What is Next Fest?
Steam Next Fest is a weeklong celebration of upcoming games, where customers can try out demos, watch livestreams from the devs, and wishlist their favorites. For developers, Steam Next Fest is an opportunity both to get early feedback from players and build an audience (and wishlists!) for a future launch on Steam. Steam typically hosts three editions of Steam Next Fest each year, which take place in February, June, and October.
This page serves as a hub for evergreen information regarding Steam Next Fest. Each Fest has its own set of timelines and dates, and links to those specific pages can be found in the table of contents on the left.
Table of Contents
Why join Next Fest?
If your title is one where a demo makes sense, Steam Next Fest is a free opportunity to put your game in front of an audience eager to try out demos and wishlist new titles. Not all games make sense with a demo - but many of them do, and for those titles, this is one of the few opportunities available on Steam where the spotlight is on unreleased titles. Most of the platform is dedicated to featuring released and discounted titles, but three times a year Next Fest puts upcoming titles front and center. It's also
a great opportunity to grow interest and wishlists in your title.
Registration Details
How Do I Register?
For a majority of titles, registration will be automatically available on your base game's App Landing Page. If not, you've likely not published your Coming Soon page. The base game is what needs to be registered for Next Fest, not the demo; be sure you're looking at your base game's app page, not your demo!
If registration is still not available after that has been done, visit that Next Fest's documentation page for more information on how to appeal your game for inclusion.
Once you complete your registration checklist, be sure to save and validate that you've signed up your base game for Next Fest. You should see a green checkmark on the App Landing Page.
Eligibility
Steam Next Fest is open to upcoming games that meet all of the following criteria:
- Registered game must be associated with a Steamworks developer account in good standing
- The store page must be published and public
- Includes a publicly playable demo by the time the event begins
- To be released at any time after the Next Fest edition in which it is participating
- Has not previously joined a Next Fest
- Is not a prologue, preview, or short-form version of an existing game already released on Steam
Please note that all eligible upcoming titles are welcome to join Steam Next Fest, regardless of your planned release date.
Titles may only participate in one Next Fest, so be sure to pick the one that makes the most sense for your game!
Next Fest typically occurs three times a year, in February, June, and October. For the latest dates, please check out the
Upcoming Steam Events page, or check out the individual Next Fest pages available on the table on the left.
Setting Up Your Demo
Once registration is complete, there's one more step that you need to take before your game will be shown on the Next Fest page. You'll need to set up your demo on Steam. This means setting up a specific demo type app, which is attached to your full (base) game on Steam. For more information about creating, testing, and releasing a demo, please see the
Demos documentation.
Be sure to submit your demo store assets and build for review at least 3-5 business days ahead of your relevant deadline. Please note that build review is only to validate that the game has the features you've promised and it runs - it is
not a full QA process, and will not catch or even look for most bugs. Even still, it's important to give yourself extra time in case you fail build review the first time and have to resubmit. You are welcome to make changes to your build after you pass review, but you'll have to do the work to validate that you haven't broken it since we last reviewed it.
Deadlines:
- Submit for review no later than 3 weeks prior to the Fest if you plan to release your demo just prior to the Press Preview.
- Submit for review no later than 1 week prior to the Fest if you plan to release your demo just prior to the start of Next Fest.
You can release your demo
at any time once it has been reviewed and approved. We encourage you to release your demo at least 30 minutes before the start of Next Fest at the very minimum. This gives you time to make sure it's working properly and troubleshoot any issues before the event begins. You're also welcome to release it many days or months in advance; Next Fest does not require a new demo, it just requires that there's a demo available for customers to play.
Running a Livestream (Optional)
Within Next Fest is a section specifically for streams of participating games. This is an opportunity to stream your game so potential players can see what it's like to play your game and potentially interact with the developers behind the game. This is completely optional- if you do not have the experience or time to set up a livestream, it's fine to focus your energy on the demo experience and the game itself.
