This thread is for offers/discounts from online stores from where you can purchase PC games. I will be updating the downloadable ones, others are free to add deals on DVDs etc (and digital deals too
). The opening posts are brief introduction to some of the sites I use, along with some details of where to, when to look for a deal in that particular site and the deals currently active. We will start with Steam.
1) Steam:-
The most popular service, so I will make it short. Steam provides the following deals on regular basis:-
a) Daily deals
b) Midweek Madness – Starts from Tuesday 10:30 PM IST, ends on Thursday around midnight.
c) Weekend deal – Starts from Thursday 10:30 PM IST, ends on Monday 10:30 PM IST.
d) Special deals during Summer, Christmas etc.
All you need to do is visit the site or open the client and look for the deals in the first page itself.
Dedicated thread on Steam related issues at TDF here:-
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/gamerz/134393-steam-related-discussions.html
2) GamersGate:-
My favorite portal, it has quite a few advantages (or disadvantages, depending on the way you look) over other stores:-
a) Offers a mix of DRM-Free, other DRM, Steamworks enabled games. So you are not really putting all your eggs in a single basket. Can download games on one PC, and play on another. Offline installations possible along with offline play depending on the DRM used. For Steam enabled games, you can use the serial to redeem your game and download directly from Steam.
b) Client free. Upon purchase, you get a small executable, supply your login id & password and download the full game as in your CD/DVD. You can make a ISO of the downloaded files and use it as a backup. Serial numbers, if required are provided. Remember to backup the game files while the setup.exe is still running or you have to change the extension of the setup file manually.
c) Apart from adding games to your wishlist, you can set an alert to receive email notifications on price drop of particular games. Very handy.
d) Blue Coins: virtual currency equivalent to $0.001. You get blue coins for a variety (25 in total) of activities including purchasing a game, rating a game (the easiest one), reviewing a game, setting a minion (basically pre-built avatars) etc. Blue coins earned through rewards expire after 1 year, blue coins purchased (like Steam Wallet) remains forever. So if you keep on purchasing games, rating and reviewing them, availing discounts you will get enough blue coins to purchase some games free of cost.
e) On purchasing games, you get 50 blue coins bonus on every dollar spent (yeah even on discounted games). So at the same cost, it makes sense to purchase from GG.
f) Dedicated Indie section. Indiefort bundles are offered from time to time.
g) Collection of games is huge. You get a variety of titles which are not available elsewhere.
h) Upon registration, you get a game free (Volvo The Game).
i) Purchasing games with friends is even more fun as it's further cheaper if you purchase 3-pack, 4-pack on discount.
One drawback, no EA titles are available.
Four types of offers are provided by GamersGate:-
a) Daily deals
b) Midweek deals
c) Weekend deals
d) General discounts
Almost all the games under discount can be found here (for your bookmarks):-
offers - GamersGate
NOTE 1: Some games don't show up in this section despite being in discount. Better to set a price drop alert for the game you are looking for.
NOTE 2: Certain sale (mostly midweek deals by EA) pertains to the UK site. These are country specific deals, you can't purchase those games with an Indian IP address, but that's true for EA games offered directly through Origin also.
3) GOG.com:-
Previously called the Good Old Games before they went for an image makeover, this one is unique in the sense it is the only site which offers DRM-Free titles only and the games are mostly older (albeit classic) ones, as a result of which the catalogue is somewhat anemic. This is a CD-Projekt Red initiative, so one way, this is the home of the Witcher. And it shows, as this is the place to hunt for those great old RPG games: Baldur's Gate, Temple of Elemental Evil, Icewind Dale, Fallout and the biggest of them all, Planescape Torment. Some other highlights are:-
a) Despite their age, all the games are guaranteed to work under all versions of Windows up to 7 including 64-bit flavours. Even games developed under DOS work seamlessly without any need for emulators.
b) Every game includes bonus content in the form of wallpapers, avatars, soundtrack etc.
c) You get 8 games free on sign-up.
d) Games and bonus content can be downloaded through GOG Downloader or manually.
e) Games are given as gift on special occasions, taking part in competitions like slogan making, crosswords which are generally held during Christmas time or completing a survey etc.
Deals are offered mostly on as and when basis, on new releases and on weekends. One of the most staunch opposer of DRM and Steam sales, previously they used to offer not more than 50% discount on any of their games. These days they have changed their stance quite a bit after user feedback, and offer games at 60% discounts and even as pay-what-you bundles.
