Steam Summer Sale 2026 Highlights

[00:00] [music]

[00:05] >> What's going on everybody? Mortem here,

[00:08] this time bringing you the highlights

[00:09] from Steam's summer sale 2026, which

[00:12] kicked off just yesterday from the time

[00:14] of this video, that is to say June 25th,

[00:17] and it will be running for 2 weeks

[00:18] ending on July 9th. And as with

[00:21] basically every year, this sale, along

[00:23] with the winter sale, tend to be some of

[00:25] the best deals you're going to get. And

[00:27] so, as somebody who reviews games, often

[00:29] talking about the price and whether or

[00:30] not you should buy something on sale,

[00:32] etc., it makes sense for me, at least,

[00:34] to cover these things, which is what

[00:35] we're doing here. But as But like I like

[00:38] to mention at the start of every one of

[00:39] these videos, I am mainly focused on

[00:41] games that have released and are going

[00:43] on sale for the first time that I've

[00:45] reviewed, as well as games that are

[00:47] relevant to upcoming releases, and some

[00:49] of, of course, the bigger deals overall.

[00:51] But that is realistically only a tiny

[00:54] fraction of the thousands of games that

[00:56] ultimately wind up participating in

[00:58] these sales. And so, if there's a good

[00:59] deal you want to mention down in the

[01:01] comments, certainly feel free to do so.

[01:03] So, hopefully, people can take advantage

[01:05] of it and play a cool game for cheap.

[01:07] And last but not least, I am based in

[01:09] the US, so I am pretty much just talking

[01:11] US dollars here, not exactly sure what

[01:12] that translates to every individual

[01:14] title for all the regions of people who

[01:16] might actually be watching this video.

[01:18] But otherwise, let's go ahead and dive

[01:20] into it. So, with Control Resonance

[01:22] upcoming later in September, I've been

[01:25] very interested in playing through Alan

[01:26] Wake 1 and 2, which I've already

[01:28] finished with 1. And in fact, you can

[01:30] pick up Alan Wake 1 and its standalone

[01:33] game American Nightmare together in a

[01:35] little bundle for 85% off, bringing that

[01:38] down to $3.75.

[01:41] That said, uh if you want to play Alan

[01:42] Wake 2 specifically, that is an Epic

[01:45] Store exclusive still, and that does not

[01:46] appear to be on sale at the moment, so

[01:48] keep that in mind. However, you can also

[01:50] get Control, which is also part of that

[01:52] universe, for 85% off as well, which is

[01:55] $6 and includes the DLC. All of those

[01:58] games were a lot of fun to play through.

[02:00] I played through Control first

[02:01] personally, really enjoyed that game.

[02:03] Alan Wake 1 I had a blast with just

[02:05] earlier this year, and I plan on

[02:06] reviewing Alan Wake 2 very soon. So,

[02:08] figured I would shout those out. Next

[02:11] up, I want to talk about a smaller title

[02:12] that I really enjoyed from earlier this

[02:14] year, and that is Banquet for Fools.

[02:16] This game is at 22% off, bringing it

[02:19] down to $15.50 roughly, and it is a

[02:22] wonderfully unique CRPG that I think is

[02:25] doing a lot of really cool and

[02:26] interesting thing. But, if you want more

[02:28] information, you'll probably want to

[02:29] watch the review on that one. But, in

[02:30] addition to being discounted, it also

[02:32] just very recently got its 1.1 update,

[02:35] which brought some new game plus game

[02:37] modes alongside some other interesting

[02:39] changes, which is very cool overall. The

[02:42] third title I want to talk about is

[02:43] Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, a remake of

[02:47] Dragon Quest 7, which is, despite the

[02:49] series entry, a relatively standalone

[02:52] title. You can jump into it on its own

[02:54] just fine, and it is 25% off, bringing

[02:56] it down to $45 US. If you like JRPGs, I

[02:59] had a lot of fun with that one earlier

[03:01] this year. And in fact, with the

[03:03] relatively recent announcement that

[03:04] they're working on Dragon Quest 12, uh

[03:06] Dragon Quest 11 is actually a game I

[03:09] will be picking up during this sale,

[03:10] which is itself half off, bringing the

[03:12] definitive edition down to like $20. I

[03:15] won't be reviewing that soon, but I'll

[03:16] get around to it eventually. Next up,

[03:18] another one of my favorite games so far

[03:20] this year, we've got Esoteric Eb. This

[03:22] is a narrative CRPG kind of Metroidvania

[03:25] something like Disco Elysium, just so

[03:27] you're aware, but it is 20% off,

[03:29] bringing it down to $20 US. And while it

[03:31] was never a terribly expensive game,

[03:33] Esoteric Eb is a really great game if

[03:36] you are into uh D&D, and of course

[03:38] narrative type games. That one will

[03:40] probably wind up ranking pretty high on

[03:43] my end-of-the-year rankings, as it were.

