Technologies

The Steam Autumn Sale 2025 Is Here: Rake In the Sweet Savings

The Steam Autumn Sale is here, and prices are falling. Check out the best deals and discounts you can snag right now.

I first discovered Steam in university — until then, I’d never had my own computer, so the allure of PC gaming proved irresistible. What started as a humble dozen games, like Doom 3 and Half-Life, blossomed into a collection of over 220 titles, thanks mainly to Steam sales (please don’t ask how many items from my library I’ve actually played). Steam is one of the most popular PC gaming platforms, selling more than 718 million total games in 2024, according to Statista. The digital PC gaming service boasts a massive catalog of over 89,000 titles.

Steam runs four major seasonal sales — winter, spring, summer and fall — plus smaller sales called “fests” in between. The next major event — the Steam Autumn Sale — has landed, running Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, 2025. There are tons of discounts on everything from blockbuster titles to indie games and older gems, so you can rake in the savings. Whether you’re trying to save a few bucks on one of the latest big-name AAA games, want to add more indie games to your digital shelf or need to fill up your Steam Deck hard drive, here’s everything you need to know about when Steam sales are and how to save money.

When are the next Steam sales?

There are four main Steam seasonal sales. The next big Steam Sale — the Steam Autumn Sale — runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, 2025. There are also smaller sales, called Fests. Typically, the Steam Winter and Summer Sales last about two weeks, whereas the Spring and Autumn Sales last for one week, give or take.

Steam Summer Sale (June 26 to July 10, 2025)
Steam Autumn Sale (Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, 2025)
Steam Winter Sale (Dec. 18, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026)
Steam Spring Sale (was March 13 to 20, 2025)

How often are Steam sales?

Steam Sales are frequent, with at least one per month. While the big seasonal sales are quarterly — winter, fall, spring and summer — there are dozens of smaller sales or fests. Typically, these Steam discount days revolve around a particular theme, with lowered prices on titles within a certain genre, like fighting games or roleplaying games.

Here are the best Steam Autumn Sale deals and discounts

The deals are piling up, with sweet savings on everything from recent releases to oldie but goodie games. Here are the discounted titles we’d recommend picking up:

Here’s how I save money with Steam sales (and you can too)

Take advantage of your wish list

Adding games to your Steam wish list simplifies figuring out what to snag — or skip — during a sale. You can sort your wish list by discount, so finding the biggest savings is a breeze.

Add a game to your wish list whenever you see one you like the look of but don’t immediately want to play. Then, during a Steam sale, pop in, sort by discount and see which prices have plummeted the most. Or, you can arrange your wish list in order of your most wanted titles, then choose what to buy that way during one of the upcoming Steam sales.

Use SteamDB to find the largest discounts

SteamDB is an excellent source for uncovering deals. Its many filters let you sort attributes, including discount percentage, rating, price or reviews, making it a helpful Steam sales tracker. You can even narrow down a list based on platform — Windows, Linux or MacOS — and features like controller support. I’ve even used SteamDB to nab free games, like a no-cost copy of Tell Me Why.

I typically hop into SteamDB during a Steam sale to look for hefty discounts on highly rated games. It’s worth checking SteamDB even outside of seasonal sales and fests if you want to expand your Steam collection.

Shop for older titles, indie games, DLC and complete catalogs

Often, newer AAA games get heavy markdowns — but because of their usually high price tags, even the discounted cost isn’t cheap. However, you can find wallet-friendly older games, indies or downloadable content. For instance, I picked up a copy of The Sum of All Fears for just $2, which wasn’t even during a Steam sale.

Complete publisher catalogs or franchise bundles save you a ton of money. I’ve seen the Activision Collection bundle — typically $900 — for as low as $355. While over $350 might not be pocket change, the per-title breakdown is pretty cost-effective when you’re getting 53 games. Similarly, I’ve seen the Call of Duty Franchise bundle for $443, a steep drop from its usual $1,010.

