Steam sale calendar 2026-2027: when the next sales hit and how deep they cut
The Summer Sale is over — so when’s the next chance? Here’s the full Steam sale map for the rest of 2026 and early 2027.
Updated September 2026 with the dates Valve published in its Steamworks events calendar for the second half of the year. The big change: the Autumn Sale moved from its usual late-November slot to October 1–8.
The big four (deepest discounts)
| Sale | When | Discount level |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Sale | Mid March | High |
| Summer Sale | Late June – early July | Highest of the year (tied) |
| Autumn Sale | October 1–8, 2026 (moved up from late November) | High |
| Winter Sale | December 17, 2026 – January 4, 2027 | Highest of the year (tied) |
Rule of thumb: Summer and Winter are when all-time lows break. Autumn matches most Summer prices. Spring is one notch below.
Next up: what’s between now and December
- Autumn Sale, October 1–8: the next big one. Start times and how to prepare in our Autumn Sale 2026 guide.
- Cooking Fest, October 12–19: a themed fest. Themed fests carry smaller cuts than the big four, but real discounts on their genre.
- Steam Next Fest, October 19–26: demos galore plus launch discounts on new indies.
- Steam Scream Fest, October 26 – November 2: the horror sale.
- Auto-Battler RPG Fest, November 16–23.
- Winter Sale, December 17 – January 4: the year’s grand finale — most games return to their Summer Sale price or lower.
With the Autumn Sale in October, there’s no Steam-wide sale in Black Friday week this year. Publishers can still discount on their own, and key stores run their own Black Friday promotions.
The two facts that save you the most money
1. Discounts are flat for the whole sale. Since 2015 there are no flash deals or last-day surprises — the price you see on day one is the price on the last day. Buy whenever you decide; waiting within a sale gains nothing.
2. Sale prices repeat. A game’s Summer Sale price almost always comes back in Winter, often lower. If you miss one sale, the same deal is typically ~5 months away — or available at a key store today.
Don’t want to wait for the next sale?
Between Steam sales, key stores are the bridge: Eneba, Kinguin and Instant Gaming price independently of Valve’s calendar, and usually sit near (or below) the last sale price all year.
Or install the free SteamSage extension — it shows the best current price on every Steam page you visit, so you never have to guess whether waiting for a sale is worth it. How it works →
TL;DR
- Next big sale: Autumn, October 1–8 (then Winter, from December 17)
- Deepest sales: Summer and Winter
- Within any sale, prices don’t change — buy on day one
- Between sales, key stores usually match or beat the last sale price
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