The Steam Winter Sale Is Back To Ravage Your Bank Account And I Am Ready To Be Hurt Again
t is the most wonderful time of the year, assuming your definition of "wonderful" involves making irresponsible financial decisions in exchange for digital dopamine.
The Steam 2025 Winter Sale has officially kicked off, running from December 18 all the way through January 5, 2026. For the uninitiated, this is the holy grail of PC gaming commerce, the time when Gabe Newell reaches into our wallets and takes whatever is left after holiday shopping. The artwork this year is done by Tim Peacock, and it looks fantastic, assuming you can actually load the store page. As is tradition, the servers are currently crying for help under the weight of millions of gamers trying to browse deals.
If you are staring at the "Access Denied" errors or blue text links right now, just breathe. It happens every year. The deals aren't going anywhere.
The Steam Awards: Democracy is Flawed
Along with the discounts, the polls are open for The 2025 Steam Awards. You have until January 3rd at 10AM PST to cast your votes for the finalists. The winners get announced shortly after the voting closes.
I always find this part of the sale hilarious. It is essentially a popularity contest where people vote for the only game they actually played that year, regardless of quality. But hey, they give you a badge for participating, so I will click the buttons like a good little consumer. If you change your mind, you can edit your votes, so there is no pressure to commit immediately.
The Sad Reality of the Sticker Era
We need to rip the band-aid off again regarding the Discovery Queue.
If you were holding onto a shred of hope that Valve would bring back the glory days of giving us free trading cards for browsing the queue, let it go. We are firmly in the "Sticker Era" now. Just like previous sales, completing your daily queue rewards you with a digital sticker.
It still stings. I remember when clicking through those 12 games meant getting a free card you could sell for 10 cents to fund your bad habits. Now? You get a sticker to put on a chat message nobody reads. To get the actual Winter Sale 2025 Trading Cards needed for the badge, you have to open your wallet. You get one card for every €10 spent in the store, or you can trade/buy them on the market. The free ride is officially a distant memory.
Steam Replay 2025: The Shame Report
If you want to feel bad about how you spent your last 12 months, the Steam Replay 2025 page is live. This is Valve's version of Spotify Wrapped, showing you exactly how many hours you sunk into Arc Raiders or whatever your vice was this year.
It gives you a spider-graph of your genres, a month-by-month breakdown of your sloth, and a summary of your achievements. Viewing the page grants you a specific Steam Replay 2025 profile badge, so you should go look at it even if the truth hurts. You can set it to private if you don't want your friends knowing you played 400 hours of a dating sim, but let's be real, they already know.
A Warning on Scams
I hate that I have to say this every single sale, but the internet is full of sharks. During sales like this, scam attempts skyrocket.
Here is the golden rule: There is no such thing as free Steam Wallet funds.
If someone adds you as a friend and claims they are a Valve admin who needs to "scan your items" or that you have been "accidentally reported," block them immediately. Valve will never contact you via Steam Chat or Discord. They don't need your password. They don't need your authenticator code. Don't click weird links, and for the love of god, secure your account.
Now if you will excuse me, I have a cart full of games I don't need and a rent payment I should probably prioritize. Happy hunting.