Steam Sale Dates 2026: When Is the Next Steam Sale?

PC gaming is an expensive hobby, especially when the best PC games keep landing on your wishlist every week. As much as we want to play new titles, we also need to hunt for bargains and discounts to stretch our money further. That's why Steam sales are such a big deal for everyone playing through Steam.

Last updated: October 2026

The next big Steam sale is the Steam Winter Sale, which is due to go live on December 17, 2026, and will run through January 4, 2027. Before that, the October Steam Next Fest runs through October 26, followed by Steam Scream V Fest from October 26 to November 2. Let's go over every Steam sale event that Valve has already published.

The 2026 Steam Sales and Events Schedule

Here's the entire released schedule of upcoming Steam sales and events for the rest of 2026 and early 2027.

Steam Summer Sale 2026: June 25 to July 9

As one of the major Steam sales of the year, the Summer Sale is definitely one you shouldn't miss if you only follow a couple of events. This is two whole weeks when almost every publisher on Steam takes part, offering the best deals and deepest discounts, with AAA titles going as high as 70% off and Indies up to 90%.

Some of the games you can get in this event never see a discount at any other time. The caveat is that you're looking at potentially several titles you've been waiting to get on sale, all at the same time. That's a nice problem to have, but can your wallet handle it?

Here are a few things to take note of:

• You get notified for games in your wishlist, so add anything you're interested in to get reminders in your email.

• Flash deals are a thing of the past as Valve removed them years ago. Scheduled events are your best bet for games now.

• Summer Sale is a stacked event and is usually the first place where newer titles are discounted. This is also often the event with the biggest selection.

Steam Next Fest: June 15 to 22 and October 19 to 26

While Next Fests are technically not among the major seasonal sales, they're still worth paying attention to. This week-long event is when developers offer time-limited demos of upcoming games. Some even host livestreams and chat with players in the forums.

Valve runs three Next Fests each year on a roughly quarterly rhythm alongside the seasonal sales, and these events, called Steam festivals, break down as follows: February Steam Next Fest (February 23 to March 2), June Steam Next Fest (June 15 to 22), and October Steam Next Fest (October 19 to 26). The October event is when publishers highlight games for the Holiday sale. The next one after that is the February 2027 Steam Next Fest, running February 22 to March 1, 2027.

Steam Autumn Sale 2026: October 1 to 8

While not as big as the other spring and autumn sales that lead into the year's bigger events, this is the warm-up before the holiday rush. It's worth checking out, but don't expect the titles and discounts to be on the same level as the Holiday sale that comes around 10 weeks later. This means that unless it's a 70% off deal, it's better to skip it.

While it's not your prime sale event, the Autumn sale is the first good place to pick up indie games and summer release titles at a meaningful price cut. If you're looking for games released in Spring, this is likely the first place you'll get them at a discount.

Steam Winter Sale 2026: December 17, 2026, to January 4, 2027

The summer and winter sales are the two big seasonal events of the year, and the Winter Sale is the longest one. This one may even be bigger than the Summer sale because of how publishers line up their sales and fests with this for the year-end.

What to expect:

• Holiday Steam Points Shop items

• Custom holiday-themed Steam Points items that are limited to the event

• Year-end Steam Awards voting with bonus stickers and badges for participation

• Huge price cuts for GOTY candidate releases, often getting 30% discounts or more

Themed Fests Worth Watching Outside the Big Sales

Genre-themed sales are your best bet for hunting great discounts on Steam, where base games, DLC, and bundles often see solid price cuts. It's a great way to find hefty discounts for a specific type of game that caters to its core audience. If you're looking for tower defense games or fighting games, then themed fest events are a great place to secure hits and underdog titles at a discounted price.

Here's a list of some of the events for the 2026 calendar:

• Deckbuilder Fest (May 4 to 11): for Slay the Spire-likes, roguelike deckbuilders, and more

• Ocean Fest (May 18 to 25): New for 2026, where you'll find submarine sims, fishing games, underwater survival, and ocean exploration.

• Bullet Fest (June 8 to 15): Happens right before Next Fest, featuring Shoot-em-ups and bullet hell games.

• Train Fest (July 20 to 27): Deep discounts for Train simulation games.

• Steam Scream V Fest (October 26 to November 2): Steam's closest equivalent to a Halloween sale, with the horror catalog getting deep discounts as the biggest themed fest of Autumn.

• Auto-Battler RPG Fest (November 16 to 23): The last fest before the Winter Sale event begins, and devs sometimes preview their Winter sale prices here.

Which Steam events and sales are you looking forward to? Let us know.