Steam Summer Sale 2026: Dates, Best Games & Deals

Your wishlist is bursting, your wallet is empty, and the clock is already ticking. The Steam Summer Sale 2026 kicked off on June 25 at 8 PM Moscow time and runs through July 9 — two weeks to grab the games you've been eyeing at deep discounts.

The Steam Summer Sale 2026 is Valve's biggest summer discount event, running from June 25 (8 PM MSK) through July 9, 2026. This is the 17th summer sale: thousands of games — from fresh AAA releases to indies — go on sale, with some titles dropping 90–95% off. Discounts show right in the store, and the catalog refreshes regularly.

Steam Summer Sale 2026 at a glance

• When: starts June 25, 2026, 8 PM MSK; ends July 9, 2026 — the sale is live right now.
• Scale: the 17th Steam Summer Sale, thousands of discounted games — AAA, indie, co-op and classics.
• Discount range: 2026 releases usually 20–33%; older hits drop 90–95%.
• Bonuses: trading cards and themed sale stickers drop during the event.
• Top-up from Russia: works by account login without sharing your password; pay with an RU card, SBP or crypto.

When is the Steam Summer Sale 2026: exact dates and time

The Steam Summer Sale 2026 began June 25 at 8 PM MSK and ends July 9, 2026. Steam sales traditionally wrap up in the evening Moscow time, so the last day isn't "00:00 on July 9" but closer to 8 PM MSK that same day. In other words, you have two full weeks to make up your mind.

The summer and winter sales are the two biggest Steam events of the year. The next major one is already on the horizon: the Steam Autumn Sale runs October 1–8, 2026. So if your budget falls short now, add the rest to your wishlist and wait for October.

How the sale works: what changed in 2026

Valve split the catalog by genre and put a "Special Offers" block on the front page, collecting the games with the deepest markdowns. The homepage refreshes regularly so returning visitors see new titles on every visit.

In 2026 the mechanics differ slightly from past events — mainly because of the cards. Sale trading cards for crafting badges only drop during the event itself — after July 9 that won't be possible.

How to get sale cards and stickers

• Stickers. Browsing your recommendation feed in Steam earns themed sale stickers for your collection. The section is on the store homepage under "Explore your recommendation feed."
• Cards. They drop for activity during the event, and you craft badges from them — this seasonal bonus is only available within the sale window.

The discount-alert trick

A handy mechanic for anyone tracking specific games: add the title to your wishlist. If its discount hits 20% or more, Steam automatically emails you a notification. No need to check the page every day — the system flags the moment for you.

Best games in the Steam Summer Sale 2026: a roundup by category

A defining feature of this sale is that markdowns hit not just old hits but also notable releases from recent months. Below is a guide by genre and discount size. Check specific prices in the store — final figures only show once the sale opens.

Recent hits from 2025–2026 on sale

Valve highlighted a few projects: the space co-op adventure ASTRONEER, Hades II from Supergiant Games, the co-op Split Fiction from the It Takes Two team, plus Dynasty Warriors: Origins and Monster Hunter Wilds.

Confirmed participants also include No Man's Sky, Dying Light: The Beast, Little Nightmares III and dozens of games across genres.

2026 releases with modest discounts

Discounts on fresh releases are traditionally smaller — but they exist:

• Nioh 3 — a souls-like action-RPG from Team Ninja, set in Japan's Sengoku era. Around 30% off.
• High on Life 2 — a trippy first-person shooter from Squanch Games. Around 33% off.
• Resident Evil Requiem from Capcom — around 20%.
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire — around 20%.
• The horror REANIMAL — around 25%.

Sports and strategy

• Football Manager 26 and NBA 2K26 — for sports sim fans.
• Company of Heroes 3 and Solasta 2 — for strategists.
• The sandbox Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, the sim Two Point Museum, the puzzler Human Fall Flat, the roguelike Gambonanza — nice little picks at a low price.

Deep discounts on classics (worth grabbing now)

The most interesting part — older hits dropping 90% or more:

• Watch Dogs — around 95%.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — around 90%.
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition — around 92%.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA V Enhanced — noticeably cheaper than usual.
• RoboCop: Rogue City, Mortal Kombat 11, Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition — deep markdowns.
• Battlefield 6 — about half price off.
• Rust — around 50%.

The takeaway on discounts is simple: new releases give 20–33%, classics 90–95%. If your budget is tight, it makes more sense to clear your backlog of proven older hits and add fresh releases to your wishlist until the autumn or winter sale.

How to top up Steam from Russia in 2026

You can top up your Steam wallet from Russia in 2026 through several working methods — even though Visa and Mastercard suspended cross-border transactions on Russian cards. Steam itself isn't blocked: the problem is in broken payment chains, not the service.

Working top-up channels today:

1. Direct top-up by login — you pay locally (with an RU card or via SBP), and the money lands on your Steam account balance. No password needed.
2. Steam Wallet Code — activated in your wallet, but the code's region must match your account's region.
3. A regional CIS account (e.g., Kazakhstan, Armenia) with a local card or service top-up.

You can top up Steam by account login through KRAB.GG — from 50 to 100,000 RUB, no Steam password required. Payment via RU cards, SBP, USDT or GRAM (on the TON network), with delivery within minutes.