When it comes to gaming discounts, nothing beats all the Steam sales heading our way. Picking up massive discounts and clearing out your wishlist is always a joy, and now the holidays just got a lot more fun thanks to the Steam Winter sale finally arriving.
That's right, the final event on Valve's 2025 sales schedule kicks off in just a few hours, and that means any titles you may have missed from our list of the best Autumn Steam sale games may have their prices slashed again. The Winter sale is the biggest and longest of the year, so chances are you don't want to miss a second of it. But you may also be wondering, with all the upcoming PC games of 2026 already filling out the calendar, what next year's sales look like as well. Well, to make sure you can make the most of the rest of the discounts on the docket, we've made a complete list of all the dates and information about the Winter sale as well as the 2026 Steam sales, too.
Below, we take you through all the information that you need to get the most out of the last 2025 sale, list the first half of 2026's Steam sales, as well as break down what you need to do ahead of the events, and how long they last. We've made sure to answer all your questions here, but if you are still feeling stuck, you can also leave us a comment with any queries down below. With all that out of the way, let's crack on with this helpful guide of all of the Steam sale events yet to come.
When is the next Steam sale?
The Steam Winter Sale is the next big sale and starts today on December 18 @10AM PT and @6PM GMT if you are in the UK. The sale will run until January 5, 2026.
This is the last Steam Sale of 2025 and technically the first of 2026, as well, and it runs for over just over two weeks. That also means there is plenty of time to browse and pick something up during the Holidays. However, if for some reason you end up missing it, don't worry because there will be another Steam Next Fest coming up in February, as well as a bunch of mini Fests sprinkled throughout January as well. You can also expect to see lots of exciting demos for some of the best games of 2025 drop over the course of these sales events.
To participate in the sales, you'll need to have a Steam account (which is free to create). So, if you want to make the most of all the money-saving deals, be sure to sign up for Steam.
All the upcoming Steam sale dates
Steam has sales periodically throughout the year. So, if you want to keep track of all the upcoming events, you can read our list below, where we've collected all the important Steam sale dates and other events on offer on Valve's platform throughout the first half of 2026.
- Steam Winter Sale: December 18 – January 5, 2026
- Detective Fest: January 12 – January 19
- Board Game Fest: January 26 – February 2
- Typing Fest: February 5 – February 9
- PvP Fest: February 9 – February 16
- Horse Fest: February 19 – February 23
- Steam Next Fest: February 23 – March 2
- Tower Defense Fest: March 9 – March 16
- Steam Spring Sale 2026: March 19 – March 26
- House & Home Fest: March 30 – April 6
- Hidden Object Fest: April 9 – April 13
- Medieval Fest: April 20 – April 27
What is the biggest Steam Sale of the year?
The biggest Steam sales tend to be the Summer sale and the Winter sale, as they often see the biggest discounts.
They also run significantly longer than the other Steam sales in the calendar, which typically last for only a week. Instead, the Summer sale lasts for around 14 days, while the Winter sale runs for around 19 days. This means more discounts to be claimed and more games on offer to browse through for deals.
The Summer and Winter sales are the periods where you'll likely find the big discounts for recent releases that came out early in the year or during the end of 2024. So it's worth keeping track of your wishlist during this time to jump on any price reductions for those massive games that were just a tad too expensive for you at the time of their launch.
While the Summer and Winter sales are the biggest on Steam's calendar generally, the platform has some great discounts throughout the year. Along with all of its scheduled events, there are often publisher sales as well. For example, Ubisoft recently had a Steam sale where several of the Assassin's Creed games and more were discounted.
It's always a good idea to keep an eye on Steam for opportunities such as those and to keep your wishlist curated so that you get notified anytime a title you really really want gets a discount.
How long do Steam sales last?
Most Steam sales and events last for around seven days. However, there are certain events that run for longer than a week, such as the Steam Summer sale and the Steam Winter sale.
That may seem like a short time to get everything you need or want. However, a big thing to remember is that you can always wait for another sale if you run out of time. Steam has tons of discounts running throughout the year that hit during themed "Fest" events, publisher sales, and seasonal Steam sales as well.
That means that you'll likely see discounts return periodically and will still be able to make the most of various discounts throughout the year. The clock is on your side when it comes to Steam sales!
If you are waiting for a certain sale to take place, you can also check out our list of the best PC games to play in the meantime.
Steam sale rewards
Not every Steam sale has rewards. However, the majority of the seasonal ones do offer some kind of prize for participating in the event—be that limited stickers that unlock once a day to claim or trading cards.
Trading cards are typically available to collect during the Summer and Winter sales. Through collecting all of the Steam sale trading cards, you'll be able to craft a badge, which you can display on your profile page. In the past, we've seen that trading cards are rewarded for every purchase over $10 during sales that offer them.
You'll also be able to sell and buy Steam Sale trading cards on the Steam marketplace during and for 30 days after the event. And, of course, you can also trade cards with your friends if you have any duplicates and are aiming to craft badges without breaking the bank. Crafting a Steam sale badge will also give you additional rewards, such as an emoticon and a profile background, as well as profile XP.
However, as I mentioned above, not every Steam sale offers trading cards, so be sure to double-check the details of the sale you are participating in so that you don't spend any extra money trying to unlock cards that aren't even on offer.
Keep your wishlist fresh with our guides on all the new games of 2026 heading our way and the most exciting upcoming indie games on the horizon.
