Being a trophy hunter is all about balance. In order to earn as many achievements as efficiently as possible, we often have to budget not only our time but our finances as well. It isn’t uncommon for gamers to consider what video game is the best bang for their buck when planning their next purchase, frequently broken out into a dollars-per-hour calculation. Although trophy hunters tend to come out ahead, that doesn’t mean we can’t improve our standing further with some clever planning.
For the savvy trophy hunter, what ways can you stretch your hard-earned dollars? With the holiday season quickly approaching, it’s an excellent time to brush up on these tips so you can be an informed shopper. Below, I outline how you can save money while planning your next trophy hunt.
Table of Contents
Work on Your Backlog First
What better way is there to save money than to not spend any at all? While it is an obvious point to bring up, that doesn’t make it any less effective. Sales on video games you’ve been eyeing for a few weeks can be incredibly tempting, but if you know you won’t get to it anytime soon, you might actually be making a mistake springing for it now. After all, it could go on sale at an even deeper discount later on before you’ve even removed the plastic shrink-wrap. That means you’d be missing out on savings!
Trophy hunters should also be cognizant of the impact that adding new titles to their library can have on their completion rate. Several zeroes can drag down your trophy hunting statistics significantly if you don’t already have a lengthy list of completed games to outweigh them. As a simplistic example, if you have 10 games with 100% completion and add 5 new ones with no progress, you’d drop a hefty 33% down to a 66% completion rate.
Speaking of your completion rate, working on your backlog would unequivocally improve it. You might even find that whittling down your list of unfinished games alters your perspective, allowing you to approach new experiences with more excitement. Some players might further incentivize themselves by “earning” the right to purchase new games only once they’ve completed older ones. In doing so, you keep your completion rate consistent while balancing fresh experiences with familiar ones.
If you’re here, though, you likely have already decided that it’s time to get some new games. Before you pull out your wallet, maybe you should…
Sign Up for PlayStation Plus
PlayStation’s subscription service is mandatory for online multiplayer in many titles and their trophies. Outside of this requirement, however, there are several other reasons trophy hunters might be interested in this service.
Any tier of PlayStation Plus is entitled to a selection of free games every month. Once claimed, these video games are forever tied to your account and can be played so long as you have an active subscription. That means if your subscription lapses, you do not lose these titles; simply sign up for the service again, and you can access them.
While every game might not appeal to everyone, the value is undeniable. Many free titles are worth more than the monthly subscription costs alone. For example, Temtem is set to be released as a PlayStation Plus monthly game in December 2024. The game’s retail price is $44.99 USD, with sales dipping down to $17.99 USD.
The lowest tier of PlayStation Plus costs $9.99 USD per month, nearly half of what the price of this single title costs. It is joined by It Takes Two and Aliens: Dark Descent, both of which are widely considered to be good games. For trophy hunters, these monthly offerings can be a cheap way to earn new trophies across many different genres. Temtem has a very rare platinum trophy that can take 150-200 hours or more to complete.
If you don’t like the idea of being at the mercy of hit-or-miss random titles every month, you might consider upping your budget and looking into the higher tiers of the PlayStation Plus service. At the Extra level, you unlock access to a catalog of nearly 400 different titles that you can play.
Keep in mind, however, that unlike the monthly games, these are not tied to your account and tend to rotate out on a regular basis. So if you see a game you really want to play, don’t wait; it could be removed later down the line. Check out the complete list of games here. Moving up to the Premium level unlocks an additional set of 150 games that are classic titles from older generations. You can see these here.
Depending on your perspective regarding renting versus owning media, these services can be a huge asset for trophy hunters looking for a budget-friendly way to rack up lots of achievements. It is so popular, in fact, that I added an option to filter only PlayStation Plus games on my PlayStation Game Randomizer.
Wait for Sales
When we buy games on release day for full price, we’re paying a premium to experience them as soon as possible. Lots of players like to pre-order and play hotly anticipated games right away in order to avoid spoilers. This can also be a great way to signal your support to a favored video game developer or franchise. This goes doubly so for lesser-known studios or independent creators.
