Steam Autumn Sale, Amazon Lightning Deals Offer Great Discounts

The season of giving is here but gamers can turn it into the season of getting thanks to some great discounts being offered by Steam and Amazon. Players can grab some of the year’s biggest games at low prices while avoiding the huge mall crowds.

The annual Steam Autumn Sale begins today, as first confirmed by multiple developers. The sale runs through Nov. 26.

Straight discounts will be available along with Daily Deals and Flash Sales.

Today’s featured deals include Darksiders II for $16.99, XCOM: Enemy Unknown for $33.48, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 for $4.99, Terraria for $3.39, The Walking Dead (all five episodes) for $12.49, and Age of Empires III Complete Collection for $9.99.

Flash deals are only available for a limited time. Current discounts include Payday: The Heist for $4.99, the Operation Flashpoint franchise for $13.74, and The Amazing Spider-Man for $24.99.

There is also a dedicated hub for indie game sales. Some of the featured indie game deals are Limbo for $2.49, Torchlight II for $14.99, and Castle Crashers for $8.99.

Artery Studios, developer of Secrets of the Magic Crystals, revealed Steam had talked to the company regarding putting the game on sale. The developer also said Steam had revealed the official dates for next month’s Winter Sale, which is slated to take place from Dec. 20 to Jan. 4.

Amazon is also offering great deals on games as part of the Black Friday Deals Week. Video Game Lightning Deals will be available on select games for a very limited time. Lightning Deals are only valid one day during a specific time period. Some of the discounts offered are on the year’s biggest games.

Notable deals on Amazon include:

Thursday Nov. 22

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3/Xbox 360) – $25 from 5:10 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. PST

Just Dance 4 (Xbox 360/Wii) – $25 from 5:10 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. PST

NBA 2K13 (PS3/Xbox 360) – $25 from 5:10 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. PST

Madden 13 (PS3/Xbox 360) – $25 from 5:10 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. PST

Xbox 360 4 GB with Kinect Holiday Value Bundle, which includes the Xbox 360 Slim console, Kinect, Disneyland Adventures, Kinect Adventures and wireless controller - $199.99 from 9:10 p.m to 11:45 p.m. PST

Friday Nov. 23

Spec Ops: The Line (PS3/Xbox 360) – $15 from 5:10 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. PST

WWE 13 (PS3/Xbox 360) – $25 from 9:10 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. PST

Max Payne 3 (PS3/Xbox 360) – $15 from 1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. PST