September is stacked with discounts on Steam. More than a dozen publisher and franchise sales are already live as the month opens, alongside a survival-crafting fest, and two more genre-focused fests land later in the month before the Autumn Sale takes over in October.
Quick answer: As of September 1st, over a dozen publisher and franchise sales are running (most ending between September 3rd and 14th), plus the PvE Survival Crafting Fest through September 7th. Two genre fests follow — Programming Fest (September 10–14) and Party-Based RPG Fest (September 14–21) — and the Autumn Sale 2026 begins October 1st.
Steam sales and fests live right now
These promotions are already running and will wind down over the first two weeks of September. If a game you want sits under one of these publishers or franchises, it is worth checking now rather than waiting, since the shorter publisher sales end first.
| Event | Runs through | What’s discounted |
|---|---|---|
| Forza Franchise Sale | September 3 | Every Forza game, including DLC |
| Jackbox Games Publisher Sale | September 3 | Titles from Jackbox Games Inc. |
| Platformer Fever | September 6 | Platformer games |
| Pretty Soon Publisher Sale | September 6 | Titles from publisher Pretty Soon |
| GCX26 Gran Canaria eXperience Indie GG | September 7 | Games from Canary Islands and Spanish developers |
| Serious Sam Franchise Sale | September 7 | Devolver Digital’s Serious Sam series |
| MicroProse Publisher Sale | September 7 | Titles from MicroProse Software |
| Freemind Publisher Sale | September 7 | Titles from Freemind S.A. |
| Travellin Cats Anniversary Sale | September 7 | The Travellin Cats franchise |
| PvE Survival Crafting Fest | September 7 | Player-vs-AI survival and crafting games |
| Gundam Franchise Sale | September 8 | Bandai Namco Gundam base games and DLC |
| Ash Games Publisher Sale | September 9 | Games and bundles from ASH Games (Application Systems Heidelberg) |
| Discover, Play, Repeat | September 10 | A rotating mix of games across genres |
| 20th Kalypso Anniversary Publisher Sale | September 14 | Games from Kalypso Media |
Genre fests coming later in September
Two themed fests are scheduled for the back half of the month. These are genre spotlights, so the discounts cluster around a specific type of game rather than a single publisher.
| Fest | Dates | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Programming Fest | September 10–14 | Problem-solving and puzzle games |
| Party-Based RPG Fest | September 14–21 | Turn-based RPGs, CRPGs, JRPGs, and dungeon crawlers |
What time Steam sales start
Steam sales and fests go live at 10:00 AM Pacific Time on their start date. If a fest shows an opening date but no discounts yet, check back at that time and refresh the store page.
The next major sale after September
Once September’s fests wrap, the Autumn Sale 2026 opens the next big seasonal window. It starts October 1st at 17:00 UTC (10:00 AM Pacific), which is the storewide event to watch for the deepest catalog-wide discounts heading into the fall.
Note: More promotions get added throughout the month, and publisher takeovers can appear on the store homepage with little notice. Expect this month’s slate to grow as new publisher and franchise sales roll in.
