Yes you’ve been buying games from Steam for years now. You have a staggering 14 different games in your library, half of them are made by Valve. What is this crazy pop-up I just saw though? A Steam Summer Sale? Who in the world cares about this? Well, my friend, gather close, because what I’m about to tell you might just blow you right into the next online distribution platform (pray to God you don’t land on Origin).
Yes, its time for another Steam Sale. Can’t say we didn’t see it coming. We are now on Day 5 of the sale and its pretty apparent that some people might be a little new to this rodeo. I’m here to help. Steam sales are notorious for undercutting people with more sales, so you’ll be forgiven if you just watched a super sale fly right by your face.
Never buy unless its featured
This is the most important rule of a Steam Sale. If you are noticing that a game you’ve wanted for quite some time is 50% off today, take a step back. First look at the notice below the game’s name.
If you see a timer below the name buy away.
If you only see something along the lines of “Sale ends on X day”, wait on it.
Look for bundles
The other thing to look out for are bundle packages. Indie Bundles are the biggest. *Always* delve a little deeper into a page for packaged bundles and DLC deals. You might be able to buy a “Game of the year” addition with extra DLC for only a couple more dollars! You may even be able to buy it with other like games.
The craziest may even want to buy the whole damn lot. Many publishers put out a huge collection of all their games for about $50. If your desired game, such as Skyrim for instance, is in a publisher bundle, look for if the difference is reasonable. 10 more bucks for 7 or 8 other games is an amazing deal. Publisher bundles are usually active from the beginning of the sale until the end and typically do not go on super sales themselves.
Pay attention to special sales
This year’s summer sale includes a couple of extras: a “Community Sale” that lets people vote on what they’d like to buy the most and a Flash Sale that quickly rotates a handful of games. The Community Sale happens every 8 hours, Flash Sales appear to be a little random. It helps to just keep checking the sales page whenever you have a few free moments just to note what is on these sales.
Buy on the last day
So the sale is coming to a close and you’ve managed to hold off pretty long. The last day is when to reap your just rewards. Remember the date that most of the sales list? This is the day you should be waiting for, or the day right before it that is. There’s a good chance that if you missed a super sale, it will come back on this day. Also keep an eye out for extremely good bundle deals on this day.
But just to reiterate, the real reason you’re waiting is because you’re actively waiting throughout the sale. If you really want a copy of Dead Space 2 on the cheap, keep checking back in every day for that super sale. If you never see one, then at least you still get a decent sale on the last day (I happened to grab Dead Space 2 on one of the special “Community Choice” sales that happen every 8 hours last night).
One last note, I think Arma II may go on a super sale, but even if it doesn’t you need this to play the brutal, but unique mod called Day Z. Anybody out there that wants to play now should probably scoop up Arma II while its still on the cheap, but smart buyers should follow my guide.