This guide is for Steam users who want to get games they will actually play at a fair price during sales. It covers the kinds of sales Steam runs, what a "historical low" really means, how to prepare before a big event, and what to check before you hit the purchase button. It deliberately does not list current prices, because those change constantly. The goal is a method you can reuse every time.
Back when games came in boxes, discounts mostly meant a store clearing old stock, and catching one was luck. Digital distribution made discounts frequent and transparent, but it also made impulse buying much easier. Knowing the rules is what actually saves money.
The Kinds of Steam Sales
Seasonal sales
Steam holds several large seasonal sales each year, generally in spring, summer, autumn and winter. These events feature a very large number of discounted games and often come with community events and limited Points Shop items. Nominations for the Steam Awards usually open during the autumn sale and the results are announced during the winter sale. Exact dates vary each year and are announced by Valve; we keep a separate article on this year's sale calendar (Understanding the Steam Sale Calendar).
Themed fests
Between the seasonal sales, Steam runs smaller events built around a genre or play style, such as puzzle, strategy, survival or horror fests. If you have a favorite genre, these are often where its games get discounted. Steam Next Fest is a different kind of event: it focuses on demos of upcoming games rather than discounts.
Weekly and publisher sales
Every week there are short promotions such as midweek and weekend deals, as well as sales run by a single publisher or developer. Publisher sales are useful for filling in a series, because related games are often discounted together.
Individual discounts
Developers can also discount a game on their own schedule, for example around a major update or a DLC release, outside of any big event.
Do Prices Change During a Seasonal Sale?
Steam's seasonal sales once had daily deals and flash sales that changed prices during the event. More recent seasonal sales keep one discount for the whole event, so the price you see on day one is generally the price for the duration. That means you do not need to check in every day. Rules can change, though, so read the event page each time.
How to Judge a "Historical Low"
A historical low is the lowest price a game has ever sold for in a particular store. A few things to keep in mind:
- Which store and which region: Steam prices vary by region. Look at price history in your own currency, not someone else's.
- Which edition: the standard edition, the deluxe edition and bundles each have their own price history.
- How often it happens: some games hit the same low in every major sale, so missing one is not a big deal. Others rarely get that cheap.
- A low price is not a reason to buy: if you have no time to play it, or your PC cannot run it, it is not a bargain.
Third-party price trackers show detailed price history; our guide to tracking prices with SteamDB (Tracking Steam Prices with SteamDB and Our Deal Pages) explains how. Our popular deals page (Popular Deals) lists currently discounted games with solid reviews, which is a reasonable place to start filtering.
Preparing Before a Big Sale
When a big sale starts, the front page is packed with recommendations, and picking on the spot means letting the front page choose for you. A week or two before, work through these steps:
- Clean up your wishlist. Remove games you no longer care about and rank the rest by how much you want them.
- Look up the discount history of your top picks and write down the price at which you will buy.
- Set a total budget, including any DLC you are likely to want.
- Check your wallet balance or payment method. If you top up with prepaid wallet cards, do it before the sale starts.
- Check free disk space. Large games can easily need tens of gigabytes or more.
- Turn on wishlist sale notifications so Steam alerts you when a game is discounted (see Steam Wishlist Guide).
A Pre-Checkout Checklist
Once games are in your cart, spend a minute on each of these:
- Languages: does it support the interface, subtitle or audio language you need?
- System requirements: does your PC meet the minimum, ideally the recommended, specs?
- Recent reviews: are recent reviews much worse than the overall rating? That can signal a problematic update.
- Edition contents: do you want what the deluxe edition adds? Does a bundle include items you already own?
- Extra accounts or launchers: some games require a separate publisher account; the store page usually says so.
- Early Access status: the game is still in development and may be incomplete.
How bundle pricing works
Steam bundles use "complete the set" pricing: if you already own some items in a bundle, their value is deducted and you pay only for the rest (the store page shows the exact amount). This often makes finishing a series or a set of DLC cheaper than buying the pieces separately. Note the difference between a bundle and a package: packages have a fixed price that does not drop based on what you already own.
Common Mistakes
- Paying full price shortly before a big sale for a game you do not need right now: unless you want it on launch day, waiting usually pays off. Whether a given game joins a sale is up to its publisher, so there is no guarantee.
- Hoarding because it is cheap: small purchases add up, and many hoarded games never get opened.
- Looking only at the percentage: half off an expensive game can still cost more than ninety percent off a cheap one. Look at the actual price and your budget.
- Forgetting the refund policy: if a purchase does not work out, the standard guideline is a request within 14 days of purchase and under 2 hours of playtime; check Steam's official support pages for the current rules.
- Signing in through "deal" links: fake sites are especially common during sales. Always reach the store through the official address or the client.
FAQ
Q: Is a game bought on sale any different from one bought at full price?
No. Content, updates and cloud saves are identical. Only the price differs.
Q: I bought a game just before it went on sale. What can I do?
Steam does not offer price protection. If the purchase still falls within the refund guidelines you can request a refund, but approval is up to Steam; check Steam's official support pages for the current rules. The better habit is simply to wait when a big sale is close.
Q: Do free-to-play games take part in sales?
The base game is already free, but DLC, season passes or in-game items sometimes get discounted. That is different from paid games being given away for a limited time, which you can follow on our free games page (Free Games).
Q: A game is cheaper in another store. Is that okay?
Yes, as long as it is an authorized retailer and the key works in your region. Keys from unclear sources can be revoked, so be careful with prices that look too good.
Q: When do the seasonal sales start?
Roughly once each in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Exact dates change every year and are announced by Valve.