How to Spot Fake Steam Sale Discounts

When a Steam sale kicks off, the screen fills with red discount badges. See a number like -80% or -90% and you feel like you'll lose out if you don't buy right now. But that big number doesn't always mean a game is genuinely cheap. It's surprisingly common to inflate the list price so the discount percentage looks bigger, or to slap a sale tag on something that's sold at the exact same price all year round. This article lays out concrete ways to spot these fake discounts.