All that said, trophy hunters collect achievements because we love video games. If we bought every title we loved at full price, many of us would go bankrupt. That’s why trophy hunters need to be thrifty consumers that shop the sales as much as we can.
The largest sales tend to take place near the end of the year. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the two holidays that tend to see some of the biggest discounts for video games. These always land in late November or early December. Additionally, New Year’s sales can be decent, but not always as significant. The PlayStation Store has seasonal sales year-round that can sometimes have a few surprises, so it’s worth keeping an eye on your wishlist when these roll out.
Given the season, I’ll mention a few sales that I snagged this year.
Dollar General locations in the United States carried multipack PlayStation Network gift cards for 20% off from November 28-30th, 2024. They are normally $30 USD but could be purchased for $24 USD. Dollar General has discounted these gift cards for Black Friday every year since 2021, so hopefully they will continue to do so in the future. It is worth noting that these gift cards can be added to your PlayStation wallet and used to purchase the PlayStation Plus subscription service. Speaking of which…
Sony also tends to have a sale for new PlayStation Plus subscribers on Black Friday. You can save 20-30% off depending on which tier you select. In 2024, this deal was available from November 22nd through December 2nd.
Of course, I also grabbed a few specific games. Despite releasing less than two months ago, Silent Hill 2 Remake had a significant price drop. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was also reduced with a similar haircut. I also decided to pick up Metaphor ReFantazio, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus with decent sales. You can see the numbers below.
- Silent Hill 2 Remake
- MSRP: $70 USD
- Sale: $30 USD
- Discount: 60% off
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- MSRP: $70 USD
- Sale: $30 USD
- Discount: 60% off
- Metaphor ReFantazio
- MSRP: $70 USD
- Sale: $50 USD
- Discount: 30% off
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- MSRP: $40 USD
- Sale: $20 USD
- Discount: 50% off
- Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus
- MSRP: $60 USD
- Sale: $40 USD
- Discount: 33% off
There were also many sales on games I didn’t personally spring for, like Hogwarts Legacy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Stellar Blade, and Diablo IV.
It’s great to know that many sales happen around Black Friday, but lots of games hit the same lows in sales year-round. These can be hard to predict if you’re not constantly following gaming news. Plus, a whole year is a long time to wait to get new games. If you don’t want to wait, you should follow our next tip.
Use Price Tracking Websites
Why keep tabs on your wishlist when you could have a tool do it for you? Or, if you see a game you want to pick up is on sale but aren’t sure if it’s a good deal or not, you might want to take a peek under the curtain and see its lowest price ever. Or, if you really want a game but aren’t sure when it’s going to go on sale again, you might want to look into its sale history to see how frequently it gets discounted. All these use cases are great reasons to start looking into price trackers!
My personal favorite is DekuDeals. This tool was developed primarily for the Nintendo Switch but has since expanded to include PlayStation and Xbox titles. You can plug in any games you want to keep an eye on and adjust your settings regarding what type of sale you want to be notified on, whether it’s strictly the physical/digital version, a new low price, or a specific dollar value. I really like the way the graphs for historical prices are shown and the fact that you can easily compare prices for various retailers in one place. It is also a convenient way to share your wishlist with others.
PS Prices is another website that does all the same things that DekuDeals does, but instead with a focus on PlayStation games. Both websites have easy-to-navigate interfaces that allow you to quickly peruse games that you haven’t added to your wishlist but may be interested in, too. When sales occur, I tend to take a look at these pages to see what discounts are the most popular so I don’t miss anything interesting not included on my list.
Another site I can recommend is CamelCamelCamel. This site is a fantastic resource for price-checking products on Amazon. Like the other sites, you can also set up alerts if you’d like to be notified of a significant sale on a particular item.
I’ll also add that there are several communities on Reddit where users share and discuss various video game deals. You might find some surprise sales posted that you might otherwise not have discovered. This community is for deals on PlayStation 5 games.
However you choose to keep track of sales, it’s definitely worth doing so. You will save a lot of money by waiting and getting games for a discount. Personally, I feel a lot more confident in my purchases knowing that I am keeping within my budget while always having more trophies to grind toward throughout the year.
