Mounting evidence indicates that the Steam Summer Sale could start on June 19 (a day later here), with hype videos emerging to help gamers prepare their wallets for a fortnight of deep discounts.
Set to the tune of the homophonic Sail, a 2012 hit for Awolnation, Awolgaben - Sale is an exaggerated homage to the Steam gaming platform’s annual mid-year price-slasher and its feted public figurehead, Valve CEO Gabe Newell.
Pulling scenes from popular movies and TV shows — everything from Groundhog Day, The Matrix and the WWE to House of Cards, SpongeBob Squarepants, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones — the three-minute buzz builder has become the new frontage for fan-made satirical altar Gaben.tv.
The video replaces 2012’s iconic Tonight’s the Night, featuring a photoshopped Gabe in regal and religious clothing, with musical accompaniment from Patti LaBelle’s rousing gospel chorus Are You Ready For a Miracle?
Also newly minted and with a similar objective in mind is Lord of the Rings spoof Steam Summer Sale 2014. Lifting from the Battle at Helm’s Deep, it urges gamers to “wait for the dailies,” in which prices can plunge further still for shorter periods of time.
For many Mac, PC, and Linux gamers, Steam’s Summer and Winter sales represent serious savings that make recent blockbuster hits accessible for those on tight budgets. But with the last two years’ editions having taken place mid-July, isn’t this week’s hype rising a little too early?
Three pieces of evidence give bargain-hunters hope. First, a leaked conversation from Steam’s private developer forum surfaced on Reddit in May, claiming that studios had until July 13 to provide pricing information. Based on a similar leak in 2013, this upcoming edition was estimated to start within two weeks of the submission date.
Second, and as noted by the NeoGAF forum, a Portuguese-language ad for online payment mechanism PaySafe was spotted advertising Steam sale dates of July 19-30, even earlier than anticipated.
Thirdly, this week’s batches of week long deals fail to last the entire week. Instead, they end on Thursday, July 19, indicating that another promotional event is to take priority and that the PaySafe date was no placeholder.
Conveniently, moving the sale dates forward by a month creates more space for Valve’s annual Dota 2 gaming tournament, now mid-July instead of early August. Its prize pool is funded by sales of a digital compendium and, at $9.6 million US, is already outstripping the three previous years’ worth combined. — Relaxnews 2014
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
