Steam wants sales tailored to you: goodbye to the fixed deals calendar in 2027

Valve is preparing a fundamental change to one of the most visited areas of Steam: the way it showcases sales and events. As reported by Vida Extra, the company has set itself the goal of moving away, by 2027, from the current model, which relies on a calendar and limited featured slots. In its place will come a much more dynamic Discounts and Events section tailored to each user.

It may look like a simple interface tweak, but it isn't. Steam's big sales are almost a ritual for countless players, who log in to check their wishlists and hunt for deals. If what you see on the front page stops being the same for everyone and starts depending on an algorithm, the way you discover games changes. So does the way studios, and those of us who make a living talking about video games, compete for your attention.

What you need to know

• Valve wants to drop the promotion system based on a calendar and curated slots.
• The target is set for 2027; the available information doesn't specify a launch date.
• A dynamic, personalized Discounts and Events section will be introduced.
• Steam will recommend discounted games and events based on each person's tastes, instead of showing a fixed number of hand-picked promotions.
• These recommendations will appear both on the front page and in other areas of the store.

What changes and who it affects

Until now, promotions on Steam followed a fairly predictable logic: scheduled events, one-off deals popping up along the way and a fixed number of featured slots selected in advance. For the most part, we all saw the same storefront. Valve's proposal breaks with that. Instead of a closed selection, the store will decide which discounts and events to put in front of you based on what you play and what you're interested in.

For the average user, the promise is clear: less noise and more relevant deals. If you haven't touched a farming sim in years, it makes sense for it to stop taking up space on your front page in favor of tactical shooters, fighting games or whatever you actually play. For developers, especially smaller ones, the change could be a double-edged sword. A well-tuned algorithm can put their game right in front of the audience looking for it, but it can also bury it if it doesn't fit the dominant patterns.

From a shared storefront to a personal one

What's new is bringing personalization to sales and events. That has always been the most shared moment on the platform: the same headline deal, the same memes and the same conversation across every community. With the new approach, that collective moment becomes an individual experience. That's the heart of the debate.

Our take

At Underworld Lordz, we see this move with a mix of interest and wariness. As competitive players, we appreciate a store that shows us what really matters to us first: the fighting game on sale right before a tournament, content for the shooter we play every night or that tactical indie nobody on the team had heard of. If the algorithm gets it right, it saves time and money, and nobody's going to complain about that.

The problem is what gets lost along the way. The big sales were a meeting point: we were all talking about the same deal, and that sparked conversation, unexpected discoveries and content. For creators, this is a big deal. A video or stream about the best Steam deals makes sense when the storefront is shared. If everyone sees a different store, that common reference point fades. Even so, we see an opportunity: creators can take on the role of human curators versus the machine, recommending exactly what the algorithm won't show you.

We're also calling for transparency. If Valve is going to decide which deals you see, we want to know what criteria it uses, whether the system can be adjusted or turned off, and how it will avoid recommending only what's already popular. Without that, personalization risks becoming a bubble that keeps repeating the same genres and punishes surprise, which is exactly what makes a good sale season great. Until there are more details, our stance is one of cautious optimism.

What do you think?

There's still time before 2027 and it's not yet known in detail how the system will work, but the debate is already on. Would you prefer a store that adapts to your tastes, or would you miss that shared storefront where we all hunted the same deals? Let us know in the team chat or on our Discord: do you trust an algorithm to pick your sales?