[Update: The Steam Winter Sale is now live until Jan. 3.]
For those that are looking to cheaply expand their PC game libraries, there are few opportunities better than Steam sales. One such sale is the annual Steam Winter Sale, and players have not long to wait before diving into this year’s discounts, as Valve has confirmed the official start date.
Specifically, the 2018 Winter Sale is set to begin tomorrow, December 20, though what it will include has not yet been made available. That said, players will also be able to begin voting on the Steam Awards 2018 nominees tomorrow, and perhaps a number of these games will show-up amongst the discounted titles.
Some of the highlights from the games nominated for the Steam Awards include Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Hitman 2, and Monster Hunter: World, all of which are in the running for Game of the Year. While not officially confirmed, being able to pick up any of these titles at the Winter Sale would certainly be a boon for some fans.
As many will know, Valve hosts a number of massive Steam sales every year, including this annual Winter Sale as well as a Summer Sale and one that takes place around Halloween. These sales often feature thousands of titles at discounted rates, and it is easy to pick up a myriad of great games at $10 or (much) less.
For example, the recent Summer Sale included a wonderful array of cheap co-op games, such as Torchlight 2 for $5, Left 4 Dead 2 at $2, and Borderlands 2 for $5. Players can certainly expect more of the same from the upcoming Winter Sale.
Between the recently announced Epic Games Store, a new revenue structure for Discord’s storefront, and Bethesda’s focus on its own launcher, there are a lot of new hats in the ring of digital distribution. However, Steam’s huge library, coupled with these massive sales, is certain to make it challenging for any company to compete directly with the platform.
Whether these new distribution opportunities will ultimately survive the juggernaut that is Steam is unknown, but hopefully, the challenge will produce results that are good for both consumers and developers alike. In the meantime, the imminent Winter Sale is certain to provide countless great deals to enjoy.
