The end of the year is nearly here, which means one thing for PC gamers, the Steam Winter Sale is almost upon us. Valve’s final major sale of 2025 is set to go live this week, bringing discounts across some of the biggest releases of the year, along with thousands of older favourites ready to pad out your backlog.

When the Steam Winter Sale 2025 Starts

The Steam Winter Sale 2025 begins on Thursday, December 18, and will run until January 5, 2026, giving players plenty of time to hunt for deals.

Here’s when the sale goes live:

• Pacific Time (PT): December 18 at 10:00am
• Eastern Time (ET): December 18 at 1:00pm
• Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): December 18 at 6:00pm
• Central European Time (CET): December 18 at 7:00pm
• New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT): December 19 at 7:00am

If past sales are anything to go by, expect your inbox to light up shortly after launch with a wishlist email showing just how many tempting discounts Steam has lined up.

Big 2025 Games Confirmed for Discounts

While exact pricing hasn’t been revealed yet, Steam has released a trailer teasing a strong lineup of discounted titles. Several of 2025’s biggest and most talked about releases are confirmed to be part of the sale.

Among the headline games featured are Hades II, Elden Ring Nightreign, Dispatch, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and Borderlands 4. These are titles many players have been holding off on, waiting for the right moment to jump in, and the Winter Sale may be that moment.

Sony’s PC push also gets some spotlight, with The Last of Us Part II Remastered and Marvel’s Spider Man 2 appearing in the trailer as well.

Full List of Games Highlighted in the Trailer

Steam’s Winter Sale trailer mentions a wide range of games across genres. Titles confirmed so far include:

• Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• Borderlands 4
• Dune: Awakening
• Dying Light: The Beast
• The Last of Us Part II Remastered
• Rematch
• Slime Rancher 2
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Megabonk
• Digimon Story Time Stranger
• R.E.P.O.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Marvel’s Spider Man 2
• RV There Yet?
• Escape from Duckov
• Dispatch
• Deltarune
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Hades II
• Drive Beyond Horizons

More games are expected to be discounted once the sale officially goes live, including plenty of older releases that often drop to prices cheaper than a cup of coffee.

Why the Winter Sale Is the Best Time to Buy

For PC gamers, Steam’s quarterly sales are often the best opportunity to pick up games, whether that’s a brand new release getting its first discount or a classic you’ve been meaning to play for years. The Winter Sale, in particular, is known for some of Steam’s steepest price cuts.

While Steam tends to steal the spotlight, it’s also worth noting that other platforms are running year end sales at the same time. The Epic Games Store’s holiday sale and GOG’s Winter Sale both offer thousands of discounted games, giving players plenty of options if they’re shopping around.

Still, for sheer scale and variety, the Steam Winter Sale remains the highlight of the season. If your wishlist has been growing all year, this week might finally be the time to clear it out.

The post Steam Winter Sale 2025 Kicks Off This Week With Big Discounts on Hades II, Elden Ring Nightreign, and More appeared first on Shane the Gamer.