In brief: Valve has gotten into the habit of revealing the dates for its promotional sales months ahead of time to help publishers and developers prepare for them, and the latest list details the company's schedule through Summer 2024. Although Valve's 2023 holiday sale hasn't started yet, GOG and the Epic Games Store began offering steep discounts this week.
Steam customers and developers can now see the dates for every Steam sale between January and July 2024. The list includes upcoming demo showcases and promotions centered around specific genres.
The first 2024 Next Fest – a showcase of public time-limited demos for upcoming titles – runs from February 5-12. The Spring sale arrives the following month from March 12-21. The second demo event lasts from June 10-17, quickly followed by the Summer sale from June 27 to July 11. In between these dates, Steam will hold promotions centered around genres like economy simulators, first-person shooters, deckbuilding games, farming simulators, and survival crafting games.
While the 2023 Steam holiday sale doesn't begin until next Thursday, December 21 (lasting through January 4), GOG and the Epic Games Store have already started parallel events. Both offer sizable deals for recently released blockbuster games.
Epic's most prominent deal is for the critically acclaimed Alan Wake 2. While the default sale bundles it with Alan Wake Remastered for only $10 off at $39.99, all customers receive a one-use 33-percent-off coupon during the event. Applying it to Alan Wake 2 brings the combo pack down to a historically low price of $26.79. Remedy's latest title received eight nominations at the 2023 Game Awards and won three, including Best Art Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Game Direction.
Other notable deals (and candidates for the coupon) include 60 percent off of EA Sports FC 24 at $27.99, Mortal Kombat 1 for $41.99 at a 40 percent discount, and Assassin's Creed: Mirage for 30 percent off at $34.99. Epic, as usual, is also giving away a series of free games throughout the holidays, starting with a Destiny 2 package that includes three campaigns. The next mystery giveaway will be revealed tomorrow.
Meanwhile, GOG's holiday sale offers Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, which includes the recently released Phantom Liberty expansion, for $53.59 at a 33 percent discount. Sony, which recently released PC ports of its first-party PlayStation games on the DRM-free store, has also slashed prices significantly. Horizon: Zero Dawn and Days Gone are 75 percent off at just $12.49, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is half-off at $24.99.