The start date for the Steam Winter Sale leaks ahead of time, giving PC gamers a chance to plan ahead and scoop up the best gaming discounts of the season.

PC gamers who have been waiting for the next big sale on Steam don't have long to wait. A recent leak has prematurely revealed that the Winter sale will begin on December 22nd.

This leak comes in the form of a Paypal promotion, advertising that it's a good time to buy Steam gift cards, as the sale is nearly here. The Autumn and Winter Steam sale dates were previously leaked through the Steamworks Developer Group. However, since the group is restricted to game developers, some remained uncertain as to whether the details were true or not. It would appear that the original leak was indeed true, as it also stated that the sale would begin on December 22nd, and thus, the leaked end date of January 4th is probably also correct.

Steam recently made big changes to the way that it handles its seasonal sales. Gamers used to check back to the site frequently over the course of the sale, as flash sales would come and go rapidly and offered steeper discounts than the flat sale price available for the entire sale period. However, starting with the Autumn sale, Valve scrapped the flash sales, instead choosing to only offer a flat sale price. For serious bargain hunters, this probably came as a disappointment, but many gamers are undoubtedly grateful that they don't have to check back with Steam every 12 hours.

Steam is hardly the only digital distributor offering major game sales for each season and Black Friday. The PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and even Origin also offer deep discounts on a wide variety of titles. These sales usually run past December, hoping to capitalize on gamers who have just received a new gaming device, or have some holiday cash and gift cards they want to spend on games.

However, Steam has also been in a bit of trouble with its users recently. Though they've made positive strides to introduce new services, like the ability to return games, they've also admitted to the fact that Steam's customer support isn't meeting expectations. They were also recently hit with a lawsuit, as Steam users in the United Kingdom felt that their Grand Theft Auto V sale was misleading.

Steam has its faults, like all digital distributors, but the seasonal sales are still the best time to stock up on PC games. Have you been holding off buying your next PC game until it goes on sale? Tell us about it in the comments.

Source: Shacknews