How often can you discount a game on Steam?

A product cannot be discounted within 30 days of another discount. Steam's own seasonal sales are exempt from that cooldown.

What is the maximum launch discount on Steam?

Steamworks documentation says launch discounts cannot exceed 40 percent and run for 7 to 14 days. Valve suggests 10 to 15 percent as typical.

Can I discount my game right after raising the price?

No. Any increase in base price, in any currency, blocks discounts for 30 days with no exceptions, including seasonal sales.

What discount triggers Steam wishlist emails?

A discount of 20 percent or more triggers notification emails to players who wishlisted the game.

What are the minimum and maximum Steam discounts?

Discounts must be at least 10 percent and no more than 95 percent, and must last between 1 and 14 days.

Steam Discounts and Sales: Rules Every Developer Needs

The short answer

Steam's documented rules are: a product cannot be discounted within 30 days of another discount, within 30 days of its release unless it is a launch discount set up beforehand, or within 30 days of a price increase. Discounts must be between 10 and 95 percent and last 1 to 14 days. Launch discounts are capped at 40 percent. Steam's own seasonal sales are exempt from the cooldown between discounts, but not from the release and price-increase cooldowns. Plan the year with those limits in mind.

The rules at a glance

Rule	Detail
Cooldown between discounts	30 days after a discount ends before the next can start
After release	No discount for 30 days, except a launch discount configured before release
After a price increase	No discount for 30 days, in any currency, with no exceptions
Minimum and maximum	Not less than 10 percent, not more than 95 percent
Duration	Not shorter than 1 day, not longer than 14 days
Launch discount	Cannot exceed 40 percent, runs 7 to 14 days
Seasonal sales	Exempt from the between-discount cooldown, not from the other two
Wishlist emails	Triggered by discounts of 20 percent or more
Price changes	Base price cannot change during an active or scheduled discount

These come from the Steamworks discounting documentation. Valve updates it from time to time, and the cooldown was 28 days before 2023, so check the current page before scheduling.

The 30-day cooldown

After one discount ends, 30 days must pass before another begins. This stops games from being permanently on sale and makes each discount more meaningful. A launch discount counts: if yours runs for the first week, you cannot run a custom discount until 30 days after it ends.

The major exception is Steam's own seasonal sales. Discounts that Steam creates for those events can run inside the cooldown and do not start a new one for other events. Your own custom discount that merely overlaps the same dates does not get this exemption.

Launch discounts

A launch discount is optional and must be set up before release. Valve's documentation caps it at 40 percent and suggests a modest range of about 10 to 15 percent as typical. It runs for 7 to 14 days.

Should you use one?

For: it gives undecided players a reason to buy now, and a discount of 20 percent or more triggers wishlist notification emails, though the launch itself also notifies wishlisters.
Against: you earn less from your most eager buyers, and it sets an expectation of early discounts.

Many indie games use 10 to 15 percent for a week. If you skip it, remember that no other discount is possible for the first 30 days.

Price increases

Raising the base price in any currency starts a 30-day period with no discounts, and there are no exceptions, including for seasonal sales. Developers have missed major sales by adjusting regional prices a few weeks before. If you need to raise a price, do it well clear of the sales you want to join. Price decreases do not trigger the cooldown. You also cannot change the base price while a discount is active or scheduled.

Seasonal sales

Steam runs large storewide sales each year in spring, summer, autumn and winter, plus themed festivals for genres and topics. Valve publishes upcoming dates to partners in Steamworks. Seasonal sales bring the highest traffic of the year and the most competition for attention.

Register your discount during the opt-in window.
Because of the release cooldown, a game launched less than 30 days before a seasonal sale cannot join it unless its launch discount is still running.
Deeper discounts tend to perform better in seasonal sales, where players compare many offers.
Update your capsule art and store page beforehand.

Themed festivals and Next Fest

Themed sales focus on a genre or mechanic and can outperform seasonal sales for a well-matched game, since visibility is shared among fewer titles. Steam Next Fest is a demo festival for unreleased games and is about wishlists, not discounts. See also our note on the February 2027 Next Fest.

Wishlists and the 20 percent line

When a wishlisted game goes on sale at 20 percent or more, Steam emails the players who wishlisted it. That makes 20 percent an important threshold: a 15 percent custom discount is quiet, and a 20 percent one arrives in inboxes. Wishlists are covered in detail in Steam wishlists.

Other discount tools

Weeklong deals. Seven-day discounts starting on Mondays, open to opt-in and listed on a dedicated page.
Daily deals and other featured slots. Curated by Valve, limited in how often a game can receive them and awarded based on performance.
Bundles. Group your games, or partner with another developer. Bundle discounts stack on top of individual discounts and include a complete-the-set option for owners of some items.
Publisher or franchise sales. For developers with several titles.

How deep to go

There is no single right answer, but a common pattern for indie games is to deepen discounts gradually over the life of the game:

Stage	Typical discount
Launch	10 to 15 percent
First months	20 to 25 percent, enough to trigger wishlist emails
First year	30 to 40 percent in seasonal sales
Later years	50 percent and deeper

Going deep too early leaves nowhere to go and teaches players to wait. Tracking tools show players your historical lowest price, so each new low is a real event. Also consider regional pricing: Valve offers recommended price levels per currency, and sensible regional prices matter more than discounts in many markets.

A simple yearly plan

Mark the seasonal sale dates from Steamworks.
Place your release so the 30-day cooldown does not block the sale you most want, or accept that you will skip it.
Decide on a launch discount before release.
Make any base price increases at least 30 days before a planned discount, and ideally much earlier.
Fill gaps with a themed festival or a weeklong deal, keeping 30 days between custom discounts.
Tie discounts to updates. A content update plus a discount performs better than either alone.
Review results after each sale and adjust depth.

Discounts are not the whole launch

A discount multiplies attention you already have. It does not create it. Store page quality, a strong trailer, a demo, wishlists and press or creator coverage come first. See indie game marketing and publishing, game trailer cost and Steam Deck verification, which also affects conversion.

Common mistakes

Raising a regional price shortly before a seasonal sale.
Launching inside the 30 days before a major sale without a plan.
Running a small custom discount that blocks a better opportunity three weeks later.
Discounting below 20 percent and wondering why wishlist emails did not go out.
Deep discounts in the first months.
Forgetting to opt in during the registration window.

Getting help

We build and port games for Steam and help plan launches, from the store page to the discount calendar. See porting a mobile game to PC and Steam and our packages on the offer page.

Sources: Steamworks: Discounting · Steamworks: Pricing · Steamworks: Wishlists. Checked November 11, 2026.

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Steam discounts and sales: the rules every developer needs