[03:45] Now, this next title I gave a buy on

[03:47] sale when I reviewed it because it ran

[03:49] pretty poorly, and that is High on Life

[03:51] 2. Well, since this game's initial

[03:54] release, which was a few months back,

[03:56] they have dropped several patches

[03:58] focused on fixing some of those

[03:59] technical problems and you can find it

[04:01] now for 33% off bringing it down to $40

[04:05] US. And if you like a certain type of

[04:07] crass humor that those particular games

[04:09] happen to have, which I personally find

[04:11] pretty funny, then High on Life 2 is

[04:13] potentially a pretty good time. And it

[04:16] looks like it's running better these

[04:18] days overall. And I figured I would

[04:20] point it out just for that. However, if

[04:22] you wanted to wait a little longer on

[04:24] that one, I don't think anybody would

[04:25] blame you. Another one of my favorite

[04:27] titles from this year being a boomer

[04:29] shooter and this one is Mouse PI for

[04:32] Hire, which is 20% off bringing it down

[04:35] to $24 US. And this was a delightful

[04:38] experience. I like to play these games

[04:40] to relax between all the RPGs that I

[04:43] check out and Mouse PI for Hire was a

[04:46] genuinely delightful surprise. I think

[04:48] for what it is and what it's trying to

[04:50] be, it is really high quality and well

[04:52] done. I love all the handmade art, the

[04:55] rubber hose animation, all that stuff.

[04:57] It's a great time if you're into it.

[04:59] Now, I want to talk about another JRPG,

[05:02] which is Trails in the Sky First

[05:04] Chapter, a remake to the original Trails

[05:06] in the Sky. However, at 50% off bringing

[05:09] it down to $30 US, you've got a pretty

[05:12] good entry point into the series before

[05:15] Trails in the Sky Second Chapter's

[05:17] remake drops in September. That is one

[05:19] of the games I'm looking forward to

[05:20] covering that month, though it's going

[05:22] to be a busy one. But seeing how I

[05:23] enjoyed the first one enough to look

[05:25] forward to the second one, I figured

[05:26] some people might appreciate the heads

[05:28] up on that one. Then we've got another

[05:30] boomer shooter on sale with Bolt Gun 1

[05:33] being 67%

[05:37] you can, if you like, check that out

[05:40] before Bolt Gun 2 is set to drop later

[05:42] this year bringing with it some changes

[05:45] and mix-ups to the formula, some added

[05:47] content via an extra character to play,

[05:49] that kind of thing. So, if you want to

[05:50] see where that started with the

[05:52] original, it's a pretty good time to

[05:54] jump into it before the second one

[05:55] drops. If you happen to be in the mood

[05:57] to purge some heresy, of course. Now,

[06:00] this next title is an interesting one

[06:02] because I haven't talked about it in

[06:03] quite some time, and it is none other

[06:05] than Expeditions: Rome, which is 80%

[06:08] off, bringing it down to $9 US,

[06:10] including the DLC, I believe. And while

[06:12] I haven't talked about this game for

[06:14] some time, it was actually my game of

[06:16] the year for 2022 because I enjoyed it

[06:19] so much. It is a CRPG, though more on

[06:22] the tactics side of things, that sees

[06:24] you being a stand-in for Julius Caesar,

[06:26] kind of running through a lot of what

[06:28] that looked like historically, but

[06:29] getting to make some of your own choices

[06:31] and participate in those campaigns, that

[06:33] kind of thing. And it is a shockingly

[06:35] well-done, very, very surprising game.

[06:37] And one of the reasons I wanted to bring

[06:38] it up is not only the sale, but because

[06:41] they announced a series continuation via

[06:44] Expeditions: Samurai very recently, the

[06:47] past couple of weeks, at all the

[06:48] industry shows earlier this month, which

[06:50] is noteworthy because that follows a

[06:52] bunch of drama with the creators of the

[06:55] Expeditions series and that studio and

[06:57] everything that happened there that I

[06:58] don't want to get into here. But, I will

[07:00] say Expeditions: Samurai on the art

[07:03] department does not look great to me,

[07:05] but it did give me an opportunity to

[07:06] shout out Expeditions: Rome, so figured

[07:09] I would do it. Next up, we've got The

[07:11] Witcher 3 coming in at 80% off, bringing

[07:13] it down to $10, which includes the DLC

[07:17] if you have not, in fact, for some

[07:19] reason already bought The Witcher 3.