Successfully sending a livestream to your base game's store page is all that is needed for the stream to appear within Next Fest. It's also a useful tool for a variety of situations, and you'll definitely want to test this out ahead of the start of Next Fest. Once you've tested your set-up and you've been able to stream to your game's store page, all you need to do is repeat that process during Next Fest itself.
A tutorial on
streaming to your store page is available. If you plan on
streaming your demo's gameplay, be sure to check out instructions on how to broadcast your demo - there are some specific things you need to do that on Steam.
If you have a VR game and would like to set up a livestream, there are additional factors to consider. Because of the way the SteamVR.exe service interacts with broadcasting, you'll need to use an external tool (such as OBS). That will give you the necessary control to configure your broadcast and let you point Steam directly at your game appID rather than SteamVR.exe. For more details, please see
Setting Up A Stream.
Being Included in the Official Trailer
For the promotion of Steam Next Fest, our curation team selects 20-30 games to feature in a video trailer that we share with press, and post to social media. Our team begins the selection process shortly after registration closes, and will notify potential candidates within approximately
2-3 days after registration closes.
To prepare, be sure that you have the following done before registration closes:
- Finish registration
- Have at least one publicly visible trailer on your store page
- Your store page is up to date with current visuals, game descriptions, and tags
- Be confident that you are ready for this Next Fest and will not need to withdraw
If we reach out about using your trailer, you will have approximately two weeks to give us permission. If you chose to be included, we will make use of a trailer that is publicly visible on your store page.
The curation team selects titles based on the information available on the store page, and will not review any trailers or marketing materials that are not available on the public Coming Soon page. Be sure your most up-to-date marketing materials are visible on your base game's store page prior to a given edition's registration deadline.
Press Preview Event Details
We offer select press outlets the opportunity to explore the full list of games registered for Steam Next Fest approximately 10 days ahead of the given edition. The press preview page will give these outlets a chance to explore participating games and browse by genre, theme, style, etc. and learn about your game through the store page you already have up. This will allow press outlets to see what's coming up, play any of the demos that are already available, and reach out if they’d like to learn more about your game ahead of the start of the Fest.
Press are not given override access to your demos - they will not have special access to your demo, so whatever the regular public is able to see is what press will be able to see.
A couple of things to know about the press event:
- The press preview will include all games registered for Steam Next Fest regardless of current demo status. If you intend to withdraw from the event, please opt out prior to the Press Preview.
- Press will be free to cover the included games at any time, and in any format (write-up, video, etc.). Some may want to give players a preview of games they're excited about ahead of time.
- If you'd like your demo to be accessible by the press during this event, prepare and release your demo ahead of the start of the press preview event. Make sure you plan for 3-5 days for your demo build to be reviewed ahead of release. Please note that releasing your demo will make it playable for everyone on Steam, not just press.
- If you provided press contact information for your game on the Steam Next Fest registration form, we'll share that information with press.
- The press preview will be conducted with a set of press outlets that we are specifically contacting for this purpose.
If you're concerned about missing out on launch excitement if you release your demo early for the Press Preview, do remember that demos don't have the same level of launch visibility on Steam as a full game, so it shouldn't be very disruptive to release a demo ahead of a given edition of Steam Next Fest. That being said, we also can't guarantee whether any press will or will not play your demo. It's up to you and whether you feel you are ready to release the demo at this stage.
Game Visibility Within Next Fest
When you register your game for a given edition of Steam Next Fest, you will be asked to choose the one or two primary categories that best fit your game. We use this information to help sort the location of your game within Next Fest, though the exact organization varies between each edition. However, we will always use your selection for the category as well as
Steam Tags to sort your title, so be sure that those are up to date and accurate.
A developer preview page will be available before the start of the event so you can see how the Fest will be organized and where your game is positioned within the Fest. We recommend checking this out, as it gives you time to make adjustments if you aren't satisfied with which section your title is appearing in.
If you have issues with your game showing up on the Steam Next Fest page once the event has begun, there are a few things you can check to determine the cause:
- Ensure that your base game is properly registered and that you've selected one or two categories for your game on the registration form. You can also visit your game's Steam Next Fest registration page (link available in the respective edition's documentation page) to see a list of the categories and sections that your game is listed in.
