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It's not just you: Steam's Summer Sale disrupted by Store issues

Today was meant to be the day you threw it all away on dozens of Steam games you'll never get around to playing, but Valve's servers appear to have other plans.

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A graphic illustration of the Steam error page with a broken Steam logo and The Engineer from Team Fortress 2.
(Image: © Steam / Laptop Mag)

Just as Steam was ready to open the floodgates on thousands of deals during its annual Summer Sale, proceedings have been thrown into turmoil after users reports spiked on outage tracker DownDetector suggesting some substantial issues with Valve's servers.

At the time of writing, users are facing connection time outs when attempting to view Wishlists or purchase items through the Steam Store, greatly disrupting both your and my plans to spend money we don't have on games we'll likely never get around to playing.

This is clearly a massive inconvenience to us all, so follow along as we chase down the cause and connection status to the world's most popular gaming platform.

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Graph from outage tracker DownDetector showing user reports of problems with Steam spiking over the last few hours and suddenly dropping (time shown in BST)

(Image credit: DownDetector)

What do this graph of user-reported incidents for the Steam Store and my bank account have in common? They've both suddenly plummeted in number, and both are appearing in the red. Lord, help me.

The problems seem to have been resolved. Let the Summer Sale commence in full.

Steam

(Image credit: Valve)

The good news is, that you can now make purchases through the Steam Store.

The bad news is, I may not be able to afford rent this month.

Guys. I have good news and bad news.

Screenshot of Steam Store checkout cart

(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

The moment of truth.

Look, I promised myself I wouldn't go werewolf during this year's Summer Sale.

I'm something of a recovering addict.

But for the sake of informing the general public about whether or not the issue has been resolved, I will, for science, attempt to buy something to be sure.

White Valve Steam Deck displaying the Steam Store, with an 8BitDo controller and VITURE Pro XR AR glasses in the background.

(Image credit: Rael Hornby / Laptop Mag)

Oh! Are we back? Wishlists are accessible once more, at the very least.

Graph from outage tracker DownDetector showing user reports of problems with Steam spiking over the last few hours (time shown in BST)

(Image credit: DownDetector)

Meanwhile, problems persist, even though the number of reported issues through DownDetector has dropped. Personally, I'm seeing issues spread to the Steam Store search in recent moments, with timeout issues occurring infrequently.

Title art for RoboCop: Rogue City video game

(Image credit: Nacon)

However, the most impressive deal I've witnessed so far — painfully unable to be taken advantage of right now — has been seeing RoboCop: Rogue City for only $5, a saving of 90% on an absolute sleeper hit of a game.

Doom (2016) sale

(Image credit: id Software)

And, when this issue is resolved, its likely that Valve will face an avalanche of digital sales that will rake in more money than most small countries.

Some key highlights tantalizingly out of reach right now, but ready to pounce on once issues clear include the following:

  • DOOM (2016): $4 (80% off)
  • Sea of Thieves: 2025 Edition: $14 (65% off)
  • Oblivion Remastered: $40 (20% off)
  • Borderlands 3: $3 (95% off)
  • STAR WARS Battlefront II: $4 (90% off)
  • Mass Effect Legendary Edition: $6 (90% off)

Artwork for Valve's Steam Summer Sale event 2025.

(Image credit: Valve)

Of course, this couldn't come at a worse time, with Steam having just launched its annual Summer Sale, one of the best times of the year to save big on AAA and indie games.

Many gamers (like myself) are thus sat staring at a stacked shopping cart and longing for the days, weeks, months, and years they can spend procrastinating on other games and telling themselves they'll eventually get around to playing new ones any day now.

It's been nearly two years since Baldur's Gate III became available. I've yet to even download it.

Still, that won't stop me, and many like me, from adding dozens more games to our libraries once issues clear.

Steam

(Image credit: Steam)

While users can seemingly browse the storefront without issue, access cloud saves, play games, and even chat to friends, almost all problems currently being encountered seem to revolve around accessing your Wishlist or making purchases.

Graph from outage tracker DownDetector showing user reports of problems with Steam spiking over the last few hours (time shown in BST)

(Image credit: DownDetector)

According to outage tracker DownDetector, user reports have spiked over the last few hours, suggesting that Steam is encountering a service issue.