Steam Winter Sale 2026: Dates, Start Time and Every Steam Sale Until Summer 2027

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Steam Winter Sale 2026: dates and start time

The dates come from Valve's Upcoming Steam Events page on Steamworks, where Valve tells developers when to submit discounts. Valve's public announcement normally goes up on the first day of the sale. The 2025 Winter Sale ran from 18 December 2025 to 5 January 2026, so 2026 starts and ends one day earlier.

Steam sale dates 2026: what ran and what is left

Valve runs four store-wide seasonal sales a year. In 2026 three are already over. The rest of the year has two themed fests and the Winter Sale.

Valve also announced at least 20 themed fests this year, from Detective Fest in January to Cooking Fest in October. Themed fests only cover one kind of game, so only the four seasonal sales put the whole store on sale at once.

Steam sale calendar 2027: every sale and fest Valve has published

Valve calls the page “what's currently announced”, so fests can still be added. The Autumn Sale 2027 has no date yet.

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Next Steam sale: what comes after Next Fest

As of 22 October 2026 the next event with discounts is Steam Scream V Fest from 26 October to 2 November, for horror games and games built around Halloween. After that comes Auto-Battler RPG Fest from 16 to 23 November. The next sale across the whole store is the Winter Sale on 17 December.

Next Fest, running now, is about free demos of unreleased games, not discounts. Valve says themed fests prioritise discounted games but also welcome free games, games that are still Coming Soon and games with demos, so a fest page is not a guarantee that a game you want is cheaper.

• Seasonal sale: any game released at least 30 days before the start can join, from any genre.
• Themed fest: only games that fit the theme, usually for a week.
• Publisher sale: developers can also set their own discounts on their own schedule, outside Steam events.

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Small paid games add up across sales, and every listing shows the full library so you can check for them.

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Steam Black Friday 2026: is there a sale?

Black Friday is on 27 November 2026, and Valve's schedule has no Steam-wide event that week: Auto-Battler RPG Fest ends on 23 November and the Winter Sale starts on 17 December. People search for a Steam Black Friday sale because the Autumn Sale used to fall on that weekend. Since 2025 it no longer does.

Valve said itself in 2025 that the Autumn Sale was “earlier than usual” and that this was intentional. Individual publishers can still discount their games on Black Friday, because Valve lets them run their own discounts, but there is no store-wide sale to wait for. The 2026 Autumn Sale post made no mention of Steam Awards nominations either.

Steam Awards 2026: when nominations should open

Valve has not announced the 2026 Steam Awards as of 22 October 2026. Here is how the 2025 edition ran, from Valve's own posts:

2025 had 11 categories, and nominating in at least one earned the 2025 Steam Awards Nominations badge. If Valve repeats the pattern, nominations would open in late November 2026 and voting would start with the Winter Sale on 17 December. That is a pattern, not a Valve date.

Steam sale tips that actually hold up

If you mainly want big paid games in one go, compare that with an existing library. Our most played Steam games 2026 list shows which paid games most people are actually playing, and the Full Access vs NFA guide explains what to check on any account.

Frequently asked questions

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Sources and editorial scope

Reviewed 22 October 2026. Sale and fest dates for October 2026 to July 2027: Valve's Upcoming Steam Events (Steamworks). Past sales, times and the Steam Awards timeline: Valve's announcements in the Steam news feed, including Autumn Sale 2026, Summer Sale 2026, Spring Sale 2026, Winter Sale 2025, 2025 Steam Awards nominations, Next Fest October 2026 and Cooking Fest, plus the 2023 to 2025 Autumn and Winter Sale posts. Discount and wishlist rules: Steamworks discounting documentation. Refunds: Steam refund policy. Time-zone conversions assume Valve's usual 10 a.m. Pacific start.

The Steam Subscriber Agreement does not allow you to sell your Steam account or otherwise transfer it. Nothing in this guide changes that or removes the risk of account action.