When Is the Next Steam Sale? Every 2026 Date Listed

When is the next Steam sale? The Summer Sale ended July 9, and as of September 18, Party-Based RPG Fest runs through September 21. The next full storewide discount is the Steam Autumn Sale, October 1-8, 2026. That date is not a prediction: Valve published it in the official Steamworks schedule, and this page tracks the confirmed sales, fests, and demo events still ahead.

TL;DR: The current Steam event is Party-Based RPG Fest, running September 14-21. The next seasonal sale is Autumn Sale from October 1-8, followed by Cooking Fest from October 12-19 and Next Fest from October 19-26. Winter Sale runs December 17 to January 4, 2027. Sale discounts do not get deeper mid-event, so buy on day one if the price is right.

BESTPRICE: Hunting for PC game deals? Compare prices at Green Man Gaming, Humble Bundle and Loaded before you buy on Steam. Compare deals at Green Man Gaming →

When is the next Steam sale? (quick answer)

The Summer Sale ended July 9. Right now, Party-Based RPG Fest runs September 14-21, and the next seasonal sale is the Steam Autumn Sale, October 1-8, 2026. The next themed sale after Autumn is Cooking Fest from October 12-19. These dates come from Valve's official Steamworks schedule rather than a leak-and-guess cycle, so you can plan a backlog budget around them.

Steam sale calendar current status: September 18, 2026

Valve's official Steamworks event schedule lists Party-Based RPG Fest from September 14 to 21, then Cooking Fest from October 12 to 19 and Steam Scream V from October 26 to November 2. The same page confirms the Autumn Sale from October 1 to 8 and the Winter Sale from December 17 to January 4, 2027.

Next Fest is a separate demo-focused event rather than a discount sale. Valve's October 2026 Next Fest documentation gives the run as October 19 at 10:00 AM PDT through October 26 at 10:00 AM PDT. The Steam Summer Sale archive is useful for comparing past discounts. So the practical order from today is Party-Based RPG Fest, Autumn Sale, Cooking Fest, Next Fest, then Steam Scream V.

Key takeaways

• Steam Summer Sale 2026 ended July 9; Party-Based RPG Fest is the current event through September 21
• Steam Autumn Sale 2026: October 1-8 (confirmed by Valve, not leaked)
• Steam Winter Sale 2026: December 17 to January 4, 2027
• Fests fill almost every month between now and the Autumn Sale
• Fests are genre events with demos and curated discounts, not storewide sales
• Sale prices stay flat for the whole event: flash deals were retired in 2015
• Next Fest (October 19-26) is about free demos, not discounts

Every confirmed seasonal sale in 2026

Valve runs four storewide seasonal sales a year. Here's the rest of the 2026 cycle:

Historically the Autumn Sale carried the "Black Friday" role, but in 2026 Valve is handling Black Friday separately: the company says it will direct traffic to the Special Offers hub for games running their own late-November discounts, with details to come. Treat the October sale as the main autumn event.

The full Steam fest calendar, July to December 2026

Fests are themed mini-events. Each one bundles genre discounts with a wave of free demos, and for indie games they're often a bigger visibility moment than the seasonal sales, where AAA discounts dominate the front page.

PvE Survival Crafting Fest ran August 31 to September 7. It has ended, but it shows how Steam's themed events can give a narrow genre a dedicated storefront week.

The next dates to circle if you play what this site covers are Autumn Sale, October 1 to 8, and Next Fest, October 19 to 26. The former is the next storewide discount window. The latter is the better discovery event if you want free demos of upcoming indie games.

GODEEPER: Next Fest is the demo showcase where the autumn's breakout indies usually surface first. Tears of Metal was one of the standout co-op demos from the June edition. Tears of Metal: Co-op Hack-and-Slash Roguelike Demo →

Seasonal sale vs. fest: what actually differs

Seasonal sales discount most of the catalog at once. Publishers set their own cuts, the front page becomes a discount feed, and the event runs about two weeks. If a game is on your wishlist, this is when its price most likely drops.

