Winter Sale 2025: ten biggest deals you can already plan for

Winter Sale for me is the best moment of the year for clearing the backlog. November's Black Friday gives fresh releases, things I haven't had time to think about yet. Winter Sale gives me what I've long wanted in my library but always postponed. Time finally cooperates, holidays are long, the backlog can be chewed through systematically.

Writing this in mid-December, based on the 2024 price cycle and Valve's early Winter Sale 2025 announcements, I pick 10 games genuinely worth hunting. Each of them in the past 12 months cost below the lower threshold of my recommendation, so the price I name is achievable.

1. Baldur's Gate 3

Last 12-month minimum: 40 USD on EEneba in August 2024. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 45-55 USD.

BG3 still holds the price high because it was crowned "game of the decade" and the publisher doesn't want to devalue the brand. Still, Winter Sale is the best chance of the year. The next opportunity will probably only come in March on Spring Sale 2026.

What you get: 120 hours of main campaign, great dialogue, turn-based tactical combat, stunning visuals. Multiplayer up to 4 players.

2. Cyberpunk 2077 + Phantom Liberty

Last 12-month minimum: 35 USD on GGamivo in November 2024. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 35-45 USD.

The bundle of base game with DLC at a sensible price. CDPR usually allows significant discounts during Winter Sale.

What you get: 60 hours of main campaign (Cyberpunk) + 30 hours of DLC (Phantom Liberty) + tons of side content. After patches, this is one of the best RPGs on the market today.

3. Elden Ring + Shadow of the Erdtree

Last 12-month minimum: 50 USD. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 50-60 USD.

There's a floor here, but Winter Sale usually levels with other periods. From Software holds margin.

What you get: 100+ hours of gameplay in the best soulslike of the last decade. DLC adds 30 hours of new content.

4. Hades II

Last 12-month minimum: 27 USD (since Early Access launch). Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 22-30 USD.

Hades II released in full in fall 2025 (after long Early Access). Winter Sale is the first big moment for a discount after full release.

What you get: 30-40 hours of roguelike with brilliantly designed combat and a strong story.

5. Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Last 12-month minimum: 50 USD in February 2025. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 45-55 USD.

Stalker 2 dropped November 2024, a year later is a good moment for the first real discount. The hunt is worth it because the game is strong despite initial technical issues.

What you get: 80 hours of survival in the post-apocalyptic Zone. Atmosphere unmatched.

6. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Last 12-month minimum: 45 USD. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 40-50 USD.

MachineGames release from December 2024. Winter Sale 2025 is the one-year anniversary of release, a classic moment for a big rebate (35-40 percent).

What you get: 25 hours of singleplayer in Wolfenstein-meets-Tomb-Raider style, narratively-driven campaign.

7. Persona 3 Reload

Last 12-month minimum: 30 USD on KKinguin. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 25-35 USD.

Atlus regularly discounts Persona remakes in Winter Sale. P3 Reload is the series favorite in a modern presentation.

What you get: 80 hours of Japanese JRPG with excellently designed combat and social links.

8. Final Fantasy XVI

Last 12-month minimum: 50 USD. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 40-55 USD.

The PC version of FFXVI released in spring 2025. Winter Sale is the first opportunity for a discount for the fresher port.

What you get: 50 hours of story in Game of Thrones-meets-Devil-May-Cry style, brilliantly directed.

9. Disco Elysium - The Final Cut

Last 12-month minimum: 10 USD on EEneba. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 8-12 USD.

A classic that's already cheap, in Winter Sale sometimes drops to absolute floor. If you haven't played, the holidays are the perfect moment (the game requires focus, doesn't fit "30 minutes between things").

What you get: 30 hours of the best storytelling RPG of the last 10 years. Unrivaled dialogue.

10. Outer Wilds

Last 12-month minimum: 8 USD. Expected Winter Sale 2025 price: 7-10 USD.

A low-budget indie classic. Winter Sale 2024 had it for 7 USD, so I expect similar floor in 2025.

What you get: 20 hours of space exploration with a time-loop mechanic. One of the most original games of the decade.

What I deliberately skipped

Three games that could be on the list but deliberately aren't.

Starfield. Bethesda discounts this title chaotically. Third-party stores only have access to EU keys, regional. Don't recommend Winter Sale as the buying moment, better wait for Spring Sale 2026 when stabilization should be higher.

Black Myth Wukong. Fresh release (August 2024), publisher holds price high. Winter Sale 2025 is too early, the real deal will probably come mid-2026.

GTA VI Pre-Order. Release likely spring 2026. Any pre-order price will be higher than the launch price, don't buy on Winter Sale.

A specific date calendar

• December 19, Friday: Winter Sale starts. First 24-48 hours is price chaos, stores testing.
• December 22-23: stabilization, prices settle at the Sale working level.
• December 24-26 (Christmas Eve/Days): traffic practically zero, but prices still active. Good moment for stress-free buying.
• December 27-30: second discounts, "Holiday Special". Games that sold poorly in week one get extra rebates.
• December 31 - January 2 (New Year): third wave, last chance on hits.
• January 3-5: price floor before Sale's end.
• January 5, Wednesday: Winter Sale ends. Everything returns to regular prices.

Best practice: buy key items in week one, secondary picks in week three. Third-party stores usually have their own discount calendars overlapping with Steam Winter Sale, so worth checking the comparator daily.

I wrote this article on December 12, 2025. Prices may change in any direction. I recommend using our comparator right before buying any of these. Happy holidays and may Winter Sale bring you more joy than regrets in January.

A few words about gift buying

Winter Sale is also a great moment for gifts for gamer friends. Three rules I pulled from painful mistakes.

First: never buy someone a game you haven't tried yourself. Picking on "everyone says it's good" leads to gifts that never get launched. Better to give Steam Wallet and let them choose.

Second: co-op games are better gifts than singleplayer. Two copies of Phasmophobia or It Takes Two gives you a shared weekend, not just the recipient a solo experience.

Third: DLC as a gift usually flops. If someone finished the base game long ago, adding DLC three years later rarely brings them back. Better to add something from their current wishlist.

Steam lets you buy a game "as a gift" and send a link or transfer to the recipient's library. It works smoothly, the gift can be activated without needing to be on a Steam friend list.