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When should you release your PC game?
Developing a global release window strategy

In 2025, 20,018 games released to Steam alone, highlighting the current scale of the game discoverability challenge. When Rokky surveyed hundreds of PC developers, 33% framed discoverability as a key threat to their prospects.
A careful release strategy presents the obvious solution. But in a global marketplace, too many teams today continue to focus entirely on the Western calendar, amplifying their problems as much as they solve them.
Last year, Newzoo data found that 45% of all single player games release between mid-August and mid-November, with the number increasing to 70% when February and March were added in. Inevitably, by concentrating so many games into this release period, many titles often see less engagement as players are forced to prioritise their game playing options; often resulting in only the highly anticipated triple-A titles getting noticed, and the occasional indie break-out that has built impressive community momentum. As such, here in 2026, avoiding the Grand Theft Auto VI launch date of 19 November 2026 has rightly become an industry obsession. Even though the game isn’t confirmed for PC Or Nintendo Switch 2, developers for both platforms are still avoiding it because the launch is just that big.
That data points to a seemingly obvious solution: release your game in the first half of the year when there are less titles coming out. But here in the West, which Newzoo’s data was the focus of, there are few major events to motivate gift buying through that period. In order to find success in 2026 and beyond, when it comes to finding the right time to release your PC game, we at Rokky recommend taking on a global mindset, exposing your games to year-round opportunity defined by distinct sales peaks across the world.

Thinking Globally

Many Western publishers and developers tend to plan their game launches around local cultural events, like Christmas and Black Friday - ensuring their games are out before them. This is a big reason for why mid-November is the cut-off for a lot of Western developers - it’s right before this holiday period If developers broaden their attention to include other large regions for PC gaming, they can tap significant opportunities while derisking and reducing reliance on the busiest Western launch windows.
China, which wasn’t covered in Newzoo’s research, currently hosts around 200-300 million PC gamers – almost the total population of the entire United States. And most aren’t basing their buying habits on Christmas or Black Friday. China has several major periods of the year that are big for PC gaming sales, such as National Day Golden Week (1–7 October), 618 (18 June), Double 11 (11 November) and Double 12 (12 Dec).
One of its most notable periods for PC game sales is the Lunar New Year that takes place every February. The Steam Summer Sale in the West is a very important period for developers to sell their games, and China does something similar with its Lunar New Year sales. Equally, as Christmas plays out in the West, discounts in a region like China can engage audiences amidst a quiet release schedule.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the games market is booming. In Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt alone, games generated $2 billion in revenue in 2024, marking a 5.4% year-on-year increase. By 2029 those revenues are expected to hit $2.8 billion with a 5-year CAGR of 6.8%. And there, festivities like Eid have traditionally been associated with a trip to the video game store – a cultural moment few publishers in the West seem to identify.
Across the world numerous other regions from China to Latin America (LATAM) present thriving markets with distinct calendars to consider. To help you navigate this expanded marketplace, we’ve built a cheat-sheet of the most impactful non-Western release windows. Below, you'll find 15 critical opportunities across the globe; ranging from annual public holidays that deliver a rise in player free time, to major regional shopping festivals that drive spending. By integrating these dates into your planning, you can plot a launch or discount strategy that isn't entirely dependent on crowded Western milestones.


Region

Peak Reason

Dates in 2026

How it impacts your release strategy

CIS

New Year Holidays [Public Holiday]

January 1–8

Provides an extended period of statutory time off, with high player numbers and regional holiday spending that mirrors the Western Christmas block

LATAM (Brazil)

Carnival [Public Holiday]

February 16–17

A massive national holiday shutting down regular business operations, giving millions of players extended free time!

China

Lunar New Year [Public Holiday]

February 17 (Lunar)

Regional equivalent to the Steam Summer Sale, which provides devs with a highly lucrative window to engage hundreds of millions of PC players during an otherwise quiet period for Western releases.

CIS

International Women's Day [Public Holiday]

March 8

A major national public holiday driving significant localised gifting and digital storefront promotions, presenting a reliable early-year spike in player engagement and time off.

MENA

Eid al-Fitr Holiday [Public Holiday]

March 20 (Lunar)

Marks the conclusion of Ramadan and triggers a strong cultural tradition of gifting!

Japan

Golden Week [Public Holiday]

April 29 – May 6

A dense cluster of national holidays giving domestic players maximum free time to binge games. This period heavily aligns with major platform-wide, Japanese-centric promotional sales.

CIS

Spring and Labor Day [Public Holiday]

May 1

A significant public holiday across the region that guarantees time off, creating a highly reliable mid-spring window for localised publisher sales and targeted marketing beats.

MENA

Eid al-Adha Holiday [Public Holiday]

May 27 (Lunar)

Powerful mid-year marketplace spike, utilizing a major regional gifting and celebration window to tap into a booming $2B+ gaming market.

China

Dragon Boat Festival [Public Holiday]

June 19–21 (Lunar)

A major three-day statutory holiday in the region. The extended weekend generates a concentrated burst of player free time, making it an excellent target for game launches

Japan

Obon Festival [Public Holiday]

August 13 -16

A Buddhist event in the middle of Summer well people celebrate their ancestors. Often, games with a summer or more spiritual theme will go on sale in this period to match the event mood.

South Korea

Chuseok (Mid-Autumn) [Public Holiday]

September 25 (Lunar)

An important holiday where younger demographics receive substantial cash gifts, ready to spend on PC games!

China

National Day Golden Week [Public Holiday]

1–7 October

A full week of national holiday time off. Player active hours skyrocket across the country, making it a key window for major seasonal content updates or regional pricing strategies.

CIS

National Unity Day [Public Holiday]

November 4

Provides a late-year public holiday in the region, offering a targeted window to capture player engagement just before the crowded global holiday release schedule begins.

India

Diwali [Public Holiday]

November 8 (Lunar)

Biggest public holiday and festival season in the country. Offers developers a critical window to capture high-volume digital downloads

China

Double 11 / Singles' Day [Shopping Festival]

11 November

One of the world’s biggest e-commerce shopping events! Provides developers with access to unparalleled consumer spending

As you expand globally, look to regions like China, MENA, LATAM, SEA, and other countries like India, where games are growing. As you focus your game’s positioning and profile potential audiences, look for those demographics beyond the West. Not sure where to start? Use the table above and competitor analysis you are already deploying to guide sales and pricing strategy to see where comparable games are targeting globally.
And if you need help strategising around the scale of global release strategy, Rokky is here to help. We assist studios of all sizes with global release strategy, thanks to the knowledge we’ve gathered from exposing teams to the global game storefront opportunity.