You can often get DLC packs pretty cheap during Steam sales, which provide more in-game content to enjoy. On the other hand, these comprehensive bundles might lead you to overspend if you’re not actually planning on playing, say, every single Call of Duty game under the sun.

Check your other game libraries to make sure you’re not double-dipping

Although Steam is incredibly popular, it’s not the only source for digital game purchases. Check your other libraries on GOG, Epic, EA Origin and Xbox Game Pass, for instance, to ensure you’re not double-dipping. While you could buy Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam and GOG, you probably don’t need two copies.

Cross-shop deals on other platforms

With many Steam alternatives, including GOG, Epic, Origin and Fanatical, you can find sweet discounts from several outlets. While you can — and should — check those individual storefronts, IsThereAnyDeal is a comprehensive source for savings. So you might notice a great deal on Skyrim from Steam, but it might be available at an even lower price at Epic at the same time.

Set a budget

Adding a bunch of games to your cart can be tempting, especially with prices slashed by 75% or more. However, lots of cheap games can still add up. I typically set a budget — whether it’s monetary or a limit on the number of games — and stick to that.

Don’t feel compelled to buy anything

The best way to save money is by not spending it in the first place. I know, it’s tempting to load up your cart with $5 or $10 games, which is nearly as gratifying as an in-game loot grab. But only buy what you’ll play now or soon after purchasing. While there are rare instances where games get delisted on Steam, chances are if you pass up on a sweet deal, it’ll still be available during the next Steam sale.

A complete list of Steam sale dates

Outside of Steam’s seasonal sales, there are different genre-themed sales or fests. Steam fests revolve around a genre or game theme. Here are all of the Steam fests for 2025, along with examples of Steam games on sale you might find:

Next Fest: October 2025 (Oct. 13-20, 2025): Highlights of upcoming games — demos, livestreams and developer chats, oh my!
Scream Fest 2025 (Oct. 27 to Nov. 3, 2025): Just in time for spooky season, stock up on horror games, such as Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic, Lies of P, Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil Village.
Animal Fest (Nov. 10-17, 2025): Go wild and grab cheap titles like Wolf Quest, Nightingale Downs and Goat Simulator.
Sports Fest (Dec. 8-15, 2025): Score goals and great deals with discounts on games like 2K25, FC25 and WWE 2K25.
Real-Time Strategy Fest (was Jan. 20-27, 2025): Reap the rewards of discounted RTS strategy games — you might find Hearts of Iron IV, Manor Lords or DOTA 2 on sale.
Idler Fest (was Feb. 3-10, 2025): If you want to play a video game that lets you progress without too much demanding effort, an idler is a great choice. Examples of what you could find on the cheap include Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realm, Firestone and Rusty’s Retirement.
Couch Co-Op Fest (was Feb. 10-17, 2025): Couch co-op games let you play with friends in the same room. You may see games like It Takes Two, Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection for wallet-friendly prices.
Steam Next Fest February Edition (was Feb. 24 to March 10, 2025): Demos, developer chats and livestreams featuring up-and-coming games.
Visual Novel Fest (was March 3-10, 2025): Stock up your Steam library on graphic novel and anime-adjacent games without breaking the bank. You might see Persona 3 Reload, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy or Vampire Therapist at attractively low costs.
City Builder & Colony Sim Fest (was March 24-31, 2025): Build your own virtual worlds, and cop titles like Anno 1800, Ages of Empires IV or RimWorld on sale.
Sokoban Fest (was April 21-28, 2025): Pick up some puzzle games like Isles of Sea and Sky or Schein.
Wargames Fest (was April 28 to May 5, 2025): Get your fight on with slashed prices on titles that may include Six Days in Fallujah, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Europa Universalis IV.
Creature Collector Fest (was May 12-19, 2025): If you like Pokémon, you’ll love these discounts on games like Palworld, Digimon World: Next Order and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.
Zombies vs. Vampires Fest (was May 26 to June 2, 2025): Unreal deals on the undead and living dead — titles you may see on sale include Resident Evil 4, The House of the Dead Remake and Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines.
Steam Next Fest June Edition (was June 9-16, 2025): Demos, livestreams and developer chats showcasing upcoming games.
Fishing Fest (was June 16-23, 2025): No fishing license required for these great games. You could see prices sink for games like Bassmaster Fishing, Fishing Planet, Bass Pro Shops Fishing Sim World or Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos.
Automation Fest (was July 14-21, 2025): Automate all the things! Look for discounts on titles like Hydroneer, Railgrade and Voidtrain.
Racing Fest (was July 28 to Aug. 4, 2025): Be fast and furious adding games like Forza Horizon 5, Snow Runner and Sonic Racing CrossWorlds to your cart.
4X Fest (was Aug. 11-18, 2025): The Steam 4X Fest celebrates games that feature all four Xs: Expand, Exploit, Exterminate and Explore. Look for deals on player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) games, like Duke: Awakening and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X.
Third Person Shooter Fest (was Aug. 25 to Sept. 1, 2025): Reload your Steam library with third-person shooter titles, like Helldivers II, Star Wars Outlaws or Red Dead Redemption II.
Political Sim Fest (was Sept. 8-15, 2025): Bring out your inner politician with deals on games like Tropico 6 and Victoria 3.

