Steam Spring Sale: Valve is reducing games and, for the first time, the Steam Deck

As part of the big spring discount campaign, numerous games of all genres are reduced on Steam – as is the Steam Deck for the first time. As usual, store operator Valve presents some of the titles participating in the week-long sale in a short trailer.

Valve announced last fall that there would only be one larger discount campaign per season on Steam in the future. Most recently, it was the Steam winter promotion at the turn of the year, and tonight the spring promotion begins, which runs from March 16th to March 23rd, 2023. Valve justified the changes on the one hand with the short period of time between the winter and Lunar New Year campaigns in the past and the desire of numerous publishers and developers for a big discount campaign in spring.

Aside from the software, there is also a hardware discount this time: For the first time since its release a year ago, the Steam Deck has been reduced. In all three variants, the handheld console costs 10 percent less. Since October 2022, the Steam Deck has been available regularly and without a long waiting period. Valve is currently forecasting a delivery time of 1 to 2 weeks.

For the first time, the Steam Deck is also reduced (Image: Valve)

Participating games with good ratings

The following reduced games with at least “very positive” Steam reviews deserve special mention. The discounts given in brackets refer to the respective recommended retail price.

• Cyberpunk 2077 (29.99 euros; -50 percent)
• Dead Space (50.99 euros; -15 percent)
• Death Stranding Director's Cut (23.99 euros; -40 percent)
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 (17.99 euros; -60 percent)
• Doom Eternal (13.19 euros; -67 percent)
• God of War (29.99 euros; -40 percent)
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits (19.99 euros; -50 percent)
• Lego Bricktales (23.99 euros; -20 percent)
• Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (19.99 euros; -60 percent)
• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (33.49 euros; -33 percent)
• Rain World (11.02 euros; -55 percent)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (19.79 euros; -67 percent)
• Satisfactory (17.99 euros; -40 percent)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition (including next-gen update; 14.99 euros; -70 percent)

And with 42 percent negative Ratings definitely not reviewed as “very positive”, but still remarkable due to a comparatively early discount of 33 percent: Forspoken (test) is now available for 53.59 euros. In view of the fact that publisher Square Enix actually wanted to sell the failed open-world adventure at the unusually high RRP of 80 euros, the early drop in price is not without a certain irony.

Four major Steam sales and many smaller promotions

A side effect of the new discount calendar are numerous smaller waves of offers with a narrow thematic framework, which recently shot out of the ground like mushrooms. January saw the Chinese New Year Sale, and February saw the base building promotion, Steam Next Fest, which is a virtual fair for indie games, and the Steam Mystery Festival. Next up is the Riddle Festival on April 24th and a sports game discount on May 15th. On June 19th the summer edition of the Steam Next Fest will start and on June 29th the big summer discount campaign.

By the way, Valve isn't the only provider to launch a discount battle in its own store: a spring campaign is also currently running on GOG.