COOLDOWN
- At least 30 days between two discounts, counted from the exact moment the previous discount ended.
- 30 days without discounts after your game's release. The only exception is the launch discount, configured in advance and starting at release.
- 30 days without any discounts after a price increase — including seasonal sales. No exceptions.
- Seasonal sales (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) are exempt from the between-discounts cooldown — you can join even if 30 days haven't passed.
- Discounts range from 10% to 90% off the base price.
- A custom discount (outside of sales) can run for at most 14 days.
- Discounts switch on and off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (PT).
Mathematical Model of the Discount Cooldown
30 days between discounts, 30 days after release, 30 days after a price increase (no exceptions — this blocks even a sale).
Seasonal sales are exempt from the between-discounts cooldown: you can join even if less than 30 days passed since your last discount (but the price-increase and 30-days-after-release cooldowns still apply).
Themed festivals: joining with a discount counts as a regular dev discount (subject to all cooldowns), but joining by tag without a discount is always allowed. A launch discount only runs before release, 7–14 days, capped at 40%.
Nomenclature:
Cross-checked with Steamworks docs, June 2026 — Event dates are in the 2026 festival calendar below.
The full calendar of Steam sales and fests for 2026 with official start and end dates from Valve's announcement. All events start and end at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (PT).
The calendar is hardcoded for H2 2026; we'll update it for 2027 once Valve announces the dates.
The logic is fresh — expect edge cases and simplifications. Treat the result as a guide, not exact accounting. Found a bug or an edge case? Let us know and we'll fix it.