While the initial hardware investment for PC gaming can be considerable, the cost of games and software can be remarkably low, especially with strategic shopping. Unlike console manufacturers who often charge upwards of £70 for new releases, PC gamers can frequently secure titles for under £45, even at launch, with significant savings becoming available during sale periods.
To maximize savings, it is beneficial to maintain a comprehensive Steam wishlist. Adding every game that sparks interest ensures notifications for any discounts. The Steam Wishlist page itself offers filtering options by sale status, genre, and discount percentage, streamlining the process of identifying deals.
Beyond Steam's own offerings, third-party price-tracking websites are invaluable. IsThereAnyDeal, for instance, monitors prices across a wide array of legitimate digital storefronts. This service not only highlights current low prices but also indicates if a game has been cheaper in the past. Users can link their Steam Wishlist to IsThereAnyDeal to receive alerts for price drops across multiple vendors, ensuring Steam key purchases from vetted retailers.
Bundles represent another significant avenue for savings. Storefronts like Fanatical, Humble, Green Man Gaming, and Digiphile frequently offer curated collections of games at heavily discounted prices. IsThereAnyDeal also tracks many of these bundle deals. Purchasing a bundle can be more cost-effective even if only one or two games in the collection are of primary interest. Furthermore, services such as Humble Choice provide ongoing discounts, up to 20% off store purchases after a year of subscription, which can stack with existing sales for savings of 30% or more on new AAA titles.
Free games are also a common occurrence, particularly on the Epic Games Store, which regularly gives away two titles weekly and offers daily games during its end-of-year sales. IsThereAnyDeal aggregates information on these free giveaways, making it easy to claim titles such as Death Stranding: Director's Cut and the Batman Arkham Trilogy. Steam also occasionally offers free games, though less frequently.
For those accumulating a large library through various storefronts like Steam, GOG, and Epic, managing these titles can become challenging. The open-source application Playnite for Windows serves as a central hub, tracking and launching games from multiple platforms. For Linux users, the Heroic Games Launcher offers similar functionality.