Due to high inflation and the energy crisis, many people in Germany will consider how much money they currently want to spend on a hobby like gaming. When it comes to replenishing games, however, consumers can save in a variety of ways. Here are some suggestions on how players can add new titles to their collection cheaply or even for free.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s an iPhone or Android smartphone, PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch or Xbox Series X/S: there are actually offers for the most common platforms. In addition, there are always larger campaigns in which games from certain genres, from individual developers and publishers or the like are sometimes significantly reduced in price.
The big seasonal Steam sales, for example, are particularly popular. PC gamers will find offers for hundreds of games from all genres here. Newly released titles are often not or only slightly discounted, but older games are often available at discounts of 50 percent or even more. For example, Steam's big fall sale is planned for November 22nd to 29th, and a corresponding winter sale from December 22nd to January 5th, 2023.
In addition to Steam, the Epic Games Store and GOG.com, among others, which are also among the best-known distribution platforms on the PC, often offer deals. Even the big publishers, including Ubisoft, for example, keep selling their titles on their own platforms at reduced prices.
Probably the best-known provider of so-called bundles, i.e. game packages, is Humble Bundle. A portion of the purchase price goes to charity. The packages are often staggered. If you pay more, you get more games. An example: Currently there is a collection of games from the developer 11 Bit Studios. A large bundle with nine games costs around 15 euros, a small one with two games for just under one euro.
There are some subscriptions that work like a flat rate, but which could also be compared to streaming services such as Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime Video. While the subscription is running, players can play as many of the games on offer as they want.
The Google Play Pass for Android users and Apple Arcade for iPhone users are widespread. Both Google and Apple offer a trial subscription. After that, access to the Play Pass costs just under five euros a month or 30 euros a year, and Arcade also costs around five euros a month. Alternatively, the offer is also included in Apple One, in which several services are bundled for currently just under 17 to 32 euros per month.
The Xbox Game Pass offers the flat rate subscription principle for Xbox devices and the PC. After a discounted first month, the whole thing costs around ten euros a month in the respective basic version or just under 13 euros in an "Ultimate" version, which also includes Xbox Live Gold. Gold is required on Microsoft consoles to play online multiplayer. There are also new games every month that subscribers can play as long as the membership is active.
Sony relies on a similar model to its competitor Microsoft for PlayStation Plus. There are the variants "Essential", "Extra" and "Premium", which currently cost between around nine euros a month and 120 euros a year, depending on the subscription selected. In addition to the online multiplayer function, there are also free games every month that can only be played as long as the membership is active. Depending on the subscription selected, there is also an additional catalog of playable games.
Alternatively, Humble Bundle's "Humble Choice" is popular with PC gamers. For just under 12 US dollars, players receive several games every month, which they can keep even if the subscription is paused or canceled. Currently included are the shooter "Hell Let Loose", the action role-playing game "Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning" and "Aiko's Choice", a stand-alone expansion for the tactical game "Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun". The "Humble Games Collection" is also part of the membership. Players can access a whole range of additional titles here as long as they are a member.
Especially on smartphones and PCs, players can always secure games for free. We're not talking about free-to-play games, which are offered free of charge anyway and are usually financed through advertising or additional paid offers in the game.
Individual titles that players would otherwise have to pay for are available free of charge at irregular intervals, not only on Steam and Gog.com, but also in the App Store and Google Play Store. Some providers have weekly or monthly games for free in their program.
In the Epic Store, players will usually find two titles each week that they can add to their game library for free if they don't already own them - for example, from November 10th to November 17th the aforementioned "Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun" . In addition to additional bonuses for popular games, Amazon Prime Gaming also offers full versions free of charge every month. The action role-playing game "Fallout: New Vegas" and the racing game "WRC 9" are currently included.
