For many gamers, Steam sales are the perfect opportunity to purchase new games and fill their backlog. As the next Autumn Sale is in about two months, Steam announced changing its schedule to replace one of the yearly sales with another one. The Lunar Year Sale, which usually runs from the end of January to the beginning of February, is no more. Instead, Steam will launch a new Spring Sale in March.
According to Steam, the addition of a Spring Sale was a popular request from their developer and publisher community. The Lunar Year Sale was too close to the Winter Sale, so the addition of a new sale a few months later gives more time and opportunity for developers to plan their discounting calendar.
Here are the dates for the upcoming Steam sales:
- Autumn Sale: November 22 to November 29
- Winter Sale: December 22 to January 5
- Spring Sale: March 16 to March 23
The Summer Sale should complete this list, but Steam didn’t publish the official dates for 2023. For reference, the 2022 Summer Sale ran from June 23 to July 7.
On top of these seasonal sales, Steam often hosts thematic sales. The latest one was the Steam Bash Bash, between September 19 and September 26. This event focused on fighting games and hack-and-slash, offering discounts on various current and upcoming games.
The next week of sales will be from October 3 to October 10. The Steam Next Fest highlights upcoming games, from new demos and live streams to discounts on pre-orders.
The seasonal sales are bigger events than those thematic weeks. The entire front page of the Steam store wears a different layout, filled with promotional deals. It often features a minigame for you to collect a new badge, usually by purchasing discounted games.
Even if the Lunar Year Sale won’t be happening again, Steam suggests that developers and publishers could still opt to discount their games during this period. The Lunar Year Sale began in 2016 as a celebration of game developers from territories like Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and South Korea. However, this sale was too close to the Winter one, leaving a long gap until the Summer Sale that began at the end of June.
By skipping the Lunar Year Sale and replacing it with a Spring Sale, Steam gives more room for developers and publishers to release their games in January without being burring under all the current promotions. It will also give more time between two sales to keep players interested in buying new games, and maybe even finish some of those lurking in their backlog.
If you don’t feel like adding these dates to your calendar, don’t worry: every year, Steam communicates ahead of its sales to make sure your money is ready to be spent. The next opportunity for you to get new games for a cheaper price will be on November 22, with the launch of the Autumn Sale.
