List of daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and holiday deals

This is kind of a list of the various deals that are going on throughout the year. Kind of a cheat sheet in case I don’t have to update or I’m too lazy to update the site. Obviously there’s random deals that come up and sales change at times, but I’ll try to keep the post updated. Some things will probably be missing. Feel free to comment if you have any suggestions.

Changelog:

• 10/15/12 – Added more stuff.
• 10/10/12 – Added stuff.

Extra Discounts:
Before you purchase anything, make sure to check the Promo / Coupon codes and special offers page first for any activate codes that you can use for your order. Some sites let you stack coupons and offers for extra savings

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Daily Deals
These are usually 24 hour deals. Start times are listed (might be off) and have been converted to EST.

• Big Fish Games – Updated at 3am EST. The daily deal is $2.99.
• GamersGate / GamersGate UK – Updated at 1am EST.
• GameStop – Updated at ??? It’s usually a repost of a game that’s already discounted as part of their weeklong sale.
• Green Man Gaming – They unofficially have a daily deal (that comes and goes). It’s not listed as such but generally they have a different game on sale for a deep discount that lasts 24 hours only. I think the deals update at 6am/8am EST.
• Steam – Updated at 1pm EST.

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Weeklong Deals
These are the deals that last the entire week (give or take a day or two). Usually focuses on a theme or publisher.

• Amazon – Digital Download Deal of the Week – Updated on Sundays at 3am EST.
• Big Fish Games – Catch of the Week Deal – Updated at 3am EST on Mondays. Price is always $2.99.
• GamersGate / GamersGate UK – They have a weeklong sale that starts on Monday.
• GameStop – They have a weeklong sale that starts on Monday.

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Midweek, Weekend, & Recurring Deals
These are the deals that start in the middle of the week and last for a couple of days or the ones that occur on the same day every week, or the ones that last for the weekend.

Monday

• GamersGate / GamersGate UK – Midweek Sale – Lasts until Thursday. I think their week starts on Sunday, that’s why it’s considered the midweek.

Tuesday

• GameFly / GameFly UK – Weekday Sales – They have a sale(s) that starts on Tuesday and runs until 3am EST on Thursday.
• Steam – Midweek Madness Deal – Starts at 1pm EST. Ends on Thursday at 1pm EST. Often times there’s two deals going on at once.

Wednesday

• Big Fish Games – Facebook Fan Exclusive Deal – There’s a special coupon code that’s posted to their Facebook page to get a game for $2.99. The coupon code is live until Sunday. Most of the time the game is a hidden object game.
• GOG – Gem Promo – A game goes on sale for 60% off or more. Deal is live for 24 hours only.

Thursday

• Steam – Weekend Deal – Starts at 1pm EST on Thursday. Ends on Monday at 1pm EST. Usually one or two deals. On occassion the Weekend Deal is part of a Steam Free Weekend (play a game free for the weekend). Sometimes there will also be a Publisher Weekend Sale. What it usually means is most of the games for that publisher are on sale for a certain amount and every day during the weekend there will be a franchise or game that will go on sale for a deeper discount.

Friday

• GameFly / GameFly UK – Weekend Deal – A publisher/theme/franchise sale that lasts until 3am EST on Monday.
• GameStop – Weekend Deal – Usually a deal or two posted to their blog.
• GameStop – Flash Sale Friday Deal – A game or franchise goes on sale at 12pm EST and is available for the first 500 customers.
• Get Games – Weekend Deals – Usually three or four different deals that last until Monday. One of the variations of this deal is the Cheap as Chips sale. DRM-free games go on sale for less than the price of chips.
• GOG – Weekend Promo – A few different types of discounts for a genre/theme or publisher. Discounts in the past have been: 1) A straight discount such as 50% off titles. 2) A discount that goes up depending on how many games you purchase. 3) Some more that I can’t remember atm.

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Cyclical Deals
These are deals that recur but on a cycle.

Every Four Days

• Indie Game Stand – New game goes up for sale. Lasts for four days and then the deal changes.

Every Two Weeks

• Indie Royale – New indie game bundle goes on sale. Occassionaly there will be a random Lightning Bundle deal that lasts for 3 – 7 days. Last bundle started on September 28, 2012 so the next bundle should start around October 12, 2012.

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Seasonal Deals
These are the deals that happen during certain periods of the year marked by a season.

Fall

• Green Man Gaming – Autumn Sale – Voucher and discounted games. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 10/12 – 10/17)
• Steam – Autumn Sale – Almost the entire Steam catalog goes on sale for 50% off or more. Daily deals with deep discounts every day of the sale. So far there’s only been one of these sales. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 11/23 – 11/27)

Winter

• Amazon – Game Downloads Holiday Sale – Bunch of games on sale. Different themes throughout the sale. Pricematched Steam Winter sale prices. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 12/19 – ??)
• Beamdog– Holiday Sale – Their usual weekend deal was changed to a Holiday sale. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 12/9 – 12/12)
• GamersGate / GamersGate UK – Winter Sale / Holiday Gift Guide Sale – Four weeks of deals. New deals every week of the sale. Generally starts before the Steam Winter sale begins. Previous Dates:
  • (2010 > 11/29 – 12/26), ( 2011 > 11/29 – 12/26)
• GOG – Holiday Sale – Up to 50% off almost all games on their site. Previous Dates:
  • (2010 > 12/14/10 – 1/2/11), (2011 > 12/12/11 – 1/3/12)
• OnLive / OnLive UK – Winter Sale – Bunch of games on sale. Borderlands was f2p for a weekend.
  • (2011 > 12/27/11 – 1/2/12)
•  Origin – Holiday Deals – Different deals every week. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 11/1 – 12/31)
• Steam – Winter Sale / Holiday Sale – Almost the entire Steam catalog goes on sale for 50% off or more. Daily deals with deep discounts every day of the sale. Previous Dates:
  • (2008 > 12/24 – 1/2),  (2009 > 12/22 – 1/3),  (2010 > 12/20 – 1/3), ( 2011 > 12/19 – 1/1)
• TellTale Games – Holiday Sale – Physical CDs were on sale.

