Fed up of paying full price for video games? Don’t worry–we all are. The base price for a video game has been steadily increasing and publishers are finding more and more ways to squeeze out money from our wallets. Whether it’s expensive DLC season passes or pre-order bonuses, they use a lot of different tricks to get us to pay more than full price for a video game.
But we’re smarter than that. So to help you out, we’re going to give you a couple of tricks to help you never pay full price for a game, ever again.
Consider buying digital games
Most people consider digital to be even more expensive than buying physical. This is usually because of the added convenience and full retail price that you’re expected to pay. However, there are a couple of smart ways that you can save money when buying games digitally. For starters, some online distributors will offer coupon codes for even the newest games, meaning you can save a considerable amount of money. In addition, some options such as the Nintendo digital store will award you bonus points whenever you purchase a game or spend money. These points will add up over time and can be used for considerable discounts on digital games. This is a fantastic way to save money if you’re used to buying your games digitally and functions as a sort of cash-back incentive.
Consider cloud gaming instead
Another fantastic way to avoid paying for full price on games is to consider cloud gaming services. This isn’t a great option for people looking to play the latest titles, but it can be a great way to access a huge library of games for a much lower cost. A great example of this is the PlayStation Now service that offers access to a huge library of hundreds of PS4 and PS3 games for a low monthly price. Services like Stadia also offer slight discounts on certain games that will help you save a bit of money as long as you’re fine with not physically owning the game or being able to play it outside of the Stadia platform. Cloud gaming is typically only accessible for those with fast internet connections, so make sure your network is up to the task before you consider investing in cloud gaming. Cloud gaming isn’t for everyone, but it can certainly help you avoid paying full price for a video game.
Consider buying used
It’s a fairly obvious tip to save on buying games, but also one that has mostly fallen out of favour due to digital distribution being extremely popular. If you have a local game store, there’s a good chance that they might have a used section which will make it easy to find older games or more recent games that people have finished and traded in. However, you can also look at websites such as eBay that will generally have people selling physical games for much cheaper than their retail prices.
