Steam Winter Sale 2016: Date, Time, Discounts, How to Buy, and More

With 2017 upon us, 2016 still has room for one more big Steam sale. Dubbed the Steam Winter Sale here’s everything you need to know. And if you're confused with what to buy during the Steam Winter Sale, check out our videos of the best games of 2016 in this piece to help you out. Most of the recommendations are available on PC via Steam.

(Also see: Steam Winter Sale 2016: Doom, GTA V, Resident Evil, and More PC Game Deals)

Steam Winter Sale date
The Steam Winter Sale begins from December 22 and will end on January 1. This was confirmed earlier in the month via popular gaming forum NeoGAF.

Steam Winter Sale time
The Steam Winter Sale will run from 11:30pm IST (10:00am PT) on December 22 to 11pm IST (9:30am PT) on January 2. During this time, you will be able to buy games at a discounted price.

(Also see: Valve Confirms Cash on Delivery, New Payment Options for Steam in India)

Steam Winter Sale discounts
Steam has changed the way sales function, the same games that were discounted on the Steam Black Friday Sale may not have the same price drops or may not see a reduction in price at all during the Steam Winter Sale.

At the same time, you may see some games at low prices during the Steam Winter Sale that weren’t discounted earlier so it would be wise to pay attention to the deals available.

(Also see: Meet the Company That's Made It Easier to Buy Games via Steam In India)

How to buy games during the Steam Winter Sale using cash on delivery
Indian gamers can use credit cards, debit cards, net banking, and digital wallets to buy games on Steam. You can also use cash on delivery. This is how:

1. After adding an item to your cart on Steam, pick Cash on Delivery as a payment option.
2. You will be redirected to a page run by Novaplay — Valve’s partner in India. Here you can put your billing and shipping information.
3. When you enter your details, a Nova executive will get in touch to collect the cash amount.
4. Your order will be emailed to you in 72 hours of receiving the payment If you were thinking of using this to offload old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, think again. The site clearly states that in accordance with the demonetisation drive it will not accept old notes.

(Also see: Cash on Delivery Now Available When Buying PC Games from Steam in India)

Steam isn't always the cheapest
While the Steam Winter Sale may be the most high-profile PC games sale of the year, it isn’t the only one and it might not be the cheapest either. If you’re looking to buy games from publishers such as EA, CD Project RED, or Ubisoft, you’d do well to check out Origin, GOG, and Uplay respectively. You just might be able to snag a better deal.

Check if a game is region-locked before buying
With Steam having Indian pricing, you can't gift games to non-India accounts. Also, some games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and a spate of Final Fantasy games, are region-locked and run-time locked, meaning you'll have to be in the country of purchase to play them. If this is a hindrance, we recommend checking this handy guide to figure out if what you want to buy has these restrictions.

What are you buying during the Steam Winter Sale? Let us know in the comments.