Valve has successfully lodged the Steam Winter Sale into the same part of my brain that stores a fondness for shortbread and hot cider. Even if I don't buy anything, it's a holiday tradition to at least look.
Many of the Steam Winter Sale discounts are the same as or similar to those found in the last few seasonal Steam sales, but we've got lots of new and updated discounts on this list, including 40% off Elden Ring (not seen since the last Winter Sale), and the first ever discount on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
For even more recommendations, we recently compiled a list of great games that always get Steam sale discounts, and you can check out guides to the best RPGs, best FPS games, best strategy games, and best survival games for even more inspiration.
I also suggest having a look at what's free on the Epic Games Store right now, and checking out GOG's Winter Sale.
????— It costs more than it did in the previous Steam sale
????— It costs less than it did in the previous Steam sale
???? — Santa Claus
So cheap it doesn't matter if you chuck them 20 spots down on your backlog.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | $7.99 / $7.99 (80% off) ???? | ???? Best Singleplayer 2015
The Witcher 3 is discounted often, but this is the lowest it generally goes for, and is a better deal than the Autumn Sale's 75% off. The Witcher 4 is a ways out still, but there's never a bad time to take the plunge—the water's still warm.
Below is a non-comprehensive (but quite long) list of discounts on games we like that released on PC this year. Highlights in this section include 40% off great immersive sim Shadows of Doubt, 50% off dungeon tourism adventure Dungeons of Hinterberg, and 35% off Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Here's a selection of deals on last year's cream of the crop, including some of our 2023 GOTY Award winners.
Baldur's Gate 3 | $47.99/£39.99 (20% off) | ???? Game of the Year 2023
How much needs to be said about Baldur's Gate 3, really? We awarded it a 97%, our highest review score in years, with Fraser Brown calling it "the greatest RPG I've ever played." This is the same discount we've seen in previous Steam sales.
Against the Storm | $14.99/£12.49 (50% off) ????
This dark fantasy city builder left early access near the end of last year, and earned one of our rare over-90% review scores.
Diablo 4 | $29.99/£25.19 (40% off)
A mix of ultra-gloom dark fantasy adventuring and goofy action RPG theorycrafting. It's got stiff competition in Path of Exile 2, but offers its own highs and has come a long way since launch. Its Vessel of Hatred expansion is on sale too.
Starfield | $41.99/£35.99 (40% off)
This is the usual discount we see for Starfield, and the new Shattered Space expansion is also 20% off. It's never going to be our favorite Bethesda RPG, but it is pretty fun to spawn 100 sandwiches in zero-G.
Resident Evil 4 | $19.99/£16.49 (50% off)
Capcom took a risk in remaking such a beloved game. What it ended up with is no replacement for the original, Rich said in his review, but it's still an outstanding tribute to a classic.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor | $17.49/£14.99 (75% off)
Respawn did it again with some good Star Warsin' at a time when there's not a lot of good Star Warsin' outside of Andor. Jedi: Survivor is "easily the best modern Star Wars game," as Morgan put it.
Remnant 2 | $24.99/£20.99 (50% off) | ???? Best Shooter 2023
A co-op shooter with some genuinely weird locations and bosses—we described one of them as "a giant alien god that can punch through reality"—and distinctive, challenging third-person gun and melee combat. Like the first game, it's best played with friends.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty | $23.99/£19.99 (20% off) | ???? Best Expansion 2023
Cyberpunk's new expansion, which completed the game's redemption arc, is on sale for a modest 15% off. The base game's 55% off as well, or you can grab the two in a bundle for 48% off the total.
Jusant | $12.49/£11.24 (50% off) ????
A lovely climbing game that came out around the same time Starfield and Phantom Liberty were dominating our time and attention, Jusant has been a bit of a sleeper hit. It's also an impressive shift in style for Don't Nod after years of Life Is Strange.
Street Fighter 6 | $29.99/£24.99 (50% off)
The Yakuza-esque story mode is goofy fun, and the optional simplified controls, new tutorials, and expanded training options are a boon for anyone who's ever wanted to be good at Street Fighter (or at least, understand what it means to be good), but needed some patient tutoring.
