The massive seasonal video game sales on Steam are like multiple Black Fridays for PC gamers, with dozens of games discounted by ridiculous amounts, and prices on some games drop as low as a few dollars or less. One of the staples of Steam Sales are their Daily Deals and Flash Sales, which offer even better discounts on select games for a limited time, but now Valve Corp has said that for the upcoming Autumn and Winter sales, it will no longer be offering either of them.

“We’ll still be highlighting your top games on the front page for 24-48 hour spans, but those products will stay at their most competitive discount, before and after being featured,” Valve wrote in an email to developers and publishers (via Eurogamer).

“It’s not a major change, but it does make the sale a lot more valuable for customers, and it allows us to build sale features that recommend your product all sale long, instead of just during its front page feature.

“For a brand new release, if you can’t get approval for your best discount for the full length of the sale, that’s OK and we can work on a plan for that game. But the vast majority of your catalog should be running its best discount for the duration of the sale.”

Valve’s change not only affects the way developers offer their games during the sales, but it will also change the way gamers approach the deals. A common mantra for Steam users is “If it’s not a Daily Deal or Flash Sale, don’t buy it until the last day.” The purpose of this advice was to avoid purchasing a game that was 25 percent off one day only to see it spike to 75 percent off during a Daily Deal.

Now, however, the prices will remain the same throughout the entire Steam Sale, meaning that consumers can wait until the last possible moment to buy the game they want. It is unclear what sort of overall effect this will have on the price of games during the sale, although it could mean that we will see smaller overall discounts.

Image courtesy of Valve Corp