Get Familiar With Developer Trends
While it’s important to understand which times of the year are most likely to have sales, it’s not the only thing you should consider. It’s usually unreasonable to expect a brand-new release to be discounted, and yet, it happens all the time. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora released in December 2023 for $70 USD and subsequently received price cuts north of $20 USD a month later (digitally and physically). Why is that?
Well, some video game developers tend to develop a reputation among seasoned players. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was published by Ubisoft, the studio responsible for the Assassin’s Creed games. As a rule, Ubisoft games tend to have steep discounts fairly quickly. For that reason, many frugal fans will wait a few months before picking up their latest title.
Another example is Atlus, a subsidiary studio of Sega. This developer created the popular Persona series. These games have been known to go on sale quickly, especially after upgraded versions get released. As a result, many players will wait for the complete version of the game to be released for a lower price before diving in. Square Enix and Bandai Namco titles also tend to have frequent and deep sales, even for recent releases.
On the other hand, it’s good to know what studios tend to be more stingy with their sales. Many first-party studios wait longer before discounting their games. For example, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart from Insomniac Games did not hit 50% off until 1.5 years after release and has not dipped any further even 4 years later. Similarly, older Call of Duty games tend to not have great discounts.
It’s a good idea to keep tabs on your favorite video game developer’s philosophy when it comes to discounts on their games. If you know they often have flash sales on their titles, you might save yourself a lot of money on a recent release by waiting a few weeks. On the other hand, if you know a particular developer tends to wait longer before putting anything on sale, you can save yourself the heartache and play a title you’re excited for as soon as possible without any regrets.
Check for DLC Packs
Lastly, if you’re the type of trophy hunter that views 100% completion as just as significant as a platinum trophy, then you might want to check out whether the games you already own have their DLC on sale before picking up an entirely new game. I have often found that games go on sale faster and more frequently than their respective additional content packs. Caving in for those desirable DLC stack trophies might leave you with an empty wallet. That’s why you should generally prioritize getting DLC when they’re on a decent sale.
Or, to play the devil’s advocate, you might also want to look at what DLC exists before purchasing a brand new game. If you see a title with a deep discount that has DLC (with trophies) that rarely, if ever, goes on sale, you might want to think twice before investing your time and money. Are you willing to potentially pay full price for the DLC later on?
To draw on my own experiences, this has happened far too often for my liking. Over the years, I’ve come to own several Call of Duty games, whether as gifts or from sales. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was the 2016 release that came with a season pass filled with new Zombies content (and, of course, trophies for every single pack). Unluckily, I did not pick up the DLC at the time of release. Now that I am interested in cleaning up its trophies, it hasn’t seen any sales on the PlayStation Store since 2022. So, unless things change in the future, I’m likely to be set back $50 USD in order to access this content.
Another recent example that comes to mind for me is Diablo III. Early adopters of the PlayStation 4 title were able to purchase the Ultimate Evil version of the game with bonus story content. However, an additional DLC pack with a brand-new character class was brought to market a few years later: the Rise of the Necromancer.
A definitive version of Diablo III was eventually released that included everything in one package. The Eternal Collection goes on sale frequently; however, the standalone Necromancer DLC does not. This DLC is required for a set of trophies and has never gone on sale since its release. If you pick up Diablo III on a deep discount, take care that it is the version that includes the Necromancer DLC. Otherwise, be prepared to cough up the full $15 USD for it if you want the full completion experience.
Sometimes, DLC packs can make trophy hunters reconsider their purchases. Whether their inclusion makes you pass or become more interested in a game depends on the situation. Either way, you’d be doing your future self a favor by keeping track of what DLC is out there before you commit to a new game.
Conclusion
Increasing prices for household goods and uncertainty toward the future have many families tightening their budgets. These tips can help trophy hunter hobbyists make the most of their funds by targeting deals and being mindful about their purchases.
What advice would you give to other trophy hunters looking to save money? What video games do you hope will be on sale for Black Friday in 2025?
All trophy hunters should know the major trophy hunting milestones they should plan for. Want to earn trophies more efficiently? Check out our article on how to use remote play to earn more trophies.
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