When is the next Steam Next Fest?

There’s an upcoming Steam Next Fest running from Oct. 13 to 20, 2025. The Steam Next Fest highlights upcoming game releases, featuring developer chats, free playable game demos and livestreams. Some of the most played demos from the June 2025 Steam Next Fest included Vindictus: Defying Fate, Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive and Ferocious. For more, check out the 10 best Steam Next Fest games you need to wishlist.

Here’s what I bought on Steam recently

So what did I stock up on at a recent Steam Sale? Mass Effect Legendary Edition — three games for $2 apiece was too good a deal to skip. I also snagged Middle-earth: Shadow of War. While I picked up Shadow of Mordor at a previous Steam Sale, I’ve not yet added its sequel to my metaphorical shelf. As a big cinephile and fan of movie tie-in games (like Peter Jackson’s King Kong), I was excited to get Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine alongside Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb for $4 total.

Although I own it in EA Origin, I snagged a $1 copy of Alice: Madness Returns, because at that price, it was too juicy a discount to pass up. I grabbed Heavy Rain and Red Dead Redemption during the Steam Spring Sale. I also completed my collection of the Sherlock Holmes games by snagging Sherlock Holmes Chapter One and Sherlock Holmes The Awakened. I snagged Life is Strange: Double Exposure during the 2025 Steam Summer Sale.

During the Steam Autumn Sale 2025, I picked up Lost Records: Bloom & Rage along with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

How to get the most out of Steam once you’ve ravaged your wallet during a Steam sale

Once you’ve drained your bank account dry on games you’ll likely never play, there’s a lot more you can do with Steam, like sharing your library with friends or family, using Remote Play Together and adding non-Steam games. I suggest installing the Steam Link app on your phone, tablet or streaming device for playing your games away from your PC. You can also game on the go with the Steam Deck or another handheld gaming console like the Asus ROG Ally. Or, you can share your Steam library with up to five family members using Steam Families.

Technologies

China indicates rare earths will keep flowing to EU, regardless of U.S. trade deal expiration

European trade commissioner Maroš Sefčovič met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing last week.

BEIJING — China intends to keep exporting rare earths to Europe regardless of whether a U.S. trade deal with Beijing gets extended past January.

The world’s second-largest economy is willing to continue approving rare earth licenses to Europe, China’s Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong told CNBC when asked on Thursday about the impact of the upcoming U.S. deadline.