Dedicated thread on GOG related issues at TDF here:-
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/gamerz/154730-bigger-fresher-newer-gog-com.html
4) GetGamesGo:-
This is a UK based site. Not a huge collection of games, although their catalogue is fast expanding. Again like GG, you get games in variety of forms - DRM Free, other DRM and Steamworks enabled. This one is client free too. Download pattern is similar to GG – you download a small executable, supply your login details and download. Offer page is here:-
Special offers at Get Games
Some highlights at the time of writing:-
But the most interesting thing about this site happens at the following link:-
Get Games - Get Loaded
For 72 hours, you can ”pick n mix from a selection of great games at amazingly low prices. Generally, they offer you 6 games (mostly redeemable at Steam), you can pick any 2 for $15 within the time frame. Next sale will start on 2nd November, i.e. this Friday on 9:30 PM IST.
5) Green Man Gaming:-
This one provides games via its client, Capsule and Steam codes. A very good site if you are hunting for a bargain. Some features are:-
a) The biggest thing about GMG is that you can trade-in you digitally downloaded games for credit in you account and this credit can then be used for new purchases. Except Steam games, all other games have a certain trade-in amount. This works even with discounted games.
b) Often voucher codes are available for 20% or 25% discount.
c) GMG has started giving cash or credit on quite a few newer titles. Under this, you will get either discount on the game price or a credit amount which can be used to purchase other games. Choose wisely, as the amount of credit is more than amount of discount offered.
Deals offered are mostly daily deals or weekly deals. Sometimes, games are given as gift but you need to add the game to your account within the time-frame. These gifts also carry trade-in value, so that's a bonus. My account presently has 6 games, all gifts, and the current trade-in value is $2.75. So just by clicking, that's a savings of 150 bucks.
Go to the following link for checking the deals on offer:-
Hot Deals | Green Man Gaming | PC Games | Xbox | PS3 | discounts
Daily deals are shown on the front page (ala Steam style).
6) GameStop:-
The download store of GameStop, this is another client based portal operating through its GameStop app. The weakest of the portals IMO. First of all, games are higher priced even after discounts; better deals as compared to other sites are rare. Also not all games are available at all regions including those which are available worldwide elsewhere. On the positive side, unlike Steam, DRM free games can be offered through this platform.
Another important thing is that games are charged in INR so your non-international credit/debit card might just work (no experience though). Deals are generally offered on weekends – some of them ends within 48 hours, others continue for some time.
A word of caution:- Check with Flipkart and other online stores or local stores before purchasing. Particularly for newer games, you may find the physical discs much cheaper.
). The opening posts are brief introduction to some of the sites I use, along with some details of where to, when to look for a deal in that particular site and the deals currently active. We will start with Steam.1) Steam:-
The most popular service, so I will make it short. Steam provides the following deals on regular basis:-
a) Daily deals
b) Midweek Madness – Starts from Tuesday 10:30 PM IST, ends on Thursday around midnight.
c) Weekend deal – Starts from Thursday 10:30 PM IST, ends on Monday 10:30 PM IST.
d) Special deals during Summer, Christmas etc.
All you need to do is visit the site or open the client and look for the deals in the first page itself.
Dedicated thread on Steam related issues at TDF here:-
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/gamerz/134393-steam-related-discussions.html
2) GamersGate:-
My favorite portal, it has quite a few advantages (or disadvantages, depending on the way you look) over other stores:-
a) Offers a mix of DRM-Free, other DRM, Steamworks enabled games. So you are not really putting all your eggs in a single basket. Can download games on one PC, and play on another. Offline installations possible along with offline play depending on the DRM used. For Steam enabled games, you can use the serial to redeem your game and download directly from Steam.
b) Client free. Upon purchase, you get a small executable, supply your login id & password and download the full game as in your CD/DVD. You can make a ISO of the downloaded files and use it as a backup. Serial numbers, if required are provided. Remember to backup the game files while the setup.exe is still running or you have to change the extension of the setup file manually.
c) Apart from adding games to your wishlist, you can set an alert to receive email notifications on price drop of particular games. Very handy.
d) Blue Coins: virtual currency equivalent to $0.001. You get blue coins for a variety (25 in total) of activities including purchasing a game, rating a game (the easiest one), reviewing a game, setting a minion (basically pre-built avatars) etc. Blue coins earned through rewards expire after 1 year, blue coins purchased (like Steam Wallet) remains forever. So if you keep on purchasing games, rating and reviewing them, availing discounts you will get enough blue coins to purchase some games free of cost.
e) On purchasing games, you get 50 blue coins bonus on every dollar spent (yeah even on discounted games). So at the same cost, it makes sense to purchase from GG.
f) Dedicated Indie section. Indiefort bundles are offered from time to time.
g) Collection of games is huge. You get a variety of titles which are not available elsewhere.
h) Upon registration, you get a game free (Volvo The Game).
i) Purchasing games with friends is even more fun as it's further cheaper if you purchase 3-pack, 4-pack on discount.
One drawback, no EA titles are available.
Four types of offers are provided by GamersGate:-
a) Daily deals
b) Midweek deals
c) Weekend deals
d) General discounts
Almost all the games under discount can be found here (for your bookmarks):-
offers - GamersGate
NOTE 1: Some games don't show up in this section despite being in discount. Better to set a price drop alert for the game you are looking for.
NOTE 2: Certain sale (mostly midweek deals by EA) pertains to the UK site. These are country specific deals, you can't purchase those games with an Indian IP address, but that's true for EA games offered directly through Origin also.
3) GOG.com:-
Previously called the Good Old Games before they went for an image makeover, this one is unique in the sense it is the only site which offers DRM-Free titles only and the games are mostly older (albeit classic) ones, as a result of which the catalogue is somewhat anemic. This is a CD-Projekt Red initiative, so one way, this is the home of the Witcher. And it shows, as this is the place to hunt for those great old RPG games: Baldur's Gate, Temple of Elemental Evil, Icewind Dale, Fallout and the biggest of them all, Planescape Torment. Some other highlights are:-
a) Despite their age, all the games are guaranteed to work under all versions of Windows up to 7 including 64-bit flavours. Even games developed under DOS work seamlessly without any need for emulators.
b) Every game includes bonus content in the form of wallpapers, avatars, soundtrack etc.
c) You get 8 games free on sign-up.
d) Games and bonus content can be downloaded through GOG Downloader or manually.
e) Games are given as gift on special occasions, taking part in competitions like slogan making, crosswords which are generally held during Christmas time or completing a survey etc.
Deals are offered mostly on as and when basis, on new releases and on weekends. One of the most staunch opposer of DRM and Steam sales, previously they used to offer not more than 50% discount on any of their games. These days they have changed their stance quite a bit after user feedback, and offer games at 60% discounts and even as pay-what-you bundles.
Dedicated thread on GOG related issues at TDF here:-
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/gamerz/154730-bigger-fresher-newer-gog-com.html
4) GetGamesGo:-
This is a UK based site. Not a huge collection of games, although their catalogue is fast expanding. Again like GG, you get games in variety of forms - DRM Free, other DRM and Steamworks enabled. This one is client free too. Download pattern is similar to GG – you download a small executable, supply your login details and download. Offer page is here:-
Special offers at Get Games
Some highlights at the time of writing:-
But the most interesting thing about this site happens at the following link:-
Get Games - Get Loaded
For 72 hours, you can ”pick n mix from a selection of great games at amazingly low prices. Generally, they offer you 6 games (mostly redeemable at Steam), you can pick any 2 for $15 within the time frame. Next sale will start on 2nd November, i.e. this Friday on 9:30 PM IST.
5) Green Man Gaming:-
This one provides games via its client, Capsule and Steam codes. A very good site if you are hunting for a bargain. Some features are:-
a) The biggest thing about GMG is that you can trade-in you digitally downloaded games for credit in you account and this credit can then be used for new purchases. Except Steam games, all other games have a certain trade-in amount. This works even with discounted games.
b) Often voucher codes are available for 20% or 25% discount.
c) GMG has started giving cash or credit on quite a few newer titles. Under this, you will get either discount on the game price or a credit amount which can be used to purchase other games. Choose wisely, as the amount of credit is more than amount of discount offered.
Deals offered are mostly daily deals or weekly deals. Sometimes, games are given as gift but you need to add the game to your account within the time-frame. These gifts also carry trade-in value, so that's a bonus. My account presently has 6 games, all gifts, and the current trade-in value is $2.75. So just by clicking, that's a savings of 150 bucks.
Go to the following link for checking the deals on offer:-
Hot Deals | Green Man Gaming | PC Games | Xbox | PS3 | discounts
Daily deals are shown on the front page (ala Steam style).
6) GameStop:-
The download store of GameStop, this is another client based portal operating through its GameStop app. The weakest of the portals IMO. First of all, games are higher priced even after discounts; better deals as compared to other sites are rare. Also not all games are available at all regions including those which are available worldwide elsewhere. On the positive side, unlike Steam, DRM free games can be offered through this platform.
Another important thing is that games are charged in INR so your non-international credit/debit card might just work (no experience though). Deals are generally offered on weekends – some of them ends within 48 hours, others continue for some time.
A word of caution:- Check with Flipkart and other online stores or local stores before purchasing. Particularly for newer games, you may find the physical discs much cheaper.
