Videogames are one of the best modern conveniences money can buy. Ok, I’m biased, considering the website I work for, but games still rank pretty high up there when it comes to things that most people these days enjoy, even if they don’t consider themselves to be a gamer. Whether it’s sitting in front of a PC, flopping down on your sofa and relieving your stress after a hard day’s work on Halo or Call of Duty, or tapping away at the legions of mobile games while you’re on public transport, plugging away at our favorite game for a few hours after a particularly nasty day is one of the great luxuries of the modern world. Massage chairs be damned, games are now the relaxation method of choice for millions across the globe. Unfortunately, games, especially mainstream new releases, can be phenomenally expensive.
With that in mind, I’ve come up with a few tried-and-true methods to save money. While some might seem a little obvious, I tried to keep this list as free of gimmicky advice as possible. Obviously, some might suggest piracy as the most cost-effective option - but I obviously don’t condone stealing games across the board, for legal, not to mention ethical and moral, reasons. Remember, your dollar speaks volumes when it comes to which games get made, and which never see the light of day. Try to support the developers you admire rather than simply stealing their work. They put their heart and soul into making the games we enjoy - not to mention often vast sums of money - and they deserve something back for their effort.
These are not hard and fast rules. While some basic budgeting, and holding yourself to a financial promise can be rewarding, the idea here is not to agonize over every dollar and cent. Games are supposed to be fun, and I’d argue that having games for enjoyment and mental health far outweighs the stress of only getting the best price, bar none. With that in mind, here’s some tips for getting the most out of your games for the money.
(Note: many of these tips will work best if you have a gaming PC alongside a console, in order to take advantage of different deals. If that’s not financially viable - understandably - you should still be able to utilize these suggestions to some extent. Again, have fun with it.)
5. Plan ahead
This is pretty standard financial advice, but it bears repeating here all the same. Any large purchase - whether it’s a new computer, clothes, or games - demands a bit of thought and planning ahead. Budgeting for the long term, or at least for the next couple of months, can really help you stretch your last dollar where gaming is concerned.
Therefore, try to plan ahead for which games you absolutely have to buy day one, and which ones you can afford to let sit on the shelf for a while. This is where doing a little homework, and understanding how the industry works, can really pay off. Upgrading to a new console or PC? Think of which games you absolutely need on that device, and which you’d be happy with on your current system.
Need a new laptop for that new job, or because you’re going back to school? Might be worth it to skip buying a console, and instead use the money to underwrite the cost of a faster processor and beefier video card so you can game on the road. Hell, maybe your day is too packed to sit down at a console anyways, and you’d be better off spending the money on games for your tablet or phone. If that sounds terrible, remember that you can play Bioshock on your iPhone these days.
Just as importantly, factor gaming costs into your weekly budget, and try to plan your savings in accordance with release dates. The idea here is to set just a little aside each week or month, with the idea of giving yourself some wiggle room for an impulse buy. That way your credit report doesn’t nuke as soon as the Steam sale rolls around.
4. Wait it out
Not unlike cars, videogames begin to depreciate in value almost as soon as they’re released. Actually, that analogy isn’t perfect, since a new car really only starts to lose its value once you drive it home off the lot. Video game, on the other hand, arguably begin losing value as soon as they’re on the shelf. The industry relies on a flood of AAA titles near the holiday season, many of them in development for several years. Because the market relies so heavily on that timing, you can occasionally pick up a new or used copy for less just by waiting for the price to go down.
Of course, a lot of this depends on a game’s popularity, so top-billed games can hold a high price several months after their release. In that case, it’s usually best to find another way to slash the price, unless you’re willing to wait a considerable amount of time. This tactic can also backfire, wherein you simply keep neglecting to pick up that one title for years at a time - there are some pretty significant titles I still haven’t gotten around to playing, simply because I decided to let them sit for a while. And then a while turned into years. Use your best judgement.
This ties in with the previous tip, but it also helps to tell yourself “if I still want this in X amount of time (say a month or so for a new release), I’ll purchase it then.” In the intervening time, the game may drop in price, or you might realize you’ve lost interest in it altogether. That’s not always such a bad thing.