- Make sure you have released your game demo before the start of the Fest. Only games with released demos will be eligible to appear.
- Make sure the store tags applied to your base game are accurate and complete. You may want to compare your store page tags with the categories and sub-categories listed within the Steam Next Fest developer preview page and make any changes to your tags if necessary.
- If you've checked all of the above, please reach out to us here.
Tips For a Successful Next Fest
Be sure to review the (ever-growing!) list of
Steam Next Fest Tips and/or join a live Q&A session with members of the Steam Business Team (schedule provided in the timeline for each edition) to learn how to make the most of your participation in Steam Next Fest.
Our top tips are:
- Tell your community that your title is participating in Next Fest and that a demo will be available! An asset kit will be shared ahead of the start of the event to help you promote your participation.
- Make it easy for users to provide feedback on your demo - via socials, a community hub, Steam discussions, or wherever makes the most sense for your title.
- Communicate with users on how long your demo is going to be available - many users will grab your demo during the event, but may not be able to play until the week after.
Multiplayer Games
Multiplayer games can have some unique challenges in getting players online and into the game at the same time to make sure that matchmaking goes quickly and games are full. Here are a few tips to help you coordinate this kind of activity if you need to.
- Use your demo's main menu to communicate any special schedule you want to run. If you intend only to operate multiplayer servers at certain times, or if your dev team is going to play at certain times, or if you just want to encourage players to pile in at the same time, you should communicate that clearly right in the main menu of your demo.
- Post an announcement to your base game with schedule information. The same information about your intended scheduling of play can be communicated through a post on your base game's store page and community so that players can find that information as they learn more about your game.
Measuring Your Past Results
If you have participated with one or more game in a recent past Next Fest, you can find a recap page showing number of wishlists and demo plays during that fest. Here are some links from recent past editions:
Steam Next Fest: Wrap-Up
Shortly after the most recent edition of Steam Next Fest concludes, Valve will launch a Wrap-Up event page featuring games with the most played demos from that edition. We will be emailing titles that have earned a spot on that page, so be sure to keep an eye on your email after the event concludes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Members of the Steam Business team periodically hold live Q&A sessions for developers to ask questions about registering for and getting the most out of Steam Next Fest. Upcoming Q&A sessions are noted in the timelines for each edition, detailed in the event-specific documentation (accessible via the documentation table of contents to the left). Please access all previous session recordings
via this YouTube playlist.
Registration & Eligibility Questions
Q: I've changed my plans. How do I cancel my registration?A: Just return to the registration page for your game by appending your appID to a given edition's registration opt-in URL (provided in the event-specific documentation) and deselect the checkbox at the very bottom of the page to remove your game from the event. You can also find the registration link on your app landing page.
Q: What happens if I end up releasing my game before or during a given edition of Steam Next Fest?A: Only unreleased games are eligible to participate in Steam Next Fest. If you release your game prior to or during Steam Next Fest, your game will become ineligible and will not be included in the event at that point.
Q: Are Early Access or free games eligible to participate in Steam Next Fest?A: Yes, however, only unreleased titles are eligible for Steam Next Fest. If you plan on entering Early Access or launching your game for free, that's fine, but the game must not yet be released to remain eligible for Next Fest.
Q: Why isn't my game listed as eligible to be registered?A: Some common issues may prevent you from registering. Ensure that:
- The store page for your game is published and visible to customers.
- You have the correct partner selected at the top of the Steamworks website if you are a member of multiple Steamworks partners.
Q: I've heard of Steam Playtests. Are games that have had or currently have a Playtest available, eligible to participate in Steam Next Fest?A: Yes, as use of a
Steam Playtest does not affect eligibility. However, we do not recommend having a Playtest live during Steam Next Fest, as this splits your players between the two builds instead of concentrating them in one spot. As a demo is required for Next Fest, we would recommend pushing all your users towards your demo during the event.
