SimplyCodes' deal analysis and shopping research has identified the most reliable, repeatable strategies for maximizing savings at WhatsGaming — ranked by impact and supported by verified data.
Time Purchases Around Major Steam Sales
Steam's Summer Sale and Winter Sale are the two highest-discount events on the platform's annual calendar. SimplyCodes research confirms that discounts during these events have historically reached up to 90% off on a wide range of titles, making them the single most impactful windows for purchasing games at the lowest possible prices.
According to SimplyCodes' deep shopping research, the deepest discounts on any given title are most likely to appear during one of these two major seasonal events rather than at any other point in the year. Shoppers who can defer a purchase until the next major sale stand to realize the greatest savings.
The action to take: Identify the games you want to buy and hold off on purchasing at full price. Mark your calendar for Steam's Summer Sale (typically late June) and Winter Sale (typically late December) and return to complete your purchase during those windows.
Leverage Genre-Specific "Fest" Sales for Category-Deep Discounts
Steam regularly runs genre-specific promotional events — known as "Fests" — that target narrow game categories such as Detective Fest, Board Game Fest, and similar themed sales. According to SimplyCodes' analysis, these Fest events frequently offer deeper discounts within their specific categories than the broader Summer and Winter seasonal sales do.
This matters for shoppers with focused gaming interests. A player specifically looking for strategy games or visual novels, for example, may find steeper price cuts during a relevant Fest than they would during a general sitewide sale event.
The action to take: Identify the genre or category that best matches the games on your list. Monitor Steam's events calendar for upcoming Fest sales aligned to those categories, and prioritize purchasing during those targeted events rather than waiting exclusively for the major seasonal sales.
Use the Steam Wishlist to Automate Sale Alerts
Steam's built-in Wishlist feature sends automatic notifications to users when a wishlisted game goes on sale. According to SimplyCodes' assessment of official Steam platform functionality, this is a Valve-recommended feature designed specifically to help shoppers capture sale pricing without manually monitoring the store.
Without Wishlist alerts active, shoppers risk missing limited-duration sale windows — particularly during shorter Fest events that may only run for a week or less. SimplyCodes research identifies this as a medium-impact but consistently reliable tactic for shoppers who track multiple titles at once.
The action to take: Add every game you intend to purchase to your Steam Wishlist before a sale begins. Ensure your Steam account notification settings are configured to send email or in-app alerts when Wishlisted titles drop in price.
Check Competitor Codes Before Completing Any Purchase
SimplyCodes data reveals 96 competitor codes currently available for games and gaming platforms comparable to WhatsGaming. These codes represent active discount opportunities at competing retailers that may carry the same titles at a lower effective price after the code is applied.
This strategy is particularly relevant when a desired title is not currently on sale at Steam, or when a Steam discount is modest. SimplyCodes' verification system tracked these competitor codes as live and usable, making them a practical fallback for shoppers who cannot wait for a Steam sale event.
The action to take: Before finalizing any full-price or lightly discounted purchase, check SimplyCodes for active competitor codes across gaming retailers. A valid code at a competing platform may deliver a deeper discount than the current Steam price, even outside of a major sale window.