[07:21] But, now is a shockingly good time to,

[07:23] if you haven't already, and that is, of

[07:25] course, because the announcement of an

[07:27] upcoming expansion for that game, many

[07:29] years after its release, as they, of

[07:31] course, work on The Witcher 4. I won't

[07:34] bore you with the description, The

[07:35] Witcher 3 is great, but if you want to

[07:37] take it one step farther, you can even

[07:39] pick up The Witcher 2 for $3 US and the

[07:42] original enhanced edition for $1.50.

[07:46] Only a couple more left to go. We then

[07:48] have Doom the Dark Ages, which is 67%

[07:51] off, bringing it down to $23 US. And

[07:54] this is of note because not only is it a

[07:56] fantastic game on its own, it has a DLC

[07:59] coming out relatively soon, known as

[08:01] Revelations, which is going to bring

[08:02] some new content and everything. So, if

[08:04] you want to not only get the game for

[08:06] cheaper than it would be, but you can

[08:07] also, of course, pick up that DLC, if

[08:09] you like. Though, that obviously won't

[08:11] be on sale yet. Speaking of DLC, I also

[08:13] wanted to talk a little bit about The

[08:15] Alters, which is a very bizarre survival

[08:18] game that's uh hard to describe,

[08:20] necessarily, but you basically make

[08:21] clones of yourself, known as alters, in

[08:24] order to escape a hostile planet. It is

[08:27] a very, very interesting and unique

[08:29] game. And it can be yours for 50% off at

[08:32] $17 US. But, another reason I wanted to

[08:35] bring this up is because it is also

[08:36] getting a big DLC here in just a couple

[08:39] of weeks, which I plan on jumping into

[08:41] and reviewing, as I enjoyed that game a

[08:43] lot, and hopefully other people will, as

[08:46] well. And then, to start closing this

[08:47] out with a couple games I always like to

[08:49] mention, um I've been covering Rogue

[08:51] Trader. It's final DLC is upcoming in a

[08:53] few months. However, if I'm being real

[08:55] honest, if you haven't bought that game

[08:58] already, I would probably continue to

[08:59] hold off, and the reason for that is

[09:01] that Season Pass 2 is not on sale. So,

[09:04] in order to get all the content, you

[09:06] would have to buy the base game, Season

[09:07] Pass 1, and Season Pass 2, which is

[09:10] honestly a good chunk of money for a

[09:11] sale, and you still wouldn't have the

[09:13] DLC that we are still waiting on. So,

[09:15] for that one, specifically, if you

[09:17] haven't bought it at this point, and you

[09:19] want to get it on a discount, I would

[09:20] probably just hold out until winter

[09:22] sale, personally. But, I figured

[09:24] somebody would ask, so there you go. And

[09:26] then, of course, I can't talk about

[09:27] Owlcat without talking about one of my

[09:29] favorite games of all time, Pathfinder:

[09:31] Wrath of the Righteous. You can get the

[09:34] Game of the Year Edition, which includes

[09:35] the base game and all of its DLC for the

[09:38] low low price of $12 US and considering

[09:41] I have played that game for I think it's

[09:43] like 800 something hours doing some

[09:45] quick math in my head including the time

[09:47] I spent with the closed beta I think it

[09:49] is around a little shy of 900 like

[09:52] somewhere between 850 and 900 I think.

[09:55] So rest assured that game is well worth

[09:58] the cash but I do think that is pretty

[10:00] much going to do it for the games I

[10:01] wanted to highlight during this but if

[10:03] you have anything you want to mention as

[10:05] I mentioned at the top of the video

[10:07] certainly leave it down in the comments

[10:09] section below and with any luck I may

[10:10] well just learn of some great deals to

[10:12] pick up things for future reviews on my

[10:14] own outside of of course just helping

[10:16] any wayward commenters but that of

[10:19] course means to like comment subscribe

[10:21] all that YouTube jazz but regardless of

[10:23] any of that truly just thank you so much

[10:26] for watching. I really do appreciate it.

[10:27] May you wander in wisdom and have an

[10:30] amazing day.