Spring

• Big Fish Games – Spring Fever Sale – Buy one get one free deal. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 4/15 – 4/17), (2012 > 4/5 – 4/8)
• OnLive / OnLive UK – Spring Sale – Bunch of games on sale for up to 75% off. Previous Dates:
  • (2012 > 4/2 – ??)

Summer

• Steam – Summer Sale / Perils of Summer Sale / Summer Camp sale – Almost the entire Steam catalog goes on sale for 50% off or more. Daily deals with deep discounts every day of the sale. Flash sales during regular intervals throughout the day. Previous Dates:
  • (2010 > 6/24 – 7/4), (2011 > 6/30 – 7/10), (2012 > 7/12 – 7/22)
• GamersGate / GamersGate UK – Summer Sale – Four weeks of deals. New deals every week of the sale. Generally starts after the Steam Summer sale ends. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 8/1 – 8/29), (2012 > 7/30 – 8/27)
• Green Man Gaming– Winter Sale – Hundreds of games go on sale. They call it a Winter Sale because Southern Hemisphere countries are in their Winter season. Previous Dates:
  • (2012 > 7/13 – ??)
• Origin – Summer Game Sale – Put up a bunch of games on sale for $5 a piece. Previous Dates:
  • (2011 > 7/29 – 7/31)

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Holiday & Event Deals
These are the deals that happen during certain periods of the year marked by a holiday or event. Sales usually start on the actual holiday/event or up to a week or two before.

Presidents’ Day / Washington’s Birthday (Third Monday of February)

• In 2012 – Big Fish Games had standard games on sale for $4.99.   OnLive / OnLive UK had a large sale.

Halloween (October 31st)

• Usually horror, zombie, survival, spooky, etc games go on sale for the holiday.
• In 2011 – OnLive / OnLive UK had a Free Play promotion. Big Fish Games put standard edition games on sale for $4.99. GMG did a mini sale. GOG had their regular weekend promo deal but made it Halloween themed. Steam put up a big Halloween sale. GamersGate also ran a sale.
• In 2012 – PopCap games is giving away free copies of Plants vs. Zombies. GMG has games up to 75% off and a voucher.

Easter (First Sunday after the full moon following the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox LOL. Generally between April 4th and May 8th.)

• In 2011 – Amazon had sale on casual games for Easter. GamersGate had a sale along with daily deals.
• In 2012 – Get Games had an Eggsellent Easter sale.

Memorial Day (Last Monday of May)

• In 2011 – GameStop had War games on sale, OnLive had games up to 75% off.
• In 2012 – Origin had 50% off storewide, OnLive had games up to 75% off, Big Fish Games had $4.99 standard edition games, GameFly had War/Simulation games on sale.

NBA Finals (Beginning of June)

•  OnLive / OnLive UK usually puts the NBA 2K games on sale during the NBA Finals.

4th of July / Independance Day (7/4)

• In 2011 – Amazon had a 4th of July Blowout Sale. Core and casual games were up to 75% off. GameStop (back then still called Impulse) also had a deal.
• In 2012 – Big Fish Games put 320 top-rated games on sale for 50% off, including Collector’s Editions. Amazon had a Best of July Sale. OnLive had a Summer Gaming Orientation Sale. GameStop put some games on sale. GMG sort of had a deal.

GamesCom (August)

• In 2011 – GOG put up a GamesCom sale and put The Witcher 2 on sale.
• In 2012 – GMG gave away Greed: Black Border + 20% off voucher. The UbiShop/UPlay put some games on sale and had a game on sale daily for $1.

QuakeCon (Usually the 1st or 2nd weekend in August)

• Generally id Software and Bethesda games go on sale.
• In 2012 – GameFly, Steam, GamersGate, and Amazon ran QuakeCon deals. Various id & Bethesda franchises were put on sale (Rage, Fallout, Quake, Brink, Elder Scrolls, and a special TF2 items).

Labor Day (First Monday in September)

• In 2012 – Amazon ran a big Labor Day sale from 8/28 – 9/9. OnLive had a large sale–up to 75% off . Tribes: Ascend had a Double XP weekend. Origin had select games at 50% off. The THQ Store had up to 75% off games. Big Fish Games had 50% off all games on their site including Collector’s Editions. GMG put out a 25% off voucher for their site. The Macgamestore had a bundle of 5 casual games for $10.

Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th)

• Every year Telltale Games puts their Tales of Monkey Island games on sale for Talk Like a Pirate Day. They’ve also put the original Monkey Island games on sale in the past for the holiday.

Thanksgiving (Fourth Thursday in November)

• In 2011 – THQ Store had a Thanksgiving weekend sale.

Black Friday (Day after Thanksgiving)

• In 2011 – Origin had a Black Friday sale. Triple AAA titles were cheap.

Cyber Monday (Monday after Black Friday)

• In 2011 – Origin, D2D (now gameFly), and Amazon all had Cyber Monday deals.

Christmas (December 25th)

• In 2011 – GMG put up some vouchers for Christmas.  Get Games put up a Christmas Shooter sale.