Growing your digital PC game library in India
Back in the day, the legal means of buying a game in India was scarce. Online payments weren’t as ubiquitous so digital purchases wasn’t possible for a lot of people. You would have to physically buy CD/DVDs from tech stores. That is, if you had one in your city.
These days, not only process of online purchases easier than ever, but also a lot of deals from different outlets to get games from.
Here I’ll be laying down some pointers and tips on how to grow your library that covers vast about of genres. I’ll cover things you need to know, where and how to spend money, and some tips.
This article is for everyone from casual gamers to hardcore enthusiasts.
(Following sections are for those unfamiliar with these concepts, feel free to skip to the next section)
Understanding “digital PC game library”
When one thinks of this term, the first thing that comes mind is Steam.
It is similar to App Store or Google Play Store. Aside from a being a store as well as a client for installing and updating games, it also provides social features such as friends list, groups, chat and voice chat.
There are discounts deals going throughout the year, as well storewide seasonal sales on Steam, which has made buying games ever so convenient.
When you buy a game from Steam, it gets added to your library from where you can download and play the game whenever you like. You can also categorize your categories.
There are other storefronts too:
- Origin : Owned by EA(Electronic Arts), it has many EA published games from 2011 onwards exclusively on the platform (like FIFA, Battlefield, Sims etc.). There are few 3rd party games on it as well.
- Battle.net/Blizzard Launcher : Owned by Activision/Blizzard, it is the platform for Blizzard games such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and some Activision games like Destiny 2 and Call of Duty Black Ops 4.
- Uplay : Owned by Ubisoft. This is both a store as well as a DRM. While you can buy Ubisoft games from Steam as well, you need to have Uplay in order to run them.
- GOG.com : Owned by CD Projekt Red. Formerly called GoodOldGames, it’s a storefront for buying older games (which are optimized to run on modern computers) as well as many newer games.
- Windows 10 Store : If you have Windows 10 installed, many Microsoft/Xbox exclusive games (such as Forza) and can be bought on this store.
- Epic Games Store : Owned by Epic Games (of Unreal Engine and Fortnite fame). It launched in late 2018, and has a number of exclusive games under it. It also puts out free games (that you can add to your library) every 2 weeks.
This is a lot of information to take in, however this article will mostly focus on Steam, and I’ll add info about the other clients whenever it is needed.
(Small Note : There’s a free third party app called Playnite that combines games from different stores in one place)
Understanding Third Party Sellers and “game keys/codes”
While you can buy games from these above platform directly, you can also visit sites such as Humble Bundle, Fanatical, GreenManGaming, IndieGala from where you can buy Game Keys (codes that you can activate on that platform). These sites often have many discounts deals going for games and game bundles.
Know Your Regional Pricing (for Steam)
You’ll need to understand the INR allocated for given USD value, as laid out by Steam. If we ignore the highly inflated regional pricing of big publishers, these are the prices you can expect.
PSA: Few of the old games will have slightly different pricing than those listed here, this is because this is late 2017 revision, and many of the games have ignored this revision.
- $4.99 : Rs.199
- $9.99 : Rs. 349
- $14.99 : Rs. 459
- $19.99 : Rs. 529
- $29.99 : Rs. 699
- $39.99 : Rs. 899
- $49.99 : Rs. 1,099
- $59.99 : Rs. 1,299
Buying : From Storefront directly
As the title implies, you go to the store and buy the game.
For Indian users, Steam provides a regional pricing, which means price adjusted to the purchasing power of Indian Rupee, for a given US Dollar value. This is the best and the most convenient way buy, since prices are shown in rupees and the local payment options are available (local Debit Card, Credit Card, Digital Wallet).
This applies to most games, except a large number of big publishers like Bethesda, Capcom, 2K which ignore this and put the prices they think it right. This can be a hassle as games with the same USD price tag may have wildly variable prices, and can get very expensive. (We’ll see how to get some of them cheaper later on)
Another important thing is bundles. If you want, say, want to buy all the Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham games, the Arkham Collection is significantly more cheaper than buying the games individually. Be on the lookout for bundles which are mostly found on related game’s storepage.
TIP : Maintain a wishlist. Steam has option to put games you are interested in a wishlist. You can get sales notification on email or Steam mobile app, or check your list every Tuesday and Saturday. You should prioritize the list based on what games you want to get the most.
Buying : From 3rd party sites
Since Steam has (adjusted) regional pricing and most 3rd party sites don’t, most of the purchases should be covered by Steam.
That said, they can be helpful in certain situations.
(NOTE :- Most of them use PayPal/Credit Card for payment)
(NOTE :- Regarding Ubisoft games, keys provided are NOT Steam keys, but rather UPlay keys. Keep that in mind before buying.)
- Humble Bundle : There are 3 aspect of this site :
1. Humble Bundle is a collection of games arranged in tier, where you can buy games of higher tiers if you pay more money. Games are very cheap (sometimes even compared to Indian pricings) and are worth it.
