For developers · dates checked against Steamworks
Steam Sale & Fest Planner for Horror Devs
Every upcoming Steam seasonal sale, themed fest and Next Fest Valve has announced, with the dates you need to hit so the 30-day cooldowns don't lock you out. Horror-relevant events are marked 🎃.
The 30-day rules in plain English
- Release cooldown: no discounts for 30 days after release (Early Access and full release both count). The only exception is an optional launch discount (7 to 14 days, max 40%), which must be set up before release.
- Discount cooldown: a discount can't start within 30 days of the end of your previous discount. This covers Daily/Midweek/Weekend/Weeklong deals, Steam Fests, publisher sales and custom discounts.
- Seasonal sales are the exception: the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter sales are exempt from the discount cooldown, so you can run a discount just before or after one and still join. They are not exempt from the release or price-increase cooldowns.
- Price-increase cooldown: no discounts for 30 days after raising your base price in any currency.
- Fests don't require a discount: themed fests prioritise discounted games, but free, Coming Soon and demo games can take part, and you can be featured at full price.
- Discounts run 1 to 14 days at 10% to 95% off. A 20%+ discount can trigger wishlist emails.
Calendar & safe windows
Windows are calculated from the event dates with the 30-day rules above. Events usually start and end at 10 AM Pacific; always confirm in your Steamworks dashboard.
| Dates | Event | Your launch & discount window |
|---|---|---|
| to | Steam Next Fest: October 2026 | For unreleased games with a demo. See our Next Fest horror demo tracker. |
| to | Steam Scream V 🎃 | To be on discount here: released by Sep 26, 2026, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Sep 26, 2026. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Dec 2, 2026. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Auto-Battler RPG Fest | To be on discount here: released by Oct 17, 2026, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Oct 17, 2026. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Dec 23, 2026. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Steam Winter Sale 2026 | To join, your game must be released (and any price increase made) by Nov 17, 2026. Other discounts before or after do not block it. |
| to | Desktop Companion Fest | To be on discount here: released by Dec 15, 2026, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Dec 15, 2026. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Feb 17, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Shop Keeper Fest | To be on discount here: released by Dec 26, 2026, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Dec 26, 2026. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Mar 3, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Sheep Fest | To be on discount here: released by Jan 5, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Jan 5, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Mar 10, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Couch Co-Op Fest | To be on discount here: released by Jan 9, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Jan 9, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Mar 17, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Steam Next Fest: February 2027 | For unreleased games with a demo. See our Next Fest horror demo tracker. |
| to | Rhythm Fest | To be on discount here: released by Feb 6, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Feb 6, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Apr 14, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Steam Spring Sale 2027 | To join, your game must be released (and any price increase made) by Feb 16, 2027. Other discounts before or after do not block it. |
| to | Dinos vs. Robots Fest | To be on discount here: released by Feb 27, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Feb 27, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until May 5, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Racing Fest | To be on discount here: released by Mar 13, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Mar 13, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until May 19, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Witch Fest 🎃 | To be on discount here: released by Mar 23, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Mar 23, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until May 26, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Fighting Fest | To be on discount here: released by Mar 27, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Mar 27, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Jun 2, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Real-Time Strategy Fest | To be on discount here: released by Apr 10, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by Apr 10, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Jun 16, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Mountaineering Fest | To be on discount here: released by May 1, 2027, and your previous non-seasonal discount must have ended by May 1, 2027. A discount here blocks your next non-seasonal discount until Jul 3, 2027. You can also join at full price. |
| to | Steam Next Fest: June 2027 | For unreleased games with a demo. See our Next Fest horror demo tracker. |
| to | Steam Summer Sale 2027 | To join, your game must be released (and any price increase made) by May 25, 2027. Other discounts before or after do not block it. |
Planning a horror launch?
Track the horror demos in the next Next Fest on our Next Fest tracker, find a jam to prototype in on the horror jam tracker, or submit your game to Fright Queue.
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