3. Go shopping in your games library
There’s an old saying in fashion about how you can save money on new clothes by going shopping in your own closet (don’t ask why I know this). The same idea holds true for gaming. If you have a dusty box in your attic filled with games you haven’t played in an age, now’s not a bad time to dig them out.
This method will obviously work best if you have a collection of older PC games, since you won’t have to hook up an old console from storage. It’s worth checking if any of your games are backwards-compatible with your current console - at this time, only the Wii U is backwards-compatible with games from the previous console generation. As an added bonus for PC gamers, you might find your older games now play much faster on your current setup. Games like Crysis, that were massive system hogs when they were released now perform pretty well on mid and even low-tier PC’s.
This also works because as you build up a library across different systems, it’s easy to forget what you have stashed away in various game accounts, boxes, or shelves. Sometimes hunting them out is half the fun, but it’s worth taking inventory every now and then. Call it a good weekend project.
It’s worth noting that for this tip, that rapid depreciation games face is working against you. Unless you invest your time into actively reselling your old games on sites like ebay or Amazon, you probably won’t get much, if anything for them. At that point, I’d say keep your games. Take a stroll down memory lane now and then. It’s surprisingly easy to get sucked right back into games that are now considered technically obsolete.
2. Swap and share
Have friends with games? Have games you no longer want, or wouldn’t mind loaning out for a few weeks? Friends can be a great place to swap or loan out games… so long as you have the type of friends you won’t mind loaning games to. That’s the obvious pitfall - most of the games I’ve “loaned” to friends have never made their way back home. For this reason, you may be best off making outright trades. At the very least, write your name on the inside of the case, particularly if you share games amongst a circle of friends.
If you’re one of those “digital distribution only” types, you can try taking advantage of trading through Steam. It’s important to note also that you may run into issues with DRM software on some newer PC titles. In that regard, the physical discs from consoles have a distinct advantage.
Of course, trading games amongst friends won’t directly support the developers you care about. While we’re all for saving a buck here and there, it’s also important to support the work you enjoy - especially the smaller outfits in the gaming industry. Still, there’s an argument to be made that playing a friend’s game could make you run out and buy it immediately, or turn you into a convert to that particular series for life - how many of us became Halo fanatics after splitscreen multiplayer sessions at a friend’s house?
On that note, one other suggestion - try pulling your friends together for an old fashioned multiplayer or LAN party. It’s not a bad place to swap games, but more importantly, it may help you breathe some new life into your older titles. Playing through games alone is great, but you can’t really put a price on good times with friends. You don’t always need the latest AAA title to do that.
1. Take advantage of free games
This is really worth an entire list in and of itself. There’s a staggering number of excellent games out there for nothing, or such a nominally small fee that it rarely matters for what you . Couple that with industry leaders like Peter Molyneux publicly voicing their support for free-to-play publishing, and it becomes obvious that now is a pretty good time to game for free.
While the first place to look for free-to-play titles is often on your mobile, or through indie developers - such as Molyneux’s own Godus, which is free to play on iOS - it often pays to look a little farther afield. Larger publishers will occasionally handout older titles - as Valve did a while back with Team Fortress 2 - either as a gift to the community, or bundled as a membership perk. Microsoft’s Games with Gold program nabs you either two free games a month on Xbox 360, or one per month if you’re an Xbox One convert. PlayStation Plus membership gains you a similar perk as well (though neither services are free, they do provide great value for money - as does EA’s new Access service on Xbox One).
Free games are also a great way to test the waters on more fringe gaming genres. Currently, Microsoft Flight and 777 Studios’ Rise of Flight both offer free-to-play versions, if you feel like taking on a flight simulator. Have a couple hours to kill? Give flOw a shot. Enjoy MMOs? Try Rift. Want a free alternative to Diablo? Then how about Path of Exile?
Filling in all the free games that are out there would take up too much space here, but the point is that there’s plenty on offer, and many have come a long way from the point-and-click space-blaster games you used to play behind your cubicle at work
Have a tip for making your gaming money go a little further that we missed? What was your best deal? Let us know in the comments.
Peter Yankowski
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