The cost for a full video gaming experience isn’t cheap. Many fans of franchises such as Destiny, Call of Duty, and even Star Wars Battlefront can tell you that their experiences won’t be cheap when the sequels launch this year.
Fans gearing up for the release of Destiny 2 can already tell you their past experience with 2014’s Destiny was expensive, setting most fans back a solid $170 dollars before taxes.
For some that’s almost the quarter cost for their rent, college tuition, or even their bills they need to pay. While it was over the span of 3 years, there’s no doubt that the rising cost was painful, and that their experience was somewhat trifling to deal with.
As those same fans prepare for the full Destiny 2 experience, many of them can already tell you that their pre-orders set their wallets ablaze at $89.99 before taxes.
While that features both the game and the season pass, it’s only further evidence that the cost of gaming is going up, and with it the need to counteract such costs.
Fans of Call of Duty are already beginning to chew at their fingernails as the full experience for Call of Duty: WWII will see them spending a steep $99.99 before the taxes are applied.
That also doesn’t take into consideration the cost for supply drops if the game sees any making a return. The best bet? There will be if past titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare serve as any proof.
While Star Wars Battlefront II will certainly be the cheaper of the bunch at $79.99 USD for its “Elite Trooper Edition”, fans certainly will be taking into consideration that EA may certainly have micro-transactions built into their game to help with future production costs.
Mostly due to the fact all future DLC for the game is actually launching free in order to prevent a fractured community unlike before.
However, what if I told you there’s a way to cut the costs? What if I told you that you can actually save a bit of money and still get the same experiences? Interested? Lets take a look.
Amazon Prime Offers 20% off of Select New Releases and Pre-Orders
If you’re a fan of shopping on Amazon, there’s no doubt that you are pretty likely to have a membership to their premium service known as Amazon Prime. The service itself is a quite unique one in comparison to memberships such as GameStops PowerUp Rewards Program and even Best Buy’s Gamer’s Club Unlocked. Since the membership features free shipping, Amazon Prime Video, and even Amazon Music, there’s no doubt that it’s a hard one to pass up.
Let alone does it offer this features, it also offers gamers an incentive to pre-order some of this years hottest releases through the company. Games such as Call of Duty: WWII Pro Edition could easily see a $20 dollar savings before tax. While this may not certainly sound like much, take into consideration the average cost for a full game experience is beginning to exceed $100 USD.
Even a small amount, depending on the content, still opens a bit of breathing room for your next big title, bills you need to pay, or even renewing that subscription to Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus.
The added bonus outside of 20% off non-digital products? Free two-day shipping, Amazon Prime Video, and Amazon’s sales that go into early access for Prime members. The cost? A steep $99.99 a year. Tie that in with your Netflix and your online service cost for gaming? You’re spending a pretty penny in the long run.
Next Up? Best Buy’s Gamer’s Club Unlocked, Which Offers 20% Off All New Games, 10% Off Used, and Even Pre-Order Initiatives
When it comes to Best Buy, they’ve been working in order to give gamer’s an incentive to shop at their stores. While they certainly don’t have the selection places such as Amazon have, they do offer something a bit more unique. Depending on the pre-order or new release, their incentives are quite nice. Some games offer a $10 gift card as a small bonus.
If you take that with 20% off, imagine the fact they just took roughly 30% off your total purchase, dropping the cost of your game to just under $40 before taxes.
While it sounds nice, the offer is often limited to select games. Currently it seems like it’s only viable for this years biggest releases such as Agents of Mayhem, Destiny 2, NBA 2K17, Madden 2018, CoD: WWII, and even Star Wars Battlefront II. If you take that into consideration, it’s still a nice incentive to have. Sometimes the gift card isn’t necessarily the option and Best Buy may give it up in the form of a My Best Buy certificate you’ll get to redeem 15-30 days post-purchase.
While it sounds like a hassle, the credit can add up quickly, and even offer you some massive discounts on future purchases.
What’s the cost? $30 a year. Not bad if you consider the overall savings. It pays for itself in the long run. Those reward certificates?
They can be used to re-up your membership. Luckily for you, your rewards can also be used on digital purchases such as Xbox Live Marketplace Credit, Xbox Live Membership’s, PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Store Credit, and even Steam cards. Not bad, huh? Just note that you don’t get a discount on digital purchases, just like Amazon Prime.
Closing Thoughts.
While it’s easy to point these two out, there are plenty of small companies that offer loyalty programs as well. Since these two are easily accessible to most? It’s not hard to see why their preferred by many gamers.
Even with GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards, it’s hard to really suggest it, but not because it’s a bad program. Rather, it’s because the program doesn’t have nearly the incentives that are consistently active that you’ll need in order to save.
While their offers can be good, they aren’t always the best, and GameStop has made powerful strides in recent years to catch up. If anything is for certain, it’s that they will need to adopt both Best Buy and Amazon’s policies for discounts. While it will cause a price-hike in their purchases, it’ll certainly offer a competitive edge against both retailers they are facing off against.
