Steam has recently reached its 20th anniversary, and as a present, we're being offered affordable games.
Some of you might find this a bit surprising, but Steam is now 20 years old. It was launched on September 12, 2003, and has become almost synonymous with PC gaming. Not only is it marking this significant milestone, but it's also extending an invitation to all of us in the form of heavily discounted games.
To commemorate the occasion, Steam has created a retrospective page on its main page. This page takes us through the history of the launcher, highlighting the changes and top games year by year. (Can you believe it's only been eight years since we could start getting refunds? Also, let's take a moment to remember the Steam Machine initiative.) While there may not be a physical cake, there's a sweet treat for gamers: many of these popular games can now be snagged for as little as $1, and some are even cheaper.
The biggest sales are naturally on Valve games—as typical during Steam sales, they’ve been discounted the most. But this time some are even cheaper than before, dropping to just mere pennies. Team Fortress? 50 cents. Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode 2? 79 cents each. Mega fan favorites like Half-Life, Left4Dead, and Portal 2 are all just $1. Nearly the whole Valve catalog can be had for a song. Sure, the cheapest are the oldest of them, but the low prices soften the blow of catching up on lost time—or realizing how old you really are now.
Other games from other publishers are at rock-bottom prices, too. Just Cause 2? Just under $4. Assassin’s Creed games? Most are anywhere from 70 to 90 percent off, with Origins going for just $9 and Odyssey $12. (Some of the DLC is on sale as well.) The Call of Duty 20th anniversary sale is running concurrently right now, too. You can also snag Mass Effect Legendary Edition for $12, as part of the EA sale.