System Shock | $15.99/£13.99 (60% off) | ???? Best Remake 2023
Looking Glass's original System Shock was often overlooked in favor of its famous successor, and no matter how much you love the classics, it can be hard to go back to its chunky, pre-mouselook interface and grueling, sink-or-swim exploration. Enter Nightdive's excellent remake.
Dave the Diver | $13.39/£11.38 (33% off) ???? | ???? Best Design 2023
Dave the Diver was at the heart of a recent debate over whether facts or vibes should determine if a game is "indie" in the first place. Here's my take: Who cares? It's a brilliant videogame adventure that starts as a deceptively simple fishing and restaurant management game, and then spins up into completely unexpected and wonderful places.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew | $25.99/£22.74 (35% off) ???? | ???? Best Stealth 2023
A "stealth strategy" game with Pirates of the Caribbean vibes that, fair warning, will likely lead to the thought "just one more mission, then I'll go to bed... for real this time." We're sad this is the final game from developer Mimimi.
Pizza Tower | $13.39/£10.04 (33% off)
One of our favorite games of last year, seriously. It's a "non-stop, absurd, and wonderful slice of speedrunning action," we said in our 90% review.
Dredge | $12.49/£10.99 (50% off) ???? | ???? Best Setting 2023
Fishing and horror? An excellent combo. Explore the murky waters around an odd little island, upgrade your boat, and be careful what you catch. There's more than mackerel and cod in the dark depths, and you may instead haul in some Lovecraftian horrors. A slightly better discount than in the last sale.
Viewfinder | $13.74/£10.99 (45% off)
Take pictures of the environment and then literally paste them into the level geometry to solve puzzles. The sort of playful, meditative indie puzzler with a narrated story we don't get as often as we used to, probably because a mechanic this clever doesn't come around often. Highly recommended in our 87% review.
PowerWash Simulator | $17.49/£13.99 (30% off)
This still might seem pricey for a game that promises to simulate cleaning, but by most accounts removing filth with a water beam is powerfully satisfying. There's a demo if you want to try it.
Red Dead Redemption 2 | $19.79/£19.79 (67% off)
Rockstar's sprawling Western is more than worth the discounted price. Its dusty open world is almost as beautiful and thrilling as the story it tells over its six chapters. The previous game in the series also released on PC this year (finally), and is on sale for $40.
Half-Life: Alyx | $19.79/£16.49 (67% off)
Set five years before Half-Life 2, Half-Life: Alyx drops the chaotic firefights the series is known for into a VR-exclusive game. Its got a bit of a horror and a lot of clever, physics-based toys to play with.
God of War | $19.99/£15.99 (60% off)
In 2022, one of the best PlayStation games became one of the best PC games, and now it's as cheap as it ever gets on Steam. The sequel, which released on PC this year, is also slightly discounted.
Hades | $9.99/£8.39 (60% off) | ???? Best Action Game 2020
If you never got around to Supergiant's 2020 insta-classic roguelike, this is the best price we've seen for it (no change from the last sale). Come for the punchy combat, stay for the messy Greek god drama. Hades 2 is also discounted slightly.
The Case of the Golden Idol | $11.69/£10.19 (35% off) ???? | ???? Best Story 2022
A brilliant detective game from a few years ago. The sequel that released this year, Rise of the Golden Idol, is also good and is 10% off on Steam itself.
Teardown | $14.99/£12.99 (50% off) |???? Best Sandbox 2022
A physics-based, voxel-powered playground melded with a genius puzzle game: "If I blow up this entire mansion, will I have space to drive this sportscar into the ocean?"
Crusader Kings 3 | $14.99/£12.59 (70% off) | ???? Best Strategy Game 2020
One of the great strategy games of the 2020s so far, CK3 is "an irrepressible story engine that spits out a constant stream of compelling alt-histories, delightfully infuriating characters and social puzzle," reads our 94% review.
Risk of Rain 2 | $8.24/£6.59 (67% off)
An excellent roguelike about fighting hordes of monsters while collecting and combining items to generate increasingly absurd effects. There's also a bundle with its two expansions on sale for $30.
Hunt: Showdown 1986 | $14.99/£12.99 (50% off) ????
Post Malone's favorite shooter, Hunt remains one of the most interesting FPSes in gaming right now. Other extraction shooters (and other shooters in general) should take note.
