Steam sale dates: When is the next Steam sale?

1 year ago 106

(Image credit: Valve)

It's never too early to plan your penny-saving with a Steam Sale schedule. In times past, predicting Steam sales was more soothsaying than science, but we're in a beautiful new world of predictable price cuts. Nowadays, Valve reveals Steam Sale dates well in advance, major seasonal sales serve as reliable quarterly landmarks, and—best of all—there's no messy augury required. Still, with Steam now rolling out frequent genre-specific sales, it can be helpful to have someone keeping the calendar. That's where we come in. We're tracking all the confirmed Steam Sale dates as they're announced, so you can focus on curating your wishlist. You're welcome.

The seasonal sales during Summer, Autumn, Winter generally offer the widest and deepest selection of discounts, and a Spring sale will take the place of the Lunar New Year sale to fill out the seasonal rotation. Between seasonal sales, there are genre-specific "Fests" offering discounts on specific game categories.

Whether you're looking for the best time for a genre-specific fix or marking your calendar for the tentpole seasonal sales, here's your handbook for expanding your Steam library—without emptying your wallet.

When is the next Steam sale?

The Steam Spring Sale is live today starting at 10am PT, running until March 23, 2023. A new replacement for the Lunar New Year sale, we're hoping the Spring Sale has similar discounts to the other quarterly sale events. Afterwards, we'll have genre-specific Puzzle and Sports sales in April and May respectively, before the Summer Sale returns in June.

Here are all the upcoming Steam sale dates we know so far:

Jan 23 - Jan 30, 2023: Base Builder Fest
Feb 20 - Feb 27, 2023: Mystery Fest
Mar 16 - Mar 23, 2023: Steam Spring Sale
Apr 24 - May 1, 2023: Puzzle Fest
May 15 - May 22, 2023: Sports Fest
Jun 29 - Jul 13, 2023: Steam Summer Sale
Jul 24 - Jul 31, 2023: Stealth Fest
Aug 7 - Aug 14, 2023: Visual Novel Fest
Aug 28 - Sep 4, 2023: Strategy Fest
Sep 25 - Oct 2, 2023: SHMUP Fest
Oct 26 - Nov 2, 2023: Scream Fest (Halloween)
Nov 21 - Nov 28, 2023: Steam Autumn Sale
Dec 21, 2023 - Jan 4, 2024: Steam Winter Sale

Steam Sales - Gabe Newell in a crown distributes discounts

How long do Steam sales last?

The Summer and Winter sales are the big ones. They tend to last two weeks (ish). The smaller Spring and Autumn sales, along with the genre Fests, all last about a week.

What times of the year does Steam have sales?

Steam now has sales nearly every month of the year, but the seasonal sales most folks look forward to are the Summer Sale and Winter Sale and to a lesser extent the Halloween Sale and Black Friday (Autumn) Sale.

As for which Steam sale is biggest, we tend to see the steepest discounts in the Summer and Winter sales, with the Summer sales offering the choicest selection. With Autumn and Winter sales following so close on the heels of Fall release season, there tend to be fewer big, recent titles with hefty discounts. By the following summer you can get great discounts on relatively new games. (Here's how long it usually takes for games to get cheap on Steam.)

In the past, when we've rounded up the best Steam deals ever (opens in new tab), we've seen some remarkable discounts. Valve's Portal 2 went from $50 to $5 in the Summer Sale a year after release.

Don't entirely ignore the smaller, genre-themed sales throughout the year, though. They might not offer as deep discounts on as wide a selection as the seasonal sales, but they're still worth a look if you've been craving the kind of gameplay being highlighted and can't wait until the next headliner sale.

Steam Next Fest logo

(Image credit: Valve)

When is the next Steam Next Fest?

The next Steam Next Fest will run from June 19 - 26, 2023. These festivals usually happen close to Steam's bigger yearly sales, and Valve has also confirmed another Next Fest for later this year in October of 2023.

Steam Festivals (now called Next Fest) aren't sales, exactly, but they're another way to play games for cheap. Since 2020, Steam has been running regular festival weeks where hundreds of upcoming games offer free demos for you to play. It can be a daunting list to sort through, like sales are, but it's a great way to try something you've had your eye on.

Steam sale tips

Use your wishlist

Whenever you see a game you might want, add it to your wishlist. You will receive notifications when wishlisted games are on sale and having a list makes it easier to resist buying unlisted games for the sake of it on impulse. If a game is not on your list, do you really want it?

Looking for a way to quickly fill up your wishlist? Check out our round up of the top 100 games (opens in new tab) you can play on PC today. Here are 100 other smaller games (opens in new tab) judged by algorithm to be the best hidden gems on Steam. And these are the best PC games we recommend right now.

Keep an eye on publisher bundles

Publisher bundles can knock lots of money off entire series or catalogues. If you want to buy an individual Hitman game then you might want to check for a series bundle—chances are you could get all of the games for not much more.

Snap up expansions and DLC

Expansions can often feel a little overpriced, especially if they're only adding a few hours of new stuff to your game. In Steam sales you can pick up a lot of DLC for just a few bucks and reinvigorate games in your back catalogue.

Stock up on indie treats

You can get big percentage discounts on big budget games in the major Steam Sales, but even with a hefty trim those games can still cost 20 or 30 bucks. If you want to maximise the amount of play time you get out of a Steam sale, quality indie games go down to dollars, and even cents. If you need more storage to hold them all, these are the best SSDs for gaming right now.

You can always wait for another sale

If you're not going to play a game before the next big Steam sale rolls around, you might as well wait. Chances are the discounts will increase as the annual sales roll by, all while you're clearing your backlog.

It's also much easier to wait on a purchase these days because there are no daily or flash deals. If you see a discount, you know that's going to be stable until the end of the sale so you can wait a few days to make a decision. Maybe that'll give you time to upgrade to one of the best gaming PCs, or pick out a new graphics card if you need to upgrade.

Check on weekends for publisher or themed sales

It's not uncommon for a publisher to showcase all of its products on sale during a weekend, an event which is usually marked by a homepage takeover of sorts. Look out for these if you're after a blockbuster game at a better price.

Consider Steam resellers if you don't want to wait for a sale

Check out our guide on where to buy PC games (opens in new tab), if you want more places to shop around.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.