Trying to predict the biggest gaming sales events of the year can feel a bit like staring into a crystal ball. PC gamers used to guess the dates based on the historical patterns of previous years, but that was still never any guarantee of accuracy. Valve has finally taken out all the guesswork by simply telling us the entire schedule.
Steam Sale 2023 Dates
The list includes the biggest seasonal sales (which are indicated in bold), but Valve also gave advanced dates for its other themed fests throughout the year. These showcases will sell games at a discounted price, too. They’re just more tailored. Most are pretty self explanatory, except for SHMUP Fest, which for the uninitiated, stands for “shoot ‘em ups”.
- Mystery Fest: February 20 – 27
- Spring Sale: March 16 – 23
- Puzzle Fest: April 24 – May 1
- Sports Fest: May 15 – 22
- Next Fest: June 19 – 26
- Summer Sale: June 29 – July 13
- Stealth Fest: July 24 – 31
- Visual Novel Fest: August 7 – 14
- Strategy Fest: August 28 – September 4
- SHMUP Fest: September 25 – October 2
- Next Fest: October 9 – 16
- Return of Steam Scream Fest (Halloween): October 26 – November 2
- Autumn Sale: November 21 – 28
- Winter Sale: December 21 – January 4, 2024
Next Fest
Valve uses Next Fests to provide Steam users with previews of upcoming games. They usually include plenty of demos, livestreams, and developer events. There will be two Next Fests this year. One will take place in June, while the other occurs in October. They’ve been great opportunities to find out about indie games that I otherwise might not have heard of—and they can be for you, too.
Seasonal Sales
Of course, true Steam veterans know that some of the most aggressive discounts happen during the summer and winter sales. So if you’re really hurting for disposable income in this economy, you should plan to save your gaming budget for those two sales.
Happy discount hunting!
