Steam’s biggest end-of-year discount season is almost here. The Steam Winter Sale 2025 runs from December 18, 2025 through January 5, 2026, kicking off at the usual 10 a.m. Pacific time. If your wishlist has been quietly growing all year, this is the stretch when Valve fans traditionally turn from “maybe later” into “okay fine, I’ll buy it.”
What the Winter Sale Usually Brings
The Winter Sale is Steam’s broadest seasonal event, meaning discounts land across practically every genre and publisher tier. Expect the familiar mix:
- Big cuts on older blockbusters and complete editions
- Meaningful discounts on 2025 hits that already had a summer or autumn sale dip
- Smaller but still worthwhile drops on newer releases as studios chase holiday traffic
- Bundles and franchise packs that make catching up on series cheaper than buying standalone entries
Valve hasn’t done flash sales or rotating daily deals for years, so discounts should stay stable for the whole period.
How to Shop Smart This Year
Based on past Winter Sales, a few patterns are worth keeping in mind:
- Your wishlist is still the best radar
Steam notifies you the moment a wishlisted game goes on sale, and Winter Sale tends to hit a larger percentage of wishlists than any other event. - Complete editions matter
Publishers love using Winter Sale to push “ultimate” or “gold” versions with all DLC included. If you’re on the fence about a long RPG or live-service title, this is often the cheapest way to jump in properly. - Older hits go very low
Games that are two or more years old frequently hit their lowest price point of the year here. If you missed a celebrated release in 2023 or 2024, odds are good it’ll be aggressively discounted. - Indies get real spotlight
Winter Sale front pages usually highlight curated indie sections. Even if your budget is tight, it’s a great time to discover smaller games for the price of a coffee.
Steam Awards: Finalists and Winners
The sale also doubles as the final voting period for the 2025 Steam Awards. Finalists will be revealed right as the Winter Sale begins on December 18, and community voting will run throughout the event. Winners will be announced on January 3, 2026, giving the last weekend of the sale a little extra hype as players pile into discounted nominees.
In past years, Steam Awards results have been a solid late-sale compass: if you’re unsure what to grab during the final days, watching which games win Game of the Year, Outstanding Story-Rich Game, or Labor of Love often points you toward the community’s real standouts.
The Bottom Line
Winter Sale season is less about a single jaw-dropping discount and more about volume: a huge sweep of worthwhile deals, easy wishlist hunting, and one last chance to grab 2025’s best games before the calendar flips. With awards voting layered on top, it’s also a rare moment when Steam feels like a shared celebration rather than just a storefront. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to stock up for the cold months, this is it.