Fests are narrower and shorter. A fest discounts games matching one theme, adds editorial curation, and, more usefully, ships a batch of free demos. If you're deciding what to wishlist rather than what to buy, fests (especially Next Fest in October) are worth more than the sales.

One mechanic worth knowing: prices do not drop further mid-sale. Valve removed flash deals and daily deals from seasonal sales in 2015. The discount visible in the first hour is the discount on the last day, so there's no strategic reason to wait once you've decided to buy.

Which fests matter for indie players

Three stand out on the second-half calendar:

Party-Based RPG Fest (Sep 14 - Sep 21). This is the event live at audit time, built around games with multiple playable characters in one RPG party.

Cooking Fest (Oct 12 - 19). Cooking and restaurant sims get their own week. Games like Beastro and Dave the Diver's In the Jungle DLC sit squarely in this lane, and it is the next themed event after Autumn Sale.

Cooking Fest (October 12-19) gives restaurant and cooking games like Beastro a dedicated storefront week between the Autumn Sale and Next Fest.

Next Fest (Oct 19 - 26). No meaningful discounts, but hundreds of demos from upcoming games. If you want to find next year's Balatro before everyone else, this is the week.

GODEEPER: The Summer Sale is over, but the co-op picks we tested during it are still worth checking before the Autumn Sale rolls around. Best Indie Co-op Games in the Steam Summer Sale →

How to shop the 2026 sales without overpaying

Wishlist first, buy later. Steam emails you when a wishlisted game goes on sale, which outsources the calendar-watching entirely. Add everything you're curious about during fest demo weeks, then let the Autumn Sale notification tell you when the price moves.

Check the discount's history before treating it as special. Most games repeat the same percentage across consecutive seasonal sales, so a "33% off" tag in October is usually the same 33% you'll see in December. The exception is games fresh off a content update or 1.0 launch, which sometimes deepen their first post-launch discount.

And remember the sales cycle repeats: if the Autumn Sale timing doesn't suit you, the Winter Sale opens December 17 with an extra week of runway and typically the same prices.

More stores to compare: Humble Bundle and Loaded.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Steam Autumn Sale 2026? October 1-8, 2026, confirmed by Valve's official Steamworks schedule. It's the next major seasonal sale now that the Summer Sale has ended.

When is the Steam Winter Sale 2026? December 17, 2026 through January 4, 2027. It's the longest sale of the year.

What's the next Steam event now that the Summer Sale has ended? As of September 18, Party-Based RPG Fest runs through September 21. Autumn Sale follows on October 1, and the themed Cooking Fest runs October 12-19.

Do prices drop further during a Steam sale? No. Flash and daily deals were retired in 2015; the day-one discount is the whole-sale discount.

What's the difference between a fest and a seasonal sale? Seasonal sales discount the whole store. Fests are themed genre events with curated discounts and free demos.

When is Steam Next Fest in October 2026? October 19-26, right after the Autumn Sale, focused on free demos of upcoming games rather than discounts.

Related Reading

• Steam Summer Sale 2026: Dates and What to Expect: a look back at the indie picks and prices from the sale that just ended.
• Valheim 1.0 Release Date: September 9, 2026: the biggest launch sitting between the summer and autumn sales.
• Best Indie Roguelites in the Steam Summer Sale: tested picks, still useful reference for the Autumn Sale.
• Tears of Metal: Co-op Hack-and-Slash Roguelike Demo: an example of how the demo-driven Next Fest format works in practice.

References

• Valve's official 2026 sales and fests schedule (Steamworks announcement): the primary source for every date on this page
• Valve's official Upcoming Steam Events schedule: current seasonal and themed event dates
• Steam Next Fest: October 2026: official demo-event dates and format
• Steam seasonal sales hub: live sale pages during each event