Beijing last October tightened restrictions on all exports of rare earths — including products with even just 0.1% of China-sourced rare earths. The move followed a new U.S. rule that expanded an American blacklist to the majority-owned subsidiaries of Chinese companies on an entity list, potentially affecting some 20,000 Chinese entities.

However, both the U.S. and China agreed to suspend those measures for one year at a meeting in late October 2025 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the leaders’ latest summit last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the truce was extended by two months to January.

Trade tensions between the EU and Beijing cooled last week after European trade commissioner Maroš Sefčovič met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing. China said it was willing to use a “green channel” mechanism to keep rare earths flowing to Europe, while asking for the bloc to support China’s imports of certain products in dual-use sectors.

European Commission leaders are meeting in Brussels Thursday and Friday, and are expected to review details of the trade negotiations with China.

Technologies

Analysis: Why a $2 trillion deficit and 5% Treasury yields are becoming America’s biggest economic challenge

Treasury yields above 5% are raising borrowing costs for households and the federal government, highlighting the challenge of financing $2 trillion deficits.

Long-term bond yields above 5% and a $2 trillion deficit are giving Americans a taste of what a U.S. debt crisis would be like. A true emergency would hurt much more, and isn’t baked in. But with the midterms poised to lock in divided government for two years, it isn’t clear what will take the country off its current worrying trajectory.

Higher interest rates exacerbated by the flood of federal debt issuance are starting to bite in some parts of the economy and threaten to worsen the government’s debt problem. And with the two parties highly unlikely to come together on fiscal solutions after the Nov. 3 midterms, any fixes are years off in the future.

The housing market is showing signs of slowing as the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage hovers around 7.5%. Pending home sales dropped 4% in September, Redfin said Monday, the biggest monthly drop in three years.

Mortgage rates track the 10-year Treasury yield

Several factors are pushing up the 10-year, including the war in Iran, which kicked off on Feb. 28 and precipitated the rise in long-term yields. Oil and diesel prices are up sharply, and that has bond traders asking for more yield to account for the possibility that central banks such as the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

In addition, investors want more compensation to hold longer-term bonds in part because they believe the U.S. government will continue to flood the market with them. The markets for corporate and government debt are connected, and the competition for capital among them is intensifying as companies issue hundreds of billions in new debt to build the infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

Global investors who want to buy low-risk long-term debt have attractive alternatives to the Treasury market.

If the U.S. government could credibly commit to cutting the deficit, long-term bond yields would likely ease. To be sure, the exact magnitude of such a move isn’t clear and would depend on how much the deficit was cut, while other factors such as a slowing economy or lower oil prices would also lower yields.

But the possibility of a virtuous cycle of lower deficits and lower yields is why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that the U.S. ought to target a deficit lower than 4% of its gross domestic product by the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

There is almost no way the U.S. will hit that target. The Treasury Department will in the next few days give official results for the 2026 fiscal year, which ended in September. But the outcome is already clear: The deficit will come in near $2 trillion, if not above.

That is likely to put the deficit in the range of 6.0-6.2% of gross domestic product for the year, based on the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of a $1.993 trillion deficit and a projection of third quarter GDP.

Higher rates make debt reduction tougher. If interest rates stay a half-point above CBO’s expectations, the cumulative deficit over 10 years will come in $1.9 trillion higher, the agency estimates. If rates overshoot by 1.5 points, that adds $6 trillion in deficits.

CBO expects the 10-year Treasury to average 4.3% over that period, compared to 5.3% today. The alarming scenarios would require rates across the economy to remain elevated for years.

“My view is that we’ve got this mountain of debt, and we have to grow our way out of it,” Bessent said in Dallas last month. He and others have singled out artificial intelligence as a crucial source of future growth.

AI could help but can’t fix the problem entirely. It would take a decade of 7.2% growth to balance the budget with growth alone, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a research group that advocates for balanced budgets.

GDP growth was recently revised up for the second quarter from 1.5% to 2.2% at an annualized rate. The acceleration that quickly would get us to 7.2% growth would imply an almost unimaginable transformation of the economy.