2. Humble Monthly is a subscription service of games you certain monthly allocated games for $12 a month (This too is very good value for month). Best thing is that you can cancel and resume at time you like, so you can do that if that month’s game is not what you want. This also includes Humble Trove, which includes DRM-free downloads to many older games as well as some original ones.
3. Humble Store is like your usual game store. The discounts are same as Steam and generally not worth it.
(NOTE :- On Indian Humble store, there are certain games that have keys tied to certain region so you can’t play them outside India. Keep that in mind.) - Fanatical : One of the great things about it is that it shows INR for their prices (although it’ll cost slightly more due to credit card taxes).
It’s a good place for bundles (lots of games for less money) as well as Star Deals (daily deals). The above two should get you good deals, and the store itself can have better discounts than Humble, though not by much. - GreenManGaming : One of the best places to buy new games at discounted prices. They follow the prices set on Steam, but this has pre-order discounts (and sometimes faster sales) for newly released games.
It also has a VIP feature, which is a club that you randomly get joined in after you’ve made enough purchases on that site. If you are VIP, you get more discounts. - Gamebillet + Gamesplanet : These sites are for games which have very high regional pricing. You can get some very good discounts for 1 year or older games from big publishers. Keep an eye on them.
(Note : Gamesplanet US and UK have different deals, check them both) - Grey Market keys : These sites aren’t are trustworthy as the above, but have some insane deals. cdkeys.com is used by most. There’s also G2A and Kinguin, but I honestly suggest against them because they use scummy methods to get keys.
Tracking Deals : /r/GameDeals
One of the best subreddits to get the most up-to-date information about deals. Tracking sites individually is hard, and this subreddit consolidates all that information into one. You can track deals from storefronts like Origin and Battle.net whose games don’t go to sale that often.
Tracking Deals : SteamDB.info website + extension
SteamDB is an awesome resource for all things Steam related, but it’s a great source for tracking prices and seeing trends. Check the lowest prices for each of these games. Most game prices go down as it gets older, and there are many who have varying discounts (which usually are lowest during on seasonal sales).
For example, let’s see the price graph for Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster. It shows the game goes on sale mainly on seasonal sales like Summer/Autumn/Winter sales, so it’s a good idea to buy them then.
Aside from that, it has a “Sales” section on it, which details all the discounts going on based on the parameters such as amount of discount, or game’s overall user rating.
Grabbing Free Games
There can be a number of giveaways happening around, ie giving game codes for free. Websites like Humble often giveaway games at random. Usually the best way to find about them are subreddits like /r/GameDealsFree, /r/FreeGameFindings/ and /r/FreeGames.
Alternatively, you can participate in user hosted giveaways on subreddits like /r/RandomActsOfGaming/ and /r/GiftofGames/.
(read their rules carefully before participating in contest or making your own giveaway)
Miscellaneous Tips and Suggestions
- One common problem people face when they have 100s of games is the backlog. It’s usually suggested to only buy games that you are determined to play (unless it’s an online game and/or you are a collector).
- Unless there’s an extremely good deal elsewhere, it’s usually a good idea to buy games on Steam’s seasonal sales, ie Summer, Autumn or Winter sale. There’s two reasons for this :
1. Games usually had the best discounts at this time as well as certain games going on sale during this time.
2. These sale hold event where you get Trading Card and Badges.
Badges are good for leveling up your Steam profile (adds features such as increased friend list, plus other cosmetic fluff).
Trading Cards are used to get those badges (and further level them up) or sell them on the Steam Market make some small money back. - Ubisoft Games on Steam vs. Uplay : This is a preferencial thing.
Keys from 3rd party sites will get your Uplay Keys (and hence added to your Uplay Library), whereas if buying from Steam, will be added into your Steam library.
Personally, I like most of my games in one place, and Ubisoft has relaxed it’s regional pricing in early 2018 after it’s abysmal inflation in 2017, so their are easy on wallets.
(TIP : Ubisoft games prior to 2016 have their old pricing on Origin. If you don’t mind direct Uplay Keys, their are a cheap way to get those games)
One More TIP : If it’s cheap, go for the “Gold” edition of their games. It usually has the meaningful DLCs. “Deluxe” edition almost always have pointless fluff DLCs. - Make sure what Bundle you are purchasing. There are two types of bundles
1. Must Purchase Together : All items will be bought with this bundle and you will not be given an extra copy of one of the items if you own it already.
2. Complete The Set (marked by a small “?” mark beside it’s name) : The price of the items you own in the bundle is deducted from the bundle’s price. It’s great for completing the game with it’s DLCs and/or games of same type.
Conclusion
Hope these tips and trick help you get the games you want as well as try out more diverse range of games without breaking much of your wallet. It’s easy now to purchase games, but with a few tips you can get a lot the money you put.
Share this around and comment what games you’ve purchased after reading this.
Happy Gaming!
(I’ll be updating this article with any other suggestion I can get).
