Steam Week in Review: Steam sales are the best time to hoard dozens of forgotten ’90s PC gaming oddities
The Steam Summer Sale launched last week, showcasing the continuing abundance of cheap software in the PC gaming market despite rising hardware costs. Major publisher titles dominated the sale, with several AAA games receiving steep discounts that have become routine. Red Dead Redemption 2 received a 75% discount in its 14th sale since January 2025, while The Witcher 3 achieved its fifth 95% discount since July 2024 (alongside 15 other discounts at lower percentages). Cyberpunk 2077 set a new record with a 75% discount, following eight previous 65% discounts since June 2025.
Big publishers including Ubisoft, Sega, Sony, 2K, and Bethesda dominated the sale’s front page, though popular indie titles like Terraria, Satisfactory, and Dead Cells also received prominent placement. The frequency of these discounts underscores how Steam sales have become a key opportunity for consumers to acquire games at substantial savings, reflecting both the publishing industry’s reliance on volume pricing and the platform’s role in making gaming more accessible despite prohibitive hardware costs.