Valve is changing up the Steam Sale dates for its annual seasonal sales. It will be removing the Lunar New Year Sale in order to spread out its typical Steam Autumn, Winter, and Spring Sales better. This will allow developers to plan out their discounts across the calendar year. The dates for the popular Steam Summer Sale have not been changed with the announcement.
When are the Steam Sale dates for Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter?
- Steam Spring Sale: March 16 – March 23
- Steam Summer Sale: July 23 – July 7
- Steam Autumn Sale: November 22 – November 29
- Steam Winter Sale: December 22 – January 5
As for the new Steam Spring Sale, it will operate much like its other seasonal brethren, with the front page of the Steam Store shifting to a different layout and highlighting the best promotional deals. Steam doesn’t say whether the Steam Spring Sale will have its own gimmick with badges, banners, cards, and the like, but we expect there to be something special planned alongside it.
While the Lunar New Year Sale, which started in 2016, celebrated games from Asian territories like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, the company received feedback from developers that its dates were too close to the Steam Winter Sale. That’s why it has been nixed from the schedule, but Valve still suspects that some devs will still choose to discount their games during the Lunar New Year anyway.
Steam says that they will issue further public announcements on when developers and publishers will be able to register and provide discount entries for these seasonal sales. The company recommends that they schedule their games to release outside of these sales as the visibility of new releases is significantly reduced while they are live. Steam will also update information on these upcoming events through the Upcoming Events documentation on its official website.