![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
antheap
If you like gaming, you probably know how expensive it is. There are so many games and so little time and money! Now, I can't help you with time, sadly, but for the second problem, if you're a PC gamer I have a solution.
I do not support piracy, and I think that one should always prefer to buy games legally. Developers put a lot of work in games and they deserve to get back something! "But I'm poor and I really want that game!" you might argue. Well, me too! But there's quite a number of ways to get pc games for extremely cheap prices and I'm going to explain how.
I do not support piracy, and I think that one should always prefer to buy games legally. Developers put a lot of work in games and they deserve to get back something! "But I'm poor and I really want that game!" you might argue. Well, me too! But there's quite a number of ways to get pc games for extremely cheap prices and I'm going to explain how.
First of all, let's examine the main digital PC games stores!
You've most likely heard of Steam, especially if you're not 100% new to PC gaming. Steam is the main PC games marketplace since 2003 and, for many people, it's probably the only one. It has almost all PC games out there, they're often on sale and, if you buy during sales, you're probably going to get a lot of games for ridiculous prices.
Steam also has a social component and a ton of very interesting functions, some of which can help in our quest to get games for a very cheap price, but we'll get to that.
Steam also has a social component and a ton of very interesting functions, some of which can help in our quest to get games for a very cheap price, but we'll get to that.
GOG is a platform that started out as a place to buy DRM (Digital Rights Management) free copies of old PC titles, but it has since then evolved into a marketplace that has any DRM-free game on the digital market. What does that mean? DRM is basically anti-piracy software: it only lets you play if you're online and it can check your license for the game, for example. Games sold on GOG do not have these restrictions, so you're free to download and install them on any device and play without an Internet connection.
The downside of this? GOG doesn't have many AAA games, because most big publishers refuse to release PC games without DRMs. But it does have a very good line-up of classic games and indie games!
The downside of this? GOG doesn't have many AAA games, because most big publishers refuse to release PC games without DRMs. But it does have a very good line-up of classic games and indie games!
This platform is all about indies, and it's an open marketplace where devs set rules (from prices to page design, and even sales). Most games are DRM-free but it is up to the developer. If you're a fan of indie games, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, but if you're not this is not the platform for you.
Origin is probably one of the most hated game marketplaces. EA forces you to use it to play their games (like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, The Sims or FIFA) which are not available on other marketplaces nor exist in DRM-free versions. Even if you buy a physical copy or a digital copy on a different online store, you'll always have to register it on Origin to be able to play it. This means that having an Origin account is unavoidable if you want to play EA games.
Similar to EA's Origin, uPlay is a marketplace created by Ubisoft to sell their games. It has all the latest Ubisoft games for all platforms (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, although console games are only sold in physical copies). You do need a uPlay account to play most Ubisoft games, exactly like with EA's Origins. So if you're interested in titles like Assassin's Creed or Far Cry, you'll probably need to have an account on here too.
I think these are the main digital PC games stores you'll stumble upon (if you think I should add others, comment or contact me). Many others exist, of course, and, at some point, you'll end up forgetting how many of them you registered to, but these are the main ones, and most other shops only sell keys to activate games on Steam, Origin or uPlay.
Now that we have an outline of the main shops around, let's get back to the main topic: saving money and getting pc games for cheap!
My first and main advice is subscribing to isThereAnyDeal.com
This website is probably the best one around for saving maniacs. It has a constantly updated database of most of the games available in digital version (virtually, all of them, but I think some indies might not be there). It helps you stay updated about the latest sales and decide how actually convenient they are.
When you visit isThereAnyDeal.com, you can search the title of the game you want, click the right one, and a very interesting panel will open up for you. Ie, here's the Info section for Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1:
(click for HD)
The subsection named Current Deals has a list of online stores that reportedly sell the game (usually they sell the key to activate it on Steam); for each store, it lists regular price, current price, current price cut, and lowest price. It's useful to compare deals with each other and decide if that 20% off is really that worth it or if you should wait for a better deal.
Vouchers and Specials are then listed: vouchers are discount codes to use at the moment of checkout to get an extra price reduction (they're not sure to work so try them out first); specials are usually bundles or giveaways.
In the Price History section, instead, you find the lower price, the max cut and the last sale, with the shop where each of one happened. In the lower part of the page, there's also a graph with the price spread of the game in various online stores.
(click for HD)
This is useful to check how convenient a certain deal you found is, but this website offers more than that! To avoid missing out on juicy deals, isThereAnyDeals offers, to registered members, a newsletter service. Once you sign up, you can create a Waitlist, which is basically their version of a wishlist: you put all the games you want in your Waitlist and then you... wait. As soon as a deal for one of those games appears, you'll get an email about it, with all the necessary info to decide if it's the right deal or you want to wait some more.
(click for HD)
The frequency and type of e-mail notification that you'll get can be changed in your Settings so that it can best fit your needs and wishes (to do that, click on your name on the top right, then on "Settings"; in the sidebar, click on "Notifications" in the "Waitlist" section. You should also check the "Notifications Limits" and "Categories" sections). The Waitlist can be imported from and synchronised with your Steam account (to do that, click on your name on the top right, then on "Settings"; in the sidebar, click on "Profiles & Data Sources" in the "Account" section). For each game, it's possible to also select the stores you're interested in and the maximum price/price cut of which you want to be notified.
When you visit isThereAnyDeal.com, you can search the title of the game you want, click the right one, and a very interesting panel will open up for you. Ie, here's the Info section for Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1:
(click for HD)
The subsection named Current Deals has a list of online stores that reportedly sell the game (usually they sell the key to activate it on Steam); for each store, it lists regular price, current price, current price cut, and lowest price. It's useful to compare deals with each other and decide if that 20% off is really that worth it or if you should wait for a better deal.
Vouchers and Specials are then listed: vouchers are discount codes to use at the moment of checkout to get an extra price reduction (they're not sure to work so try them out first); specials are usually bundles or giveaways.
In the Price History section, instead, you find the lower price, the max cut and the last sale, with the shop where each of one happened. In the lower part of the page, there's also a graph with the price spread of the game in various online stores.
(click for HD)
This is useful to check how convenient a certain deal you found is, but this website offers more than that! To avoid missing out on juicy deals, isThereAnyDeals offers, to registered members, a newsletter service. Once you sign up, you can create a Waitlist, which is basically their version of a wishlist: you put all the games you want in your Waitlist and then you... wait. As soon as a deal for one of those games appears, you'll get an email about it, with all the necessary info to decide if it's the right deal or you want to wait some more.
(click for HD)
The frequency and type of e-mail notification that you'll get can be changed in your Settings so that it can best fit your needs and wishes (to do that, click on your name on the top right, then on "Settings"; in the sidebar, click on "Notifications" in the "Waitlist" section. You should also check the "Notifications Limits" and "Categories" sections). The Waitlist can be imported from and synchronised with your Steam account (to do that, click on your name on the top right, then on "Settings"; in the sidebar, click on "Profiles & Data Sources" in the "Account" section). For each game, it's possible to also select the stores you're interested in and the maximum price/price cut of which you want to be notified.
Coming soon:
- earning Steam credit from selling game cards
- the beautiful world of bundles
Tags: