The Epic Games Store's Black Friday sale runs from November 17 to December 1, and it is built only for deluxe, gold and other premium editions. If you are waiting to buy the standard edition of a PC game, the sale to watch is a different one, Epic Savings, which starts five days earlier on November 12.
The dates come from the Q4 2026 promotional guide that Epic's store promotions team sent to developers, which also sets a Holiday Sale from December 10 to January 7. It was written for the studios that submit discounts. It also works as a shopping calendar for anyone holding off on a game until the holidays, because of one rule buried in it.
When the Epic Games Store Black Friday 2026 sale starts and ends
The Black Friday: Premium Editions Sale opens on Tuesday, November 17, and lasts 14 days, to Tuesday, December 1. That covers Black Friday on November 27 and Cyber Monday on November 30, with one more day on the end.
The guide gives no start time, because Epic keeps launch times inside the discount tool developers use. The 2025 guide put the same event on November 18 to December 2, so the calendar has moved by a single day.
How deep each cut goes is up to each publisher. Epic allows anything from 5% to 95% off, so the headline percentage will only be known once the sale page goes live.
Why base games are left out of Epic's Black Friday sale
The event is open only to premium editions, "such as Deluxe, Gold, Premium, or similar versions," in the words of Epic's guide. A publisher can still discount a standard edition during those two weeks, but that game will not get a spot in the sale's banners and promotions on the store.
In other words, the Black Friday promotion is built around the pricier bundles with extra content, not the base game most people buy.
Standard editions, DLC and add-ons have their own slot instead. Epic Savings runs from Thursday, November 12, to Thursday, November 26, which is Thanksgiving. It closes the day before Black Friday rather than running through it, and it overlaps the premium sale for ten days, from November 17 to 26.
How Epic's 30-day discount cooldown shapes holiday game prices
The rule that matters most for timing a purchase sits in Epic's discount guidelines for developers. A publisher must leave at least 30 days between two discounts on the same item, and nothing can be discounted for more than 45 days in any 90-day window.
Apply that to the calendar and November starts to decide December. A standard edition discounted in Epic Savings until November 26 cannot be cut again before December 26, more than two weeks into the Holiday Sale.
A deluxe edition discounted for Black Friday until December 1 has to wait until December 31. Epic's guide says as much, allowing Black Friday items into the Holiday Sale only once that cooldown has passed. Last year's guide was stricter and kept them out of the Holiday Sale altogether.
So if a game you want shows up discounted in mid-November, that price is likely the last Epic discount on that edition until late December. Holding out for the Holiday Sale pays off mainly for games that sit November out.
How the Epic Holiday Sale lines up with Steam and PlayStation
The Holiday Sale starts on Thursday, December 10, a week before Steam's Winter Sale begins on December 17. That gives Epic seven days on its own before Steam's storewide event, which runs to January 4.
Console players are already shopping. The PlayStation Store's Black Friday sale started on November 4 and runs to November 30, with some of its first deals ending on November 20. Big retailers have staggered their own Black Friday 2026 start dates through the month as well.
What to do before Epic Savings opens on November 12
The first of Epic's November sales arrives on Thursday, November 12, when Epic Savings goes live and the standard-edition discounts show up on the store. Discounted items carry the list price struck through beside the sale price, so the size of each cut is easy to read.
Check which edition that cut applies to before you pay. A deluxe discount in the Black Friday sale is not a cut on the standard game. And with a 30-day cooldown on every item, a November price you pass on may not come back before the new year.
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