There’s no better time to pick up games on a discount than during Steam sales. Valve’s storefront is known for hosting sales quite regularly, most of which offer mouth-watering discounts on the biggest AAA and indie games. While its most popular promotions are tied to seasonal sales, Steam also features more thematic discounts throughout the year. So, if you’re looking to keep up with its schedule in 2026, we’ve put together a list of the next Steam sales and their dates in this guide.
Current Steam Sale
The current Steam sale is the Detective Fest. As the name suggests, the promotion focuses on titles that have you investigating clues and making discoveries as you try to piece together a larger mystery. It kicked off on January 12, 2026, and will end on January 19, 2026
Throughout its duration, you can take advantage of discounts on visual novel adventures such as the Ace Attorney franchise, noir thrillers like Disco Elysium, and bona fide classics like the Outer Worlds – all of which are some of the best games on Steam.
Next Steam Sale Date and Time
The next Steam sale is the Board Games Fest. It’ll celebrate titles that manage to replicate the tactile fun of a board game in a digital format. The upcoming promotion will kick off on January 26 and end after a week on February 2.
While it’s live, you can look forward to discounts on excellent board games such as Kingdomino, Eldritch Horror, Sinoda, and many others. To help you keep track of its arrival, we’ve put together a handy timer to count down the release of the next Steam sale:
The Steam Board Games Fest in now live!
Upcoming Steam Sale Dates in 2026
The Steam sale calendar mixes genre-focused events with larger seasonal sales throughout the year. Each type of sale has its own advantages. So, while the seasonal sales offer the widest selection and often the deepest discounts, genre festivals help you discover new games in specific categories. With that said, here are all the upcoming Steam Sales in 2026:
- Detective Fest: January 12 – January 19 (ONGOING)
- Board Games 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): February 23 – March 2
- Tower Defense Fest: March 9 – March 16
- 2026 Steam Spring Sale: March 19 – March 26
- House & Home Fest: March 30 – April 6
- Hidden Object Fest: April 9 – April 13
- Medieval Fest: April 20 – April 27
- Deckbuilders Fest: May 4 – May 11
- Ocean Fest: May 18 – May 25
- Bullet Fest: June 8 – June 15
- Steam Next Fest (June): June 15 – June 22
- 2026 Steam Summer Sale: June 25 – July 9
- Social Deduction Fest: July 13 – July 16
- Train Fest: July 20 – July 27
- Cyberpunk Fest: August 3 – August 10
- Pins & Pegs Fest: August 17 – August 20
- PvE Survival Fest: August 31 – September 7
- Programming Fest: September 10 – September 14
- Party-Based RPG Fest: September 14 – September 21
- 2026 Steam Autumn Sale: October 1 – October 8
- Cooking Fest: October 12 – October 19
- Steam Next Fest (October): October 19 – October 26
- Steam Scream V Fest: October 26 – November 2
- Auto-Battler RPG Fest: November 16 – November 23
- 2026 Steam Winter Sale: December 17 – January 4, 2027
As you can see, the list covers all upcoming Steam sales throughout the year. We’ll be sure to update this article in case any new promotions are announced.
When is the Next Major Steam Sale?
The next major Steam sale will be the 2026 Spring sale event. Scheduled to kick off on March 19, it is expected to bring fresh discounts on some of the biggest 2025 games, including the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Blue Prince, Doom: The Dark Ages, and many others. Besides this, you can look forward to deep price cuts on games from 2024 and before.
How Often Are Steam Sales?
New Steam sales pop up almost every month – a majority of which are more genre-focused “fests.” These shine the spotlight on a particular niche and offer discounts on a range of games belonging to that category. Of course, what fans eagerly await are the quarterly seasonal sales, which occur four times a year: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. These provide the widest selection of deals and the sweetest discounts.
Among the four, the Summer and Winter Steam sales are particularly noteworthy. During the former, you’ll find deep price cuts on games released in 2025, while the latter will bring some tempting price cuts on titles released this year.
The Best Steam Sale Tips
The sheer volume of games on sale, paired with eye-catching discount percentages, is enough to send our consumer brains into a frenzy. But this is far from the ideal approach to get the best value from these events. So, if you want to make the next Steam sale a shopping success, keep the following tips in mind:
Stick to Your Wishlist
I know firsthand just how tempting it is to deviate from your wish list and pick up a newly-discounted game that you’re semi-interested in. But take it from me, it’s a waste. The title in your wishlist is there for a reason. You saw its trailers, you read about it online – you’ve already put in the legwork. Trust your initial instincts and keep your wallet shut if it isn’t on sale. There’s no harm in occasionally trying out something new, but your wishlist should dictate your purchasing decisions during most sales.
Use SteamDB
SteamDB is a free-to-use database that tracks the current prices and price histories of almost every game listed on the platform. During a sale, we recommend checking out the website and using filters such as discount percentages and reviews to uncover the best deals on offer. If you’re deciding whether it’s the right time to pull the trigger on a purchase you’ve been eyeing up for a while, take a look at its price history to see if it could receive an even better discount in the future.
Keep an Eye Out for Publisher Sales
On seemingly random weekends, publishers can take over the Steam homepage and announce beefy discounts on their games. These announcements are impossible to miss if you fire up Steam every weekend, so make sure to take full advantage. In particular, we recommend picking up publisher bundles – which usually offer two or three games for the price of one – especially if it’s a franchise you’re interested in.
And that covers everything in our guide on the next Steam sale. We’ll be updating this article with the latest sales almost every week, so be sure to check back. Are you looking forward to any of the sales above besides the big four? Let us know in the comments below.
Steam sales typically last for about a week, although the bigger seasonal sales can run for over two weeks.
Steam Next Fest is actually coming up quite soon. The next edition will run from February 23 to March 2.
Yes. Steam’s refund policy is always in place. If you haven’t played the game for over two hours, and it isn’t 14 days old, you can refund it.
