, the lowest price I’ve seen the Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLCs on console would only be $9.99 each. It would cost me nearly $20 if I bought it on console. Secondly, I added the benefits of getting a PC version of the game like mods. For $13.59, I had another copy of the game plus the ability to use mods in addition to all the DLCs. Could the price go lower? Absolutely. The age of a game affects its price. However, I think this is the best deal we’ll get for Skyrim for quite a while.
I also learned that the end of the Steam Summer Sale isn’t the apocalypse. You don’t need to wait another year to get amazingly good deals on PC games. Sometimes Steam offers big discounts on a game or two randomly throughout the year. Publisher weekend events are also dates to watch out for since games under the same publisher get huge discounts for a certain period of time. Additionally, Steam also hosts a promo similar to the Summer event during Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays if I am not mistaken. There’s plenty of time to splurge, so don’t worry if you don’t have the funds just yet. Lastly, Steam isn’t the only place that gives out massive discounts. Retailers like Amazon and GameFly to name a few also have amazing promos on digital games.
A lot of people also face the problem of buying too much games and clogging up their backlog. I try to think about whether or not I’ll actually have the time to play the game. Some people go ahead and buy it anyway because the deal is too good to pass up. If you’ve read the last paragraphs though, you know that the deal will come back in a few days or later in the year. I do have exceptions to the rule though wherein any game below $5 is a good deal and the only factor left is my interest in playing the game.
I hope that my experience helped you guys surviving the sale even in the smallest bit. If you have tips of your own, I’d love to hear them because I love being a savvy shopper when it comes to video games. One last tip though: Oblivion (base game) is on sale for $9.99 and I firmly believe it’ll go lower than that after a few days especially when its sequel Skyrim is priced lower.