Gaming isn’t getting any more affordable in 2026. With $70-$80 AAA game prices becoming the norm, it can be tricky to keep up. Thankfully, Steam sales aren’t going anywhere in 2026, either. We’ve known the rough schedule for big Steam sales events for the first half of 2026 for a while now. But now, we’ve got the entire year ahead to plan for, as Valve recently dropped the dates for its big and small Steam Fest events for the second half of 2026. So if you’re looking for a chance to save on niche genres or from bigger sales events, you may want to mark these dates on your calendar.
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On January 15th, Valve shared the dates for its Steam sales events for the latter half of 2026. The full list includes big, multi-genre events like Steam Next Fest and the Steam Summer Sale, as well as smaller events like Train Fest and my personal favorite, Cooking Fest. With this latest announcement, we now have the dates for every Steam sale of 2026. To help you plan your year in PC gaming discounts, I’m breaking it down between the major events and more genre-specific ones.
All Major Steam Sale Events in 2026
Major Steam sales happen less often, but feature discounts on a wider variety of PC games. Here are the key dates for major Steam sale events this year:
- Steam Next Fest – February 2026 Edition: February 23rd – March 2nd
- Steam Next Fest – June 2026 Edition: June 15th – June 22nd
- Steam Summer Sale 2026: June 25th -July 9th
- Steam Autumn Sale 2026: October 1st – October 8th
- Steam Next Fest – October 2026 Edition: October 19th -October 26th
- Steam Winter Sale 2026: December 17th – January 4th, 2027
As you can see, this year will bring 3 big seasonal sales, plus 3 Steam Next Fest events. In addition to offering discounts, Steam Next Fest also boasts a ton of limited-time free demos for upcoming games. So, it’s definitely one to watch if you like to keep up with new releases.
There will also be a dedicated Black Friday page highlighting the best game deals on Steam. However, the exact dates for this, along with additional details, haven’t yet been confirmed.
All Niche & Genre Specific Steam Sale Events in 2026
In addition to the big, multi-genre sales, there’s almost always an exciting opportunity to save on specific genres. Here are the smaller, more targeted Steam sale events for 2026:
- Detective Fest: January 12th – January 19th
- Board Game Fest: January 26th – February 2nd
- Typing Fest: February 5th – February 9th
- PvP Fest: February 9th – February 16th
- Horse Fest: February 19th – February 23rd
- Tower Defense Fest: March 9th – March 16th
- House & Home Fest: March 30th – April 6th
- Hidden Object Fest: April 9th – April 13th
- Medieval Fest: April 20th – April 27th
- Deckbuilders Fest: May 4th – May 11th
- Ocean Fest: May 18th – May 25th
- Bullet Fest: June 8th – June 15th
- Social Deduction Fest: July 13th – July 16th
- Train Fest: July 20th – July 27th
- Cyberpunk Fest: August 3rd – August 10th
- Pins & Pegs Fest: August 17th – August 20th
- PvE Survival Crafting Fest: August 31st – September 7th
- Programming Fest: September 10th – September 14th
- Party-Based RPG Fest: September 14th – September 21st
- Cooking Fest: October 12th – October 19th
- Steam Scream V Fest: October 26th – November 2nd
- Auto-Battler RPG Fest: November 16th – November 23rd
These more niche events are great if you know you love specific types of games, and if the longer list of deals for major events gets you overwhelmed. You can find some great deals on games with your favorite features during these Steam events.
Do you have a favorite Steam sales event that you’re looking forward to this year? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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