Q: Can I submit a different version or edition of my game that already participated in a previous edition of Steam Next Fest?A: No, you may not submit a different version or edition of a title that has previously participated in Steam Next Fest. Prologues, Chapter Ones, and other short-form previews of another title are also not allowed in Steam Next Fest. Please sign up with your base game.
Q: Can I submit a re-release of an existing Steam game?A: Steam Next Fest is intended for new games that have never been released on Steam before. If you are releasing a new edition of an existing game, then your game is not eligible for Steam Next Fest.
Q: Can I release my demo before the start of Next Fest?A: Yes, you can release your demo any time! Some choose to release the demo way in advance, some choose to set it live as the Press Preview begins, and others choose to set it live right as Next Fest begins. These are all valid strategies; pick the one that makes the most sense for your game.
Q: Do I need to have my game and store page reviewed in order to register?A: Yes, your base game's store page must be publicly visible in order to complete registration. Please note that the Steam Next Fest team also looks at your public store page when determining which titles to invite to be in the official trailer.
Demo Questions
Q: How long should I leave my demo up after Steam Next Fest ends?A: While it's up to you to decide what works best for your release strategy, we encourage you to consider leaving your demo up beyond the conclusion of the Steam Next Fest you joined. Many players have expressed disappointment when demos disappear immediately, so communicate to players if you plan to deactivate your demo so they can prioritize playing it accordingly.
Q: Can I update my demo after it goes through the review process?A: Absolutely. We know you're still working on your game and demo and you are welcome to continue updating it even after it goes through the build review process. However, keep in mind we won't be doing another build review, so it's up to you to make sure you haven't broken your game.
Q: Is a working demo required to be considered for Official Marketing Material?A: Yes, we require a working demo for inclusion in our marketing materials because we want to know that you'll make it into the event.
Marketing & Press Preview Questions
Q: When can demo release notification emails be sent to wishlisters?A: You get to press the button within 14 days of the launch of your demo. This is separate from Next Fest - so if you used it months prior to Next Fest, you do not get a second opportunity at the email.
Q: Can games be featured on outlets other than the Steam Official Marketing Material?A: Yes, but we cannot promise that other outlets will write about Steam Next Fest or your title.
Q: Are there any paid advertising opportunities for Next Fest or on Steam in general?A: No.
Q: How can I ensure I receive the relevant communications about Steam Next Fest?In Steamworks:- If you're a member of multiple Steamworks partners, make sure you have the correct partner selected at the top of the Steamworks website.
- Ensure you have at least one account with "Receive Steamworks communications" enabled. You can edit per user here: https://partner.steamgames.com/pub/users/ Note that accounts with this permission setting must also have completed or must newly complete the additional confirmation request sent via email authentication in order to fully enable permission.
In the Steam Store:If you prefer to remain opted out of all communications, you may still participate in Steam Next Fest. However, the only indication of your eligibility for both the event overall and for the marketing materials permissions opt-in (if your game has been selected for potential inclusion in our official marketing materials as described above) will be via the options below:
- Access the registration page for your game by appending your appID to a given edition's registration opt-in URL (provided in the event-specific documentation).
- Check for the opt-in on your base game's App Admin page (in the Marketing Tools & Data section): https://partner.steamgames.com/apps/landing/<appID>
Q: When is the best time to have influencers play demos for maximum visibility?A: Whatever hours are viewable for the audience most likely to play your game - remember, Next Fest is a globally available event, so you should try and identify where your audience is and optimize to that.
Trailer Questions
Q: Can I have more than one trailer?A: Yes. See
Trailers for more details.
Q: What is a microtrailer and how is it created?A: Microtrailers are 6-second looping videos that summarize a game's trailer for use in quick-view locations throughout the Steam Store, as in the various category hubs, special sale pages, and on the homepage during seasonal sales events. Steam generates a game's micro trailer based on the first video visible in its Store Page. It does this by taking six 1-second clips from various points in the video and stitching them together.
Have More Questions?
Contact us here if you have questions regarding Steam Next Fest that weren't answered here, or if you'd like more detail about a particular point.
