Steam discount rules: cooldowns, limits and seasonal sales

A Steam discount must be between 10.00% and 95.00% off and last one to 14 days. A game cannot start a new custom discount until 30 days after the last one ended, or within 30 days of release or a price increase. The four seasonal sales are exempt from the discount cooldown. A launch discount can reach 40.00%.

Last reviewed · SteamStats team

Definitions

  • Custom discount: a discount the developer schedules in the Discount Management Dashboard.
  • Launch discount: an optional introductory discount that starts when the game releases. It has its own limits and has to be set up before the release date.
  • Seasonal sale: one of the four Steam-wide sales a year, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
  • Themed fests and Valve promotions: events such as genre fests, Daily Deals, Midweek Deals, Weekend Deals and Weeklong Deals. These are not seasonal sales.
  • Discount cooldown: the 30 days required between the end of one discount and the start of the next. Release and price-increase cooldowns are separate waits of 30 days.
  • Wishlist discount email: the email Steam sends to wishlisters when a qualifying discount starts.

What Steamworks says

The only exceptions to this cooldown are the four seasonal sales.
Steamworks: Discounting
Steam discount rules, checked 1 November 2026
RuleLimit
DepthAt least 10.00% and at most 95.00% off
LengthAt least one day and at most 14 days
Launch discountAt most 40.00% off, for 7 to 14 days, set up before release
Between two discounts30 days from the end of one to the start of the next, including Daily, Midweek, Weekend and Weeklong Deals
After releaseNo discount for 30 days, except the launch discount
After a price increaseNo discount for 30 days after a price increase in any currency
Price changesNo base price change during a discount, and no price increase in the first 30 days after release
Seasonal salesExempt from the discount cooldown; a custom discount may sit within 30 days before or after
Seasonal sale entryReleased at least 30 days before the sale starts and not in a release or price-increase cooldown
SchedulingFrom the next calendar day; editable until the discount starts
Curated featuresGenerally once a calendar year, with at least three months between promotions
  • Steam emails wishlisters when a discount of 20.00% or more starts, as long as it runs longer than 8 hours and covers the lowest-priced package.
  • Valve's examples give start and end times in Pacific time: Weeklong Deals begin on Mondays at 10 a.m. Pacific and launch discounts end at 10 a.m. Pacific.
  • The cooldown was 28 days until 1 January 2023 and has been 30 days since.

Worked example: Pebblewick's first discounts

Illustrative inputs for Pebblewick, the fictional demo game by Hollow Fern Games: release on 15 September 2026 with a 20.00% launch discount for seven days, ending on 22 September 2026.

Pebblewick: which discounts are allowed and when
DateEventRule that decides
15 September 2026Release with a 20.00% launch discountLaunch discount: up to 40.00% for 7 to 14 days. Wishlisters are emailed at launch in any case.
15 October 2026Release cooldown ends30 days after release
22 October 2026First custom discount allowed30 days after the launch discount ended, which is later than the release cooldown
26 October 2026 to 2 November 2026Custom discount, 25.00% offAllowed; it also triggers the wishlist email
2 December 2026Next custom discount allowed30 days after the custom discount ended
17 December 2026 to 4 January 2027Winter SaleSeasonal: exempt from the discount cooldown; the game was released more than 30 days before
18 to 25 March 2027Spring SaleSeasonal: open on the same terms

Two traps show up in this calendar. Steam Scream V, the themed fest of 26 October to 2 November 2026, is not a seasonal sale: a discount during it counts like any other and starts the 30 days again. And had the custom discount been 15.00% off, it would not have reached the 20.00% that triggers the wishlist email, giving up the one notification a discount can send.

How many discounts fit in a year

Each custom discount uses its own length plus 30 days of cooldown. A discount of 7 days therefore repeats at most every 37 days, 9 times a year, and one of 14 days every 44 days, 8 times. The four seasonal sales come on top, because they neither need nor reset the discount cooldown.

Starting from the seasonal sales is the simplest way to lay out a year: the sale windows are fixed by Valve, a custom discount may sit within 30 days before or after them, and the remaining gaps decide where the other discounts go. Each discount of 20.00% or more also sends the wishlist email, so each one is another chance to reach the people still waiting on the wishlist.

Why guides and calculators disagree

  • Old numbers. Guides written before 2023 give 28 days between discounts; Steam has required 30 since 1 January 2023.
  • Start or end. The 30 days run from the end of the previous discount, at 10 a.m. Pacific in Valve's example, not from its start. Counting from the start puts the next discount a whole discount length too early.
  • Seasonal sales and fests. Only the four seasonal sales are exempt. Themed fests and Valve's own deals count as discounts for the cooldown.
  • Release and price changes. A price increase in any currency starts its own wait of 30 days, and a game in a release or price-increase cooldown cannot join a seasonal sale at all.

Where to see this in your own data

The Calendar view puts Steam's seasonal sales and fests next to your own discounts and launch date, counts the days until a new discount is allowed, and marks each Steam event Eligible or Not eligible for each game. The Sales view compares units per day before, during and after each discount, and the forecast adds planned discounts to its outlook. Discount history and the forecast use your sales data, part of Indie, Studio, and Publisher.

The Calendar and Sales feature pages linked below show these views with the demo game.

Sources