What you need to know
- Steam is the largest digital game distribution storefront for PC gaming.
- Each year, the company offers major discount events for popular PC games that can be played on gaming PCs, Steam Deck, and other gaming handhelds like ROG Ally.
- This year, the Steam Winter Sale event runs from Dec. 21, 2023 through Jan. 4, 2024.
- Valve is also currently selling its Steam Deck, Steam Deck OLED, and Steam Deck Dock at a discount.
Valve hosts a number of Steam Sale Events throughout the year and one of the most important ones, the Steam Winter Sale (also referred to by some as the Steam Christmas Sale), will be starting soon. To be specific, the Steam Winter Sale starts Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023 and runs through Thursday, Jan 4, 2024.
As luck would have it, Valve is also currently selling its Steam Deck, Steam Deck Dock, and brand new Steam Deck OLED gaming handhelds at discounts this holiday season, making them great gifts for your loved ones (or for yourself).
Remember that if you select "Purchase as gift" during the Steam checkout process you can easily give a discounted Steam game to a loved one. Plus, you can determine when the intended recipient receives it in their Steam Library (on Dec. 25 at 9 a.m., for example).
Of course, the Winter Steam Sale is also important for anyone who owns this year's new Windows gaming handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally (which is currently on sale for a super low price at Best Buy) or the brand new Legion Go. You can easily play Steam games from these devices.
Windows Central's take
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The Steam Winter Sale is, no joke, one of my favorite times of the year. Thanks to all of the discounts on some of the best PC games, I often grab discounted games as gifts for my family and friends or take advantage of lower prices to grab games I haven't played yet. Plus, since the Winter Steam Sale continues after the winter holidays, it's easy to grab the games I wanted but didn't get as presents. Thanks to the fact that I now have a Steam Deck, Legion Go, and ROG Ally, my ability to play on the go is a whole lot more convenient.
We'll have to wait and see exactly what game discounts the Steam Winter Sale has in store for us. But if you're looking for some of the best games to buy this year, I cannot recommend Baldur's Gate 3 enough. Considering how well it sold this year and that it won Game of the Year at the Game Awards, I fully expect it to go on sale. But regardless of whether it gets a discount at the Steam Winter Sale or not, you really should play it. In my opinion, Larian Studios made an absolute masterpiece with its tactical turn-based RPG that plays much like a sandbox game when it comes to making decisions and problem-solving. Plus, it's impressive how the choices you make go on to affect other parts of the game without shoehorning you into any specific decisions.
Aside from BG3, I hope there are deals on Cyberpunk 2077 and its new CyberPunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC, which provides awesome content surrounding actor Idris Elba's character Solomon Reed. Not to mention, CD Projekt Red has done a lot of work on the base game since it launched to get rid of bugs and turn it into a masterpiece.
There's also Alan Wake II, which is a trippy and extremely artistic title. The best way to describe it is by saying it will take you through a beautiful psychosis. I don't want to spoil anything more about it, so I won't say more. Just be aware that Alan Wake II does have some hefty PC system requirements.
When is the Steam Winter Sale 2023?
This year's two-week Steam Winter Sale runs from Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023 through Thursday, Jan 4, 2024. You can find hundreds of games selling at lower prices. Additionally, the Steam Deck, Steam Deck OLED, and Steam Deck Dock are also currently discounted.
