This Weekend"s PC Game Deals is a roundup of games - old, new, or soon to be released - that are available at a great price and can be activated on Steam, Origin, or Uplay - sometimes even good old games that are DRM-free.
After a year of relatively modest “on the house” offers, the Origin store is finally offering a more modern game for gamers to download for free. Mass Effect 2 is regarded by many critics as the best of the original trilogy, and all you need to grab it is an Origin account and the Origin client, which you can set up here. Also, if you happen to like Bioware’s space opera and are willing to spend $10.44, you can get the entire series from Games Planet, and Mass Effect: Andromeda - the next installment into the series - is right around the corner.
We live in an era where many good games are eclipsed by those backed by big publishers. The “Humble Monthly” subscription is a good way for passionate gamers to discover hand-picked indie games and timeless classics. For $12 you get several, good quality titles, including a AAA game – this month’s offer is The Witness, which is a critically-acclaimed, endless maze of puzzles that breaks the mold.
There are a number of other perks to Humble Monthly, such as indie games developed exclusively for subscribers, a 10% discount on purchases from the Humble Store, and the fact that 5% of the proceeds go to a charity. If you’re wondering, the previous Humble Monthly package included: Total War: WARHAMMER, Poly Bridge, Space Run Galaxy, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3, Flat Heroes, RIVE, Morphblade, and Uurnog.
The ‘Civilization Bundle’ is for those of you who enjoy building virtual empires and wish to add more of the franchise to your collection. For just one dollar, you can grab Sid Meier’s Civilization III and IV, and stepping up to the average of $9.15/€8.59/£7.44 adds the fifth installment into the mix, along with a 20-25% discount on Civilization VI, should you decide to buy that as well.
You can always spring for the top tier ($14.99/€14.19/£11.99), which adds Sid Meier"s Civilization: Beyond Earth on top of everything else, and a 10% discount on the monthly subscription detailed above.
If the previous promotions weren"t enough, we’ve also hand-picked some of the best deals on PC games that you can find across all online stores. Some of them are flash sales, so act quickly if you don’t want to miss them. Also, if you happen to be looking for console games as well, check out the list of Xbox games that you can grab with Gold.
Preorder rush
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands – If you’re looking forward to Ubisoft’s next tactical third-person shooter game, and are drooling over the idea of having the freedom to explore the Bolivian landscapes where the missions take place – unlike all the other entries in the franchise – you can pre-order the standard edition for a little over $41.74 (about €39.29/£33.99) from Games Planet.
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Season Pass Edition– Contrary to the fast-paced action of games like Call of Duty, this one will force you to calculate your every move, blend in the environment, and do a lot of damage with carefully placed, surgical shots from your trusty sniper rifle. The developers have also made this entry more like open-world games such as the Far Cry series, which means that you can tackle your objectives as a special ops sniper during the Georgian civil war in the order of your choosing, instead of following a scripted series of missions.
If you are a Sniper Ghost Warrior veteran or are looking for an alternative to the Call of Duty’s and the Battlefields of the world, you can pre-order the Season Pass Edition (a.k.a the non-ask-you-later-for-more-money-edition) for $39.89 (about €37.74/£31.99) from Games Planet.
Syberia 3 – In the era of release-now-patch-later, Microids has chosen to make sure that it comes out as polished as possible, even though this means a delay of several months – which makes this worth pre-ordering, if only to encourage more publishers to do the same. Syberia 3 is a continuation of Kate Walker’s adventures in Europe and Russia and can be pre-ordered for only $31.99 (€30.29/£25.69) from DLGamer.
AAA Bombs
There are a number of popular AAA titles on sale, but we’ve only selected a few of them that are currently priced near or below their historical low:
- Sniper Elite 4 – $46.19 at GamerGate
- Sid Meier"s Civilization VI – $44.99 at DLGamer
- For Honor - $41.74 at Games Planet
- Dishonored 2 - $37.39 at Games Planet
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided- $35.99 on DLGamer
- Resident Evil VII - $39.34 at Games Planet
- Quantum Break - $31.89 at GameBillet
- Battlefield 1 - $29.99 on Origin
- Mafia III - $26.99 at Games Planet
- Far Cry Primal - $24.99 on Steam
- Dark Souls III - $24.89 at Games Planet
- The Technomancer - $24.74 at DLGamer
- Grand Theft Auto V - $23.99 at DLGamer
- Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet Edition - $23.99 at WinGameStore
- Stellaris - $23.99 at WinGameStore
- Titanfall 2 - $23.99 on Origin
- Just Cause 3 – $20.89 at Games Planet
- FIFA 17 - $19.99 on Origin
- Fallout 4 – $18.99 at DLGamer
- DOOM - $18.99 at DLGamer
- Far Cry 4 - $14.99 on Steam
- Homefront: The Revolution - $11.99 on Amazon
- Project Highrise - $11.99 at WinGameStore
- Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut - $11.99 at WinGameStore
- Europa Universalis IV Digital Extreme Edition - $11.24 on Amazon
- Star Wars Battlefront - $9.99 on Origin
- Cities: Skylines - $9.99 on Amazon
- Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst – $9.99 on Origin
- Dishonored Definitive Edition - $6.99 at DLGamer
- Metro Redux - $5.99 on Amazon
- Command and Conquer Ultimate Collection - $4.99 on Origin
- Insurgency - $2.49 on Amazon
Indie Gems
Sang-Froid - Tales of Werewolves – an unconventional, brain-teasing game from Artifice Studio, that features a mix of tower defense and strategy elements – which is now free on Steam. In this indie gem you take control of one of the two O’Carroll brothers who must protect their sister from folkloric creatures and spirits that have come to claim her. The graphics are a little rough, but Eurogamer thinks the gameplay is rewarding despite such shortcomings, which are mostly due to a limited budget.
Barrier X – A superfast racer from HypeTrain Digital in which you have to guide a space ship to avoid flat shaded walls while following a neon track. This will test your reflexes, and it is currently free on Steam – although you can pay its $3 price if you want to support the developer.
The Expendabros – A ridiculously fun crossover between the famous Broforce and the infamous The Expendables 3, and also one of the few indie games on Steam with over 10000 positive reviews. It’s free, so you have no excuse not to try it. You can also buy it for $13.99 if you want to support the developer.
DRM-Free
Shadow Warrior Classic Complete – If you’re bored with Shadow Warrior 2 and its ultra-realistic graphics and want to experience the original, know that you can grab it for free on GOG. It’s not the Redux version – which features GOG Galaxy achievements and remastered graphics, but the gameplay is unchanged, and you can run it on pretty much any PC from the last decade.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY – One of the best games of 2015 can be had DRM-free with all of its DLCs for $24.99 at DLGamer.
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition – currently $6.66 each, if you get them on GOG.