Hyper Demon | $7.49/£5.69 (50% off)
It takes a special kind of mindset to fall in love with this bizarre, one-life shooter or its predecessor, Devil Daggers, but they're brilliant games for the FPS sickos out there who dedicate themselves to mastering them.
Cruelty Squad | $6.79/£5.26 (66% off)
What's that? PC Gamer likes a weird shooter with a depressed protagonist and garish low-fi graphics that reference '90s rendering tech? We may be predictable, but it doesn't mean we're wrong.
Marvel's Midnight Suns |$8.99/£7.49 (85% off)
???? 2022 GOTY Runner-Up
XCOM-maker Firaxis created our favorite recent superhero game, a mix of XCOM's gridded turn-based tactics, deckbuilding, and a friendship sim. It was definitely underloved, and is a steal at this price.
Unity of Command 2 | $5.99/£4.99 (80% off)
One of the best wargames of recent years, Unity of Command 2 received a glowing 91% in our review from 2019: "Wargames don't see a lot of innovation, but Unity of Command 2 builds new things out of familiar parts."
Monster Hunter Rise | $9.99/£8.24 (75% off) | ????Best Co-op Game 2022
These monsters aren't going to hunt themselves. Monster Hunter Rise is a surprisingly excellent entry in the long-running series. Plus, you can use it to train for Monster Hunter Wilds next year.
Hollow Knight | $7.49/£6.39 (50% off)
The sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, will come out eventually. In the meantime, seven-and-a-half bucks is a low price to pay to find out why fans of this 2017 metroidvania are so hyped for the follow-up.
Sable | $9.99/£8.39 (60% off) | ???? Best Narrative 2021
One of the coolest-looking games of the 2020s so far at its lowest price yet. Sable won our Best Narrative award in 2021 for its coming-of-age story about a rite of passage in an otherworldly desert.
Card Shark | $7.99/£6.70 (60% off) | ???? Best Design 2022
Balatro is all the rage right now, but here's another great adaptation of a casino card game: Card Shark isn't about playing cards so much as it is about cheating at cards.
Strange Horticulture | $4.79/£4.04 (70% off)
???? Best Puzzle Game 2022
Inheriting a plant shop where nothing is labeled sounds stressful, but it's actually a wonderful combination of cozy and spooky thanks to fascinatingly odd customers, and a cat you can pet.
Battlefield 2042 | $4.79/£3.99 (92% off)
If you were paying attention back when BF2042 launched, you might have heard that everyone hated it. It wasn't everyone, though: I liked it, and it's come a long way since then. Recent Steam reviews are 'Mostly Positive,' and for under $5 you won't go bankrupt giving it a shot.
Santa Claus ????
Ho ho ho! It is I, Santa Claus. You have discovered my secret lair. As tradition demands, you get one gift. The gift is The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall. Ho ho ho!
Streets of Rogue | $3.99/£3.35 (80% off)
Like Civ 6, this one has a sequel coming soon, but for four bucks there's not much risk in checking out this cool sandbox roguelike and its immersive sim hijinks.
Time on Frog Island | $1.99/£1.54 (90% off) ????
If you have time to spend some time on Time on Frog Island, we think it'll be worth that time: we heartily recommended the charming trading game in our 83% review.
Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County | $2.74/£2.35 (45% off) ????
It's not that we're really into frogs, frogs just happen to appear in some really good games. We recommend the other Frog Detective games, too—all three are bundled for $7.41.
Roadwarden | $4.39/£3.31 (60% off) ????
This beautiful classic text adventure gives you 40 days to solve a mystery and complete your mission in a world full of dangerous animals and manipulative locals. It's "the first text adventure I enjoyed as much as a good book," said Lauren.
What Remains of Edith Finch | $4.99/£3.99 (75% off) | ???? Best Story 2017
If for some reason you still haven't played this wonderful, magical, heart-wrenching adventure, now's the time. Buy it, play it in an evening, thank us later.
Loop Hero | $3.74/£3.19 (75% off) | ???? Best Design 2021
The Vampire Survivors of 2021, in the sense that it's an inexpensive game that it's easy to devote way more time to than you ever thought you would.
10 fantastic games for under $200 in total (a big portion of which comes from the two most recent among them). Read about why these games are so special in our Game of the Year awards archive.