Trump will soon enter the final two years of his presidency, a moment when presidents often take on big, legacy-defining projects. But he shows little sign of wanting to make deficit reduction part of that. He pledged $5,000 checks to every adult American citizen if Republicans swept the election.

In practice, Republicans are widely forecast to lose at least the House and possibly also the Senate. Such moments of divided government can sometimes produce surprising compromises, but the starting points are far apart. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Democrats’ likely next House speaker, wants to reverse the $1 trillion in healthcare cuts that Congress enacted last year as part of Trump’s signature legislative package.

And that’s leaving aside the deep animosity between the parties.

The overall U.S. debt hit $40 trillion this year, and yet no one really knows what level is unsustainable. A full-on debt crisis likely remains much farther out in the future. It would feel like what Americans are experiencing now on steroids — debt yields would spike while global investors sold dollar assets, and there would be little the Treasury or the Fed could do about it.

For now, though higher yields are also attracting investors to U.S. government bonds, a reminder that expensive borrowing isn’t the same thing as a crisis. But the bottom line is that economics alone can’t solve the problem. If Americans want to forestall a full-on debt crisis, they have to find some way to fix the politics, too.

Technologies

Key Details on Starshield, SpaceX’s Defense-Oriented Starlink Network

Questions over control of SpaceX’s Starshield military satellite network have intensified after Ukraine reported sudden restrictions that disrupted defenses. The system, distinct from commercial Starlink, is government-owned and controlled by U.S. authorities.

Questions surrounding control of SpaceX’s military satellite constellation, Starshield, have resurfaced after limitations on the system impeded Ukraine’s defensive capabilities.

Kyiv has leveled accusations against SpaceX

Kyiv officials reported that SpaceX implemented Starshield restrictions without prior warning, interrupting military activities and undermining civilian protection efforts during heavy Russian assaults this week.

Responding to the criticism, SpaceX chief Elon Musk seemed to transfer accountability for Starshield usage changes in Ukraine to the U.S. government and President Donald Trump. Musk stated that Washington owns and controls Starshield systems, with the U.S. military and ultimately the president setting any usage boundaries. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to Verum’s request for comment.

Here’s an overview of Starshield and its distinctions from Starlink.

What is Starshield and how does it function?

Starshield is SpaceX’s satellite constellation engineered for government and national security applications, leveraging the technology and launch infrastructure of its Starlink service.

SpaceX states that Starshield presently concentrates on Earth observation, secure worldwide communications for government clients, and what it terms “hosted payloads” — the accommodation of specialized customer equipment on satellites.

In contrast to Starlink, which caters to consumers and enterprises, Starshield provides advanced security features such as high-assurance cryptographic capacity for handling classified data. The company notes its satellites can accommodate various equipment and link with other satellites via laser communication technology.

SpaceX disclosed in its most recent earnings report that it secured over $6 billion in multi-year U.S. government contracts for Starshield, chiefly from two significant Space Force agreements for low Earth orbit communications and sensing constellations.

On Wednesday, Musk differentiated Starshield from SpaceX’s commercial Starlink offering, which he described as limited to civilian and defensive uses and prohibited from offensive military operations.

How does Starshield contrast with Starlink?

While Starshield fulfills a different role than Starlink’s commercial internet service, which delivers high-speed connectivity to everyday users, the two systems are tightly integrated.

Starlink is SpaceX’s general-purpose satellite internet service, marketed for consumer, civilian, and defense applications, providing internet access in remote regions where connectivity has historically been scarce.

Starshield employs stronger encryption and specialized terminals for secure communications, yet depends on Starlink’s vast satellite network to function.

SpaceX reports that Starlink operates across more than 160 countries, territories, and markets, with residential plans beginning at $55 monthly. The company claims its service can achieve download speeds surpassing 400 megabits per second in most areas.