Valve kicks off Steam Summer Sale 2013

Steam's 2013 Summer Sale has officially begun across the digital distribution platform, offering a series of deals from now until July 22.

While there are discounts across much of Steam catalog, Valve is continuing its tradition of running time-limited sets of additional offers. Today's daily deals, which run for 24 hours, currently include BioShock Infinite for $29.99, Endless Space for $10.19, Defiance for $13.59, Left 4 Dead 2 for $4.99, Mars for $13.39, Scribblenauts Unlimited for $4.99, Hotline Miami for $2.49, Call of Juarez Gunslinger for $10.04, Toki Tori 2 for $9.89 and Don't Starve for $11.99.

A series of flash sales will run every eight hours, and at time of writing includes Dragon Age Ultimate Edition, Grid 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

On top of that, a Community Choice sale will run every eight hours, allowing Steam users to vote from a list of three for the next bargain. Right now users can vote to see Dishonored, Borderlands 2, or Far Cry 3 featured in the next sale.

Valve has also incorporated its recently released Steam Trading Card feature into the 2013 Summer Sale, giving users the opportunity to craft a Summer Sale badge after collecting all the new, sale-specific cards.

The Summer Sale badge requires ten cards in order to craft, with a special sale-themed card available for the following games: BioShock Infinite, Chivalry, Dead Island: Riptide, Football Manager 2013, Kerbal Space Program, Prison Architect, Reus, Skyrim, Tomb Raider, and Torchlight II

Additional cards will be given to players for each $10 they spend in the sale, and users who are at Steam Level 5 or above will get an extra card for every third vote they make in the Community Choice sale.

Accompanying the onset of the sale, Valve announced it had added Steam Trading Card support for BioShock Infinite, Hotline Miami, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Defiance, Toki Tori 2, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Bastion, and Cities XL Platinum.