Steam held its first sale specifically branded as a Black Friday Sale in 2025, according to a contemporaneous report. It ran for a week, ending December 1. That was not the first time Steam discounts overlapped Black Friday: Valve had previously run Autumn and Exploration sales across the shopping period.
What made the 2025 event “first-ever”?
The distinction is the sale’s name and framing. PC Gamer reported on November 24, 2025, that Steam had launched its first dedicated Black Friday Sale. The event ran through December 1, 2025, and was described as a one-week sale. The timing followed a shift that year in the Autumn Sale, leaving room for a separately named late-November event. PC Gamer’s report describes the event and its timing.
That does not mean Steam had never discounted games during Black Friday. Valve’s earlier announcements show that discounts were available then, but under different event names.
Steam’s earlier Black Friday-period sales
| Date | Valve event | What Valve said |
|---|---|---|
| November 29, 2013 | Autumn Sale | Valve’s post was titled “Steam Autumn Sale Day 3 – Black Friday!” and promoted discounts on thousands of PC, Mac, and Linux titles, including eight-hour flash sales. Valve announcement. |
| November 25, 2015 | Exploration Sale | Valve said discounts on thousands of games and software would run through Black Friday and Cyber Monday; listed offers ended December 1 at 10 a.m. Pacific unless otherwise stated. Valve announcement. |
| November 23, 2016 | Autumn Sale | Valve said the sale would continue through Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ending November 29 at 10 a.m. Pacific. Valve announcement. |
| November 22, 2017 | Autumn Sale | Valve again said its Autumn Sale would span Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ending November 28 at 10 a.m. Pacific. Valve announcement. |
So “first Black Friday sale” is accurate only when it means Steam’s first dedicated event under that branding. It is inaccurate if taken to mean the first time Steam ran discounts during Black Friday.
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What was discounted in the 2025 sale?
PC Gamer’s November 24, 2025 report cited these examples from that event:
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2: 60% off.
- Battlefield 6: 15% off.
- Dying Light: The Beast: 20% off.
The report also listed the Steam Deck 256GB LCD model at 20% off, with prices of $319 in the U.S. and £279 in the U.K. Those are historical, market-specific sale figures, not current prices. The examples are not a complete catalog of the offers, and the sale has ended. See the event report.
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How this differed from a seasonal Steam sale
The 2025 event’s defining difference was its dedicated Black Friday branding. Valve’s earlier promotions around the same dates were called the Autumn Sale or Exploration Sale. PC Gamer also reported that the 2025 event was smaller in scope than Steam’s seasonal sales and did not come with Points Shop freebies or trading cards. That comparison describes the reported event; it does not establish that a Black Friday label guarantees a particular size of discount or selection.
Steam’s store can also feature sale pages organized by developers, publishers, themes, showcases, or regions. Valve’s Steamworks sale-page guidance explains how such pages are presented and reviewed. Discounts visible on Steam therefore do not, by themselves, establish that Valve has announced a platform-wide event with a particular name.
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How to judge a future Black Friday offer
For any later sale, check the individual game’s current store price and compare it with that game’s own price history. A sale name alone does not show whether a discount is unusually deep. The 2025 percentages above describe that past event only; they should not be used as current offers or as a benchmark for every game.
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