Steamworks Documentation
Seasonal Sales

Overview

Four times a year, we run Steam-wide seasonal sale events. The seasonal sales are open to all released games (see FAQ) on Steam and joining is not prevented by being on discount cooldown nor does it create a discount cooldown. You can enter your discount for each via the Discount Management page.

Every game on Steam can join a seasonal sale and any discount set to 20% or greater will automatically trigger email notifications to players with your game on their wishlist. Discounted titles are eligible to appear in various 'specials' sections throughout Steam, based on your game's tags, popularity of your game, and to users that it is recommended.

The seasonal sales take over the Steam store experience in a big way, redesigning the front page to thematically show off the sale. A selection of titles will be shown on the front page in different areas and our recommendation engine will sort the featuring. The front page will refresh the options regularly throughout the sale to display fresh games for customers who are browsing often. The goal is to get every featured title a chance to maximize their visibility for the entirety of the sale, and not just a 24-hour period (which is what the featuring used to be) and to make it easy for customers to find the great games and great deals.

Dates

Winter Sale 2024 | December 19, 2024 - January 2, 2025

Spring Sale 2025 | TBD

Summer Sale 2025 | TBD

Autumn Sale 2025 | TBD

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I participate in Steam-wide seasonal sale events if my product recently launched?

A: Generally, you cannot submit a discount within 30 days of release or 30 days from when the launch discount ends, however, there are a couple options if your game "just released".
  • If your game launched 30 days prior to the start of the seasonal sale and DID NOT have a launch discount, then you are welcome to join the seasonal sale and enter a discount.
  • If your game launched 30 days prior and had a launch discount, then that discount cooldown DOES prevent you from joining the seasonal sale. You could choose to join the sale already in progress by entering a custom discount after the launch discount cooldown ends (30 days from the end date of your launch discount). There are always future opportunities to put your game on discount, so you shouldn't feel pressured to change your release date for the sake of a seasonal sale event.
  • You can now choose your launch discount duration to be between 7 to 14 days, so if you launch close to a seasonal sale and would like to have a launch discount extend into that sale, then you could choose a max launch discount duration of 14 days. We cannot extend a launch discount longer than 14 days, so you might miss the final days of a seasonal sale.

Q: I increased my price in the last 30 days for one or more currencies, can I discount?

A: No, products cannot be discounted for 30 days after any currency price increase, within 30 days of release or 30 days from when the launch discount ends. For more information on pricing, see our documentation here.