Best ways to save money on gaming

[StaceyPowers]

As @Martin Berisford pointed out, gaming is pretty expensive.

Actually, in some respects, I would say it is rather cost-effective when you consider the sheer number of hours of entertainment you can get for your money. If you buy a movie for $10-$20, you get around two hours of material. If you buy an open world video game, you get hundreds of hours of material. So even if it runs you $60, it’s still an amazing deal.

Still, when I realize I’ve blown around $40 this year already on DLCs, I look at my budget and shudder.

What are some ways to reduce the costs of playing games?

Here’s what I do:          

• Always wait and buy games used. Games that cost $60 a few years ago can often be purchased for around $10 today.
• Check if there is a GOTY edition before purchasing any game with lots of DLC. This is a massive cost-saver since DLC doesn’t usually drop in price.
• Lean toward massive open world games, and play games slowly and thoroughly.
• Replay games a lot. This is a personality thing, but there are obvious cost benefits to being someone who enjoys playing the games they love repeatedly.

@DylanC @killamch89 @Alyxx @LadyDay @skyfire @UleTheVee @The Blackangel @SpaceExplorer

 Tagging you to see if you have any suggestions to share.

[Alyxx]

Definitely looking out for sales and getting games a year or so after release is often a good chance at getting a good deal. Heck a lot of companies, especially Epic Store often releases games for free so there's a chance that the game you wanna buy might just end up being free some day.

[killamch89]

I also buy games from sites like SCDkey.com because they tend to have sales on brand new or recently released games and older games released a couple years back. I replay Skyrim and Fallout 4 a lot so I get lots of entertainment out of these two games - I tend to wait a couple months before buying games nowadays because I want to know what issues the game has and then I go bargain hunting.

[The Blackangel]

I replay my games all the time. Today I've been playing Zelda(SNES), Star Fox(SNES), and FF8. 3 of my favorites. But in the last week I've popped in probably 20-25 different titles on several different systems. No regrets whatsoever.

[Bravosi]

There are just a several good websites that offer a discount tbh

[skyfire]

I like some suggestions, for example waiting. I won't say wait for entire year for playing some games, because some games are worth playing when they are new. But yeah you can definitely find low pricing in some of the online discounted deals. Another suggestion is that watch the gameplay before purchase so that you can save money. 

[killamch89]

Also to note, there are comparison websites on the internet that shows the price of new games at different online retail stores.

[SpaceExplorer]

Most of the points I would've said have already been said, so I'd just suggest a site called Is There Any Deal where you can find, as the title suggests, if there's any discount on the games you're looking to buy. 

Also, avoid preordering and wait for a week or two after the game is released if you're really eager to play it as soon as possible. In that period you'll get the most honest opinions from players and potentially avoid burn from high expectations.

[Moony Burbage]

1 hour ago, SpaceExplorer said:

Most of the points I would've said have already been said, so I'd just suggest a site called Is There Any Deal where you can find, as the title suggests, if there's any discount on the games you're looking to buy. 

Also, avoid preordering and wait for a week or two after the game is released if you're really eager to play it as soon as possible. In that period you'll get the most honest opinions from players and potentially avoid burn from high expectations.

IsThereAnyDeal is good, but I prefer GG.deals much more. It's pretty much the same, but it has modern design, voucher codes are included in prices by default and historically lowest prices are nicely highlighted so it's easier to spot good deals. I also like how wishlist and price alerts are separate, so you can sync all interesting games from Steam wishlist, but only get notifications for few selected games. Also, you can get notifications only on historical lows (I believe this feature is missing on ITAD).

Having said that, ITAD does support more stores and has many advanced functionalities. So it's best to try both sites and see which one fits your needs better.

[SpaceExplorer]

6 minutes ago, Moony Burbage said:

IsThereAnyDeal is good, but I prefer GG.deals much more. It's pretty much the same, but it has modern design, voucher codes are included in prices by default and historically lowest prices are nicely highlighted so it's easier to spot good deals. I also like how wishlist and price alerts are separate, so you can sync all interesting games from Steam wishlist, but only get notifications for few selected games. Also, you can get notifications only on historical lows (I believe this feature is missing on ITAD).

Having said that, ITAD does support more stores and has many advanced functionalities. So it's best to try both sites and see which one fits your needs better.

I'll be completely honest, I didn't know about GG.deals, but I will take a look at it. Thanks for sharing it!

[skyfire]

19 hours ago, killamch89 said:

Also to note, there are comparison websites on the internet that shows the price of new games at different online retail stores.

I think comparison websites are a good thing. Something that steam and other similar online shops need to take a look at and compete on that. I am sure that this way they may change on many contexts. 

[kingpotato]

My 3 strategies :
-Buying used games (mostly if its a single campaign game)
-replay a lot (open world games)
-And waiting for the price to drop, this is the most difficult for me but waiting does pay off. I usually wait for a year or so if its a new release. I waited for God of war and I was able to get a great deal.

[StaceyPowers]

@Alyxx Good point, I'd forgotten that games sometimes are totally free!

@SpaceExplorer @Moony Burbage I haven't seen those sites, I'll check them out, thanks!

@kingpotato Our strategies are very much the same.

@The Blackangel You've played 20-25 games in a week? Wow. I know you play a lot, but even if I were playing all day every day, I'd probably still only play a handful of titles. My brain seems to only be able to hold focus on about 4-5 games at a time. If I play more than that in a short period, I lose focus and immersion. Which kind of sucks, since I can't start a new game that's sitting around waiting to be played until I wrap up another and open up a spot in my rotation.

[The Blackangel]

A lot of the games I have are the kind of games that don't offer a save feature. Like Star Fox. I pop those in and play like a maniac.

[DylanC]

You ready for my thrifty tip of the day? Drum roll, please.....

Never buy stuff on PSN/XB Live directly. Always go to places like CDKeys and buy store credit for SLIGHTLY CHEAPER. Essentially you get around £35 worth of credit for £30.

Then, buy what you want from the awesome online SALES on PSN/XB Live.

BOOM! DOUBLE SAVINGS, Y’ALL!  🍾

You’re welcome!