The time of year has come when the Steam gaming platform for PC begins its annual Summer Sale event, offering a huge selection of discounted games and content. This year, Steam has also introduced a new program for the sale called the Permanent Points shop that will be available after the sale has ended. Like past Steam summer sales, digital points will be earned when games are purchased during the sale, and these points can be used to purchase digital content including stickers, backgrounds, and avatars for user profiles. However, this year the Steam Permanent Points shop has opened permanently, as players will earn 100 points for every $1 spent in the Steam Store that they can later use to redeem special content that will be rotated throughout the Permanent Points shop.

All purchases of content including soundtracks, games, DLC, and applications through the Steam shop will award points, meaning everything in the sale is eligible for points. Points will also be utilized in the Steam community, allowing users to give points to reviews or player-created content that will allow for different awards to be unlocked, like player badges for their profiles. Steam has also created a special page for information about the new shop, explaining how points and the service will work.

☀ The 2020 Steam Summer Sale is here, bringing you great deals on thousands of games ’til July 9th! ☀

Save an additional $5 on your first purchase of $30 or more during the sale, or the equivalent in your country. 💸https://t.co/4TuWeBVo1O#SteamSummerSale pic.twitter.com/AHoRJtaqc4

— Steam (@Steam) June 25, 2020

Along with the new Steam Permanent Points shop, the summer sale includes a long list of sales and deals that will last until the sale’s end in early July. A number of popular games have already seen a price reduction for the sale, including the Outer Wilds for $16.65 (originally $25), Doom Eternal for $30 (originally $60), and Mortal Kombat: 11 for $20 (originally $60) which are just a few of the hundreds of deals available on Steam during the sale. For anyone who makes a purchase of $30 or more, they will also receive a Road Trip Special discount of $5 upon checkout. The Steam Summer Sale will last from June 26th until July 9th at 10:00 a.m PST, with the Permanent Points shop staying after the sale’s end.