Originally published June 13 2014, updated June 14 to Include GamersGate’s Summer Sale.
E3 and all of its shiny new game launches may be winding down, but the gaming goodness is just getting started. Friday morning, games site GOG.com launched its summer games sale, unloading a slew of games at dirt-cheap prices, with deals being swapped out day-by-day and even hour-by-hour.
GOG’s dubbed it the “2014 DRM-Free Summer Sale,” as the service’s claim to fame is that its titles come without any of the potentially irksome digital rights management systems found in competing platforms like Steam, Origin, and Ubisoft’s Uplay.
“Almost all of our catalog has been discounted by 50 percent,” GOG explained in its kick-off announcement. “Each day we’ll present you with at least two special Bundle Deals with a selection of great classics and indies available up to 90 percent off.”
Today’s bundles feature the entire Roller Coaster Tycoon series for just under $9—a 75 percent discount off the normal price—and a massive pack of classic Dungeons & Dragons games of yesteryear, including legendary games like Baldur’s Gate and its sequel, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale, and more.
The current GOG flash sales. (Click to enlarge.)
That selection plays to the strengths of GOG’s vast classic gaming catalog, but the Summer Sale’s flash sales are rife with all sort of more recent indie gems. GOG’s also running flash sales the entire duration of the event, with games being swapped in and out by the hour. Some of the current highlights include Papers Please —PCWorld’s game of the year in 2013—for just $3, along with SimCity 2000, Hotline Miami, Outlast, the classic Beyond Good and Evil, Leisure Suit Larry, and several other titles all selling for under $5, with some games going as cheaply as $1.49. Shadow Warrior, a game we loved when it hit the streets late last year, is currently available for $8, down from its $40 MSRP.
If you miss out on a flash deal on a game you’re looking for, be sure to tune back in over the course of the multi-day sale—GOG is known for giving gamers a second chance at especially deep discounts as its big sales wind on. The site also offers Mac versions of its games when available, with Linux support coming this fall.
GamersGate
But GOG isn’t the only gaming store running a summer sale. GamersGate’s Summer Sale started June 12 and continues through June 19, offering deep discounts on a wide range of games from Ubisoft, Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, and Kalypso. GamersGate has more recent and high-profile titles than GOG, and you can find games from big series like Deus Ex, Splinter Cell, The Witcher, and Resident Evil on sale from 50 to 75 percent off.
Steam’s massive annual Summer Sale is also expected to kick off this month. While Valve is notoriously tight-lipped about the timing of its big sales, mysterious cards—they’re called just that, “Mysterious Cards”—have begun to creep into the Steam Marketplace, and an alleged leak suggests Steam’s deal-dishing may begin on June 19.