Awaited by gamers yet dreaded by their wallets, Steam Sales are major moments of the year when tons of titles are discounted, and are unlikely to cease in 2020, considering their success.
Since preparing for Steam Sales ahead of time is important for the judicious spender (at least until we're faced with the sheer amount of discounted stuff and inevitably buy more than we could ever hope to play), here's our expected schedule of Steam Sales for 2020.
Several Steam Sales take place throughout the year, giving ample opportunities for players to complete their collections at a discounted price.
Steam Sale 2020
Some Steam sales have made a habit of beginning on Thursdays, at 10 AM PDT/ 7 PM GMT, however, there have been exceptions such as last year's Lunar Sale, which began on a Monday at the same hour.
Here's what sales have currently taking place throughout the year so far, and ones that we're expecting to still see appear in 2020, although we'll go into further detail on each of them during the course of this Steam Sale Timeline article.
- Steam Lunar Sale 2020 - January 23 - January 27
- Steam Re-Play Sale 2020 - April 9 - April 16
- Steam Golden Week Sale 2020 - April 30 - May 6
- Steam Spring Cleaning Event 2020 - May 21 - May 28
- Steam Skulls for the Skull Throne 4 Sale - May 28 - June 1
- Steam Summer of Pride Sale 2020 - June 9 - June 25
- Steam Summer Sale 2020 - June 25 - July 9
- Steam Halloween Sale 2020 - October 29 - November 1
- Steam Autumn Sale 2020 - November 20 - November 30
- Steam Winter Sale 2020 - December 17 - December 31
Here's our expected schedule of Steam Sales for 2020, including Lunar Sale, Summer of Pride, Summer Sale, Halloween Sale, Autumn Sale, and Winter Sale dates.
Here's our expected schedule for Steam sales in 2020:
Steam Lunar Sale 2020
Active between: January 23 - January 27
Depending on who you ask, the Steam Lunar Sale 2020 is either the first sale of the year or "that sale after the big Steam winter sale". Regardless of how you view it, the Steam Lunar Sale 2020 featured its own series of discounts while also introducing a new minigame. Steam users could earn tokens initially by reading about Chinese legends and opening red envelopes. When all envelopes were open, tokens could be earned by purchasing games or adding money to your Steam wallet. The tokens themselves could be sold in exchange for cosmetic goodies for your Steam profile, including a series of new emotes.
Re-Play Sale 2020
Active between: April 9 - April 16
The Re-play Sale 2020 focused on discounts for various retro titles, a portion of every sale going towards helping children affected by war. 2020's sale directed these funds towards War Child’s Coronavirus Crisis Appeal.
Steam Golden Week Sale 2020
Active between: April 30 - May 6
The Steam Golden Week Sale 2020 celebrated Japanese video game developers, including discounts for titles like Capcom's Monster Hunter: World, FromSoftware's Dark Souls series, Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV and Bandai Namco's Tekken 7. It took place during the Golden Week itself which is a period starting on April 29 that contains multiple Japanese holidays.
Steam Spring Cleaning Event 2020
Active between: May 21 - May 28
Although the Steam Spring Cleaning Event 2020 isn't a traditional sale, its machine learning-powered minigame was a good way of diving into our backlogs and playing some stuff that had been neglected for too long.
Skulls for the Skull Throne 4 Sale
Active between: May 28 - June 1
Steam's Skulls for the Skull Throne 4 Sale is an annual celebration of all things Warhammer and, yes, that includes both 40K and Fantasy. Not only does it feature discounts for various Warhammer titles, the Skulls for the Skull Throne 4 Sale is also a time when developers add new content – like Warhammer II's Black Orc Big Boss – to their games.
Steam Summer of Pride Sale 2020
Active between: June 9 - June 25
The Steam Summer of Pride Sale 2020 brings lots of queer-positive games, both upcoming and released, into the spotlight. Its discounts largely apply to indie titles, however, there's quite a varied offering to choose from, including adventure games like Gone Home, dating sims such as Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator and more.
Steam Summer Sale 2020
Active between: June 25 - July 9
The Steam Summer Sale 2020, also going by the Summer Road Trip, will likely be the only major mid-year opportunity for grabbing a large number of titles at a discounted price. While it doesn't feature any minigames, buying games nets you points which you can spend on cosmetic items like animated stickers from games such as CS:GO and Doom Eternal. Each day you can also get a free sticker and one trading card for going through your Explore queue.
Steam Halloween Sale 2020
Expected to be active between October 29 - November 1
The Steam Halloween Sale 2020 will likely be the one with the spooks. While horror games will also be discounted throughout the year, Steam Halloween Sales mainly focus on them. If you're a horror fan, this is the one to look out for, especially since it tends to be accompanied by multiple in-game Halloween events.
Steam Autumn Sale 2020
Expected to be active between November 20 and November 30, lasts for a week
The Steam Autumn Sale 2020 will likely target the period around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, making sure that PC gamers don't miss out on some sweet discounts. Aside from cheaper games, the Steam Autumn Sale 2020 could also be when the nominations for the end-of-year Steam Awards happen.
Steam Winter Sale 2020
Expected to be active between December 17 - December 31
Provided it follows in the footsteps of its peers, the Steam Winter Sale 2020 will be the big one, the sale everyone is anticipating, the emptier of wallets and grower of libraries. The most significant discounts are usually active during the Steam Winter Sale which is when voting in the Steam Awards happens. It will likely also feature a minigame of its own and reward 3 trading cards per day for those going through their Explore queues.
It's worth stressing that, at the moment, part of these are our predictions for the start and end dates of Steam sales in 2020, based on those of previous years. We'll update this article with any relevant news once Valve officially announces each sale.
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