Steamworks Documentation
Steam Game Festival: February 2021
SGF_Feb21_header

Overview

The Steam Game Festival returns on February 3, 2021! The Steam Game Festival is a multi-day celebration where fans can try out demos, chat with developers, watch live streams, and learn about upcoming games on Steam. For developers, the Steam Game Festival is an opportunity to get early feedback from players and build an audience for a future launch on Steam.

Event Dates

Starts: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021 @ 10AM PST
Ends: Tuesday, February 9th, 2021 @ 10AM PST

Opt-in Date

The window to opt your game into the festival is open until December 2, 2020 at 11:59pm PST. Please note that we won't be accepting new submissions after the opt-in window closes.

Eligibility

Steam Game Festival: February 2021 is open to any upcoming game on Steam that meets the following criteria:
  • Part of a Steamworks developer account in good standing.
  • A game on Steam with a release date set between February 10, 2021 and September 1, 2021.
  • A publicly visible Coming Soon page at the time of opt-in.
  • A publicly playable demo by the time the festival begins.

    Games may only participate in one of the following game festivals: Autumn 2020, February 2021, or June 2021.

Opt-In Process

To opt-in your game, complete the following steps for each game you plan to submit.

Complete by December 2nd, 2020
  • Visit this URL to see all your games that qualify: https://partner.steamgames.com/optin/sale/game_festival_winter2021 (note if your Steam account is a member of multiple Steamworks Partners, you may need to switch Partners at the very top of the Steamworks page to see the appropriate games)
  • Complete the Opt-In Checklist for each game you wish to participate.
  • Set up and publish your Coming Soon page. You will need to have a publicly visible Coming Soon page in order to opt in to the festival. This is the page that players can visit to read about your game, watch trailers, look at screenshots, and where the download button for your demo will be.

Complete prior to festival start date
  • Set up your demo on Steam. Remember to give at least 3-5 business days to allow enough time for your build to be tested.
    Optional: Release your demo. We encourage you to release your demo before the festival starts to make sure it's working properly and you have enough time to troubleshoot any issues before the festival begins.
  • If you plan on streaming, test that you can do a live stream of your game. Here are the steps for streaming a Demo on Steam: Broadcasting a Game Demo to the Steam Store.

During the Festival
  • Release your demo if you haven't already
  • Promote on social media
  • Check your Community Hub and other social channels for feedback on your demo.

A Note on Future Events

Based on feedback from players and developers, we have decided to make the Steam Game Festival a recurring event. The next event will be the June 2021 Edition. In order to make the selection of games as relevant as possible for customers, games must meet the following criteria to be eligible:
  • Games may only participate in one of the following events:
    • Autumn 2020 (Oct, 2020)
    • February 2021
    • June 2021
  • Participating games must have a planned release date within 6 months following the festival. If you think your release date will be more than 6 months after the festival, you should plan to opt-in to a future event. Note that releasing into Early Access will still count as a release, since the game will be purchasable and playable by the Steam community.

Events

During the festival, we encourage you to schedule streaming or other events to interact with the Steam community and show off your demo. During the Steam Game Festival, you'll be able to schedule up to two live stream events which will appear on a calendar for players to browse.

You can see a current schedule for other games' scheduled livestreams, so you can plan your own accordingly: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/sgf_dev_preview

For more information, refer to the Opt-In page and the Events documentation

Asset Kit

Download localized asset kit here: SGF_Feb21_Share_Localized2.zip

Contact

If you've still got questions, please reach out to us through the Developer Support tool and someone from the Steam team will get back to you: https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPublishing?issueid=927

Frequently Asked Questions


Q: Are Early Access games eligible to participate in the Steam Game Festival?
A: Only games that have not released a playable build yet are eligible. If your game is already released and available in Steam Early Access by the start of the festival, then your game is not eligible to participate in the Steam Game Festival.

Q: Do I need to have my game and store page reviewed in order to opt-in?
A: A publicly visible store page is required to opt in to the February 2021 edition of the Steam Game Festival. To participate in the Festival, you will need to have the demo build of your game reviewed and approved. Please remember to give at least 3-5 business days to allow enough time for your build to be tested.

Q. I've changed my plans. How do I opt out?
A. Just return to the opt-in page for your game by inserting your appID at the end of this URL https://partner.steamgames.com/optin/sale/game_festival_winter2021/<appid> and deselect the checkbox at the very bottom of the page to remove your game from the festival.

Q. What have past editions of the Steam Game Festival looked like?
A. Here are the previous editions: