Black Friday or Steam Winter Sale: which is cheaper for PC games? (2026)

Short answer: In our data, the Steam Winter Sale weeks produced more record lows: of the 513 PC games we track, 51 had their all-time low then, against 38 in Black Friday week. Most records (326, or 64%) came at other times of year. So the best time to buy depends on the game, not the sale: if a game hits its all-time low on Black Friday, buy it then. Black Friday is November 27, 2026 (41 days away); the Steam Winter Sale runs December 17, 2026 to January 4, 2027 (61 days away). Updated October 17, 2026.

When the 513 games we track hit their all-time lows

Each game counts once, in the window that contains the date CheapShark has on file for its lowest price ever. The windows are the same every year. The last column counts only lows dated 2024 or later (381 games), since many older records have been beaten. Free giveaways count as $0 lows (26 games, 5 of them in Black Friday or Winter Sale windows).

What this means for you

• Black Friday and the Winter Sale are not where most records happen. A game's all-time low usually comes from its own publisher sale, which can land in any month.
• A BUY verdict means today's price is already within a dollar or 10% of the game's all-time low, so waiting for the Winter Sale can't save much more unless the game sets a new record. Check its price history on our game page first.
• Steam has no store-wide Black Friday sale in 2026, so Black Friday prices on PC come mostly from other authorized stores and from publishers who discount on Steam on their own. See Is there a Steam Black Friday sale?
• Not sure? Run your wishlist through our Black Friday deal checker or the Steam wishlist buy-or-wait tool.

Games whose record low came in a Winter Sale window

Best-rated first, up to 15. Today's price and verdict come from the same data as our game pages.

Games whose record low came in Black Friday week

Best-rated first, up to 15.

FAQ

Is Black Friday or the Steam Winter Sale cheaper for PC games?

In our data, the Steam Winter Sale weeks produced more record lows: of the 513 PC games we track, 51 had their all-time low then, against 38 in Black Friday week. Most records (326, or 64%) came at other times of year. A game's lowest price usually comes from its publisher's own discount schedule, so check the game's price history instead of waiting for a particular sale.

Does Steam have a Black Friday sale in 2026?

Not a store-wide one. Valve says it will highlight games that run their own Black Friday discounts through its Special Offers hub in November, with dates to come. Other authorized stores such as Fanatical, GOG, Humble and Green Man Gaming usually run their own Black Friday sales.

When is the Steam Winter Sale 2026?

December 17, 2026 to January 4, 2027, according to Valve's Steamworks sale calendar.

Why did older Black Friday weeks have more Steam lows?

Until 2024, Steam's Autumn Sale ran over US Thanksgiving week, so some records in that window came from it. Valve moved the Autumn Sale to early October in 2025, and in 2026 it ran October 1 to 8.

Where does this data come from?

From CheapShark, which records each game's lowest price at authorized stores and the date it has on file for that low. We count those dates for every game we track and refresh the page every day.

All-time lows and dates: CheapShark API (authorized stores only). Sale dates: Valve's Steamworks calendar.

See also: Black Friday PC game deals 2026 · Steam Winter Sale 2026 · Steam Black Friday? · LootDrop Price Index · price drops · all Steam sale dates.