GUIDES

How long do Steam sales last?

Steam sales run to a predictable clock: seasonal events last around two weeks, weekly deals about seven days, and prices do not change halfway through. Here is the timing in full.

By Stephen V.Deal hunter & value analystPublished August 18, 2026How we pick

A row of red SALE price tags on a red background — how long Steam sales last

The short answer: Steam's big seasonal sales run about two weeks, its autumn event runs closer to five days, and the weekly and publisher sales last roughly a week each. The more useful answer is that the price does not change during a sale — so unless the event is genuinely about to end, there is no reason to rush a purchase.

This page covers duration and timing: how long each kind of sale lasts, when they start and finish, and how to tell how much time you actually have. For which sales happen and roughly when in the year, see the Steam sale schedule.

Typical durations

Sale type	Typical length	What to expect
Summer Sale	About two weeks	The longest-running of the mid-year events. Historically opens in the final week of June and runs into early July.
Winter Sale	About two weeks	Starts in the third week of December and typically runs into the first days of January. The broadest sale of the year.
Autumn Sale	About a week	Now runs in early October — Valve moved it out of Thanksgiving week in 2025. Notably shorter than the summer and winter events, so this is the one where the deadline actually matters.
Spring / Lunar New Year events	Roughly one week	Shorter and less consistent year to year. Treat them as a bonus rather than a fixture.
Weekly and midweek deals	About a week	A rotating set of discounts that changes on a weekly rhythm, most commonly refreshing on a Thursday.
Publisher and franchise sales	Several days to a week	One studio or series at a time. These sometimes beat a seasonal price on the specific games they cover.

These are historical patterns, not confirmed dates. Valve does not pre-announce its sales, and lengths have varied by a day or two. Anything claiming to know exactly when the next sale ends before Valve has said so is guessing.

What time do Steam sales start and end?

Steam sales have consistently started and ended at 10am Pacific time— 1pm Eastern, and evening in most of Europe. That applies at both ends: the sale goes live at 10am Pacific on its first day, and the discounts lift at 10am Pacific on the final day. The "last day" of a sale is therefore a morning, not a full day, which is the single most common way people miss a price they meant to buy.

The countdown on the store page is the authoritative source once a sale is running. It shows the real remaining time; if it says two days, you have two days.

The price does not change mid-sale

This is the part worth internalizing, because it removes almost all of the urgency. Steam used to run flash sales and daily deals that changed prices within an event, which made refreshing the store several times a day rational. Valve dropped that model years ago. Now a game's sale price is set when the event begins and holds until it ends.

Practical consequence: buying on day one and buying on the last morning cost the same. There is no advantage to camping the store, and no risk in taking a day to think about a purchase — only the risk of forgetting before the sale closes.

How to tell if waiting for the next sale is worth it

If a game is not discounted in the current event, the next seasonal sale is usually somewhere between six weeks and four months away depending on where you are in the year. That is the real cost of waiting. Weigh it against the size of the discount you are hoping for, and check the game's historical low first — our price-tracking guide shows how. A game already sitting at its all-time low is not going to reward another three months of patience.

Timing a Steam purchase properly

Check the countdown, not a blog. Once a sale is live, the timer on the store page is the only accurate source for when it ends.
Remember sales end in the morning, Pacific time. If the last day is Monday, the price is gone by mid-morning Pacific, not at midnight.
Do not refresh for a better price. Sale prices hold for the whole event. If you saw it yesterday, it is the same today.
Buy at the historical low, not at the biggest percentage. A short autumn sale at a real low beats a two-week summer sale at a mediocre price.
Wishlist instead of remembering. Steam emails you when a wishlisted game discounts, which is far more reliable than trying to be online at the right time.

Once you know the timing, buying well on Steam is mostly patience plus a wishlist. The rest of the calendar is in the Steam sale schedule, and the December window specifically is in our Steam Winter Sale guide.

Questions

Frequently asked

01How long does the Steam Summer Sale last?

About two weeks. It has historically opened in the final week of June and run into early July. Valve does not announce the dates in advance, so treat that as a reliable pattern rather than a confirmed schedule.

02What time does a Steam sale end?

Steam sales have consistently ended at 10am Pacific time — 1pm Eastern — on their final day. That means the last day is effectively a morning. If you are waiting until the deadline, buy the night before rather than during the final day.

03Do Steam prices change during a sale?

No. Valve retired flash sales and daily deals years ago, so a game's discounted price is set when the event starts and holds until it ends. Buying on the first day and the last morning costs exactly the same.

04How often are Steam sales?

There is essentially always something discounted: weekly deals rotate every week, publisher sales run continuously, and four or five larger seasonal events land through the year. The calendar is in the Steam sale schedule.

05How long until the next Steam sale?

It depends where you are in the year, but the gap between major seasonal events is typically somewhere between six weeks and four months. If you are within a few weeks of one, waiting is usually worth it; if it is months away and the game is at its historical low, buy now.

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