Steam’s spring sale has officially sprung, bringing an array of mighty discounts like Doom 2016 for less than two dollars, and Undertale for less than one. But the best discount by raw percentage is delivered by EA, which offers multiplayer shooter Battlefield 1 for a whopping 95% off.
Released in 2016, Battlefield 1 has largely maintained its value over the last nine years, typically selling for $40/£35. But EA’s massive discount brings it crashing down to $2/£1.50. It seems like a heck of a bargain, but it is worth pausing to ask whether a nine-year-old Battlefield game is worth buying in the first instance.
The short answer is yes. The long answer is as follows: Battlefield 1 is the best entry in the series DICE has made since the series departed the modern era in the early 2010s. As PC Gamer’s Global EIC Phil Savage noted in his review from the time, Battlefield 1 successfully blends its First World War theme with everything that makes Battlefield what it is. “Battlefield 1’s little differences mean better infantry combat, a heightened sense of destruction, and a pace that feels more deliberate and tactical,” he wrote in 2016.
Moreover, loads of people are still playing Battlefield 1. According to Steamcharts, just over 20,000 virtual soldiers were engaged in trench warfare in the last 24 hours, so you’ll have more than enough people to enjoy multiplayer.
Even if you’re not into multiplayer, Battlefield 1 has a surprisingly decent single-player campaign too. On its own, it probably isn’t strong enough to warrant a purchase at the standard price, but it’ll definitely give you enough bang for your two bucks.
It’s also worth noting that this is the ‘Revolution’ version of Battlefield 1, which bundles in the four ‘premium pass’ expansion packs that add new weapons, maps and so forth, alongside three further packs based around recognisable figures from the war, like the Red Baron and Lawrence of Arabia.
Battlefield 1 isn’t the only game in the series going cheap either. Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 are each available for $2/£1.74, while the slightly less well regarded Battlefield 5 is on sale at $2.50/£2.24. The most recent game, Battlefield 2042, is on a similarly impressive discount to BF1, down 92% at $4.79/£4. While it’s generally considered the weakest entry in the series for some time, EA has improved the experience since launch, so it might be worth giving a go at that price.
All these deals run until March 20 when the Spring sale ends. If you moved away from Battlefield in the last few years, now seems like an opportune time to sample its more recent iterations before Battlefield 6 arrives. We don’t know exactly when that’ll be, but EA revealed it was in full production last year. It also recently shared a whole 10 seconds of it, with that short clip suggesting Battlefield is finally returning to the modern era of warfare.