Steam summer sale 2021: The best deals and discounts on top PC games
Wallets at the ready – the platform’s twice-yearly bonanza has some unmissable offers
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Your support makes all the difference.Valve’s annual Steam summer sale is in full swing, threatening the bank accounts of PC gamers around the world by bringing massive discounts to thousands of the most popular titles in the digital store.
The sale runs from 24 June to 8 July and covers everything from compilations of triple-A classics like Halo: The Master Chief Collection to indie hits like Lair of the Clockwork God.
New games are added and removed each day, with the best and most downloaded deals highlighted on Steam’s front page. Dig around and you’ll find some real bargains hiding behind each genre’s sub-menu, so it’s worth exploring your preferred categories to see if you can spot an offer on a game you’ve been holding out for.
We’ve pulled together a list of our favourite deals on PC games in this year’s Steam summer sale. Whether you plan to actually play these, or simply to add them to the teetering pile of games you plan on getting around to at some point between now and retirement, there’s something here for everyone.
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Our IndyBest team hand-picks every deal we feature. We may earn some commission from the links in this article, but our selections have been made independently and without bias. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
‘Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition’: Was £39.99, now £23.99, Steampowered.com
Horizon: Zero Dawn is an action RPG set in a bucolic post-apocalypse populated by enormous mecha-dinosaurs and scattered human tribes. You fight and explore using rudimentary weapons and tools, gradually upgrading your hacking skills and equipment to take on bigger robo-dinos and dissect their metal guts for new parts. With a sequel now confirmed to be in the pipeline for the PS5, there’s no better time to pick up this critically acclaimed adventure.
‘Red Dead Redemption 2’: Was £54.99, now £36.84, Steampowered.com
Rockstar’s open-world cowboy simulator is famously obsessed with detail. Not only does night turn to day and clouds naturally form according to real-world weather physics, but your character’s beard grows in real-time and your horse does meticulously simulated poops. There’s a full, gritty Western plot with gun-slinging and train robberies to get stuck into, but simply existing in this elaborate world is rewarding enough.
‘Halo: The Master Chief Collection’: Was £29.99, now £14.99, Steampowered.com
Six games in the Halo series are included in this collection, with each one dusted off and refined to look its very best on PC. Whether you’ve been sitting on this classic series or you’re a Halo veteran, The Master Chief Collection is an essential purchase. It features all 67 campaign missions, every multiplayer map and game mode the series has ever known, plus the Forge editor, for designing your own levels.
‘Battlefield V: Definitive Edition’: Was £54.99, now £13.74, Steampowered.com
The definitive edition of the multiplayer-focused Battlefield V includes every last scrap of content the game received since launch, as well as a selection of the best cosmetic gear created during the game’s first two years. Taking influence from the conflicts of World War II, Battlefield V is the culmination of everything EA knows about creating compelling multiplayer shooters. An enormous co-op campaign and a refined and evolving battle royale mode will keep this game in players’ libraries for years to come.
‘Forza Horizon 4’: Was £54.99, now £27.49, Steampowered.com
The Horizon games are a spin-off of the racetrack-bound Forza series, and set you loose on real-world roads where you’re free to drive around with friends, disrupt the peace of quiet villages and explore wherever you like. Developed by Leamington Spa-based studio Playground Games, the fourth title in the Forza Horizon series is set in a condensed version of Great Britain and encompasses such local highlights as the Cotswolds, Lake District and Edinburgh.
‘Sea of Thieves’: Was £34.99, now £23.44, Steampowered.com
An always-online, massively multiplayer pirate simulator, Sea of Thieves sees you sailing the high seas with a group of friends, plundering islands, swashbuckling with other players’ ships, and generally pursuing booty. Sailing the ship requires actual teamwork to raise the sails, lower the anchor and patch up leaks. A new season just launched – a crossover with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean – so there’s no better time to jump in.
‘Hades’: Was £19.49, now £13.94, Steampowered.com
A superbly written and acted action game, Hades exudes personality in its interactions with the big hitters of Greek mythology. Your job is to repeatedly attempt to escape the underworld, with each failure resetting you to the beginning of the game, only now you’re armed with slightly better skills and a greater understanding of the world.
‘Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’ – Was £49.90, now £24.95, Steampowered.com
Set in feudal Japan, Sekiro is a blisteringly challenging action-combat game that tests your patience, coordination and ability to resist hitting the refund button in a pique of rage. Developed by FromSoftware, whose previous work includes the infamously difficult Dark Souls games, this samurai-focused adventure is regarded as the developer’s most spectacular and rewarding project yet. If you couldn’t bear the thought of spending full price on a game you might eventually come to resent, Sekiro now has 50 per cent off.
‘Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition’ – Was £67.96, now £9.89, Steampowered.com
Lara Croft’s reinvention as a more well-rounded character and plausible raider of tombs — with human emotions and a personality and everything — began in 2013 and culminated with this, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Definitive Edition includes all of the add-on content, including the extra tombs, weapons and skills released since the game’s debut.
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