The newest iteration of Steam Next Fest is on the horizon, as Valve aims to celebrate what’s coming to the platform with free game demos, livestreams, and the opportunity to chat with some indie developers too. A week of demos and developer content is sure to put plenty of new games on your radar for 2023, on top of all the AAA releases already in your mental calendar.
A good free game demo never goes out of style, and it’s always nice seeing a game you like on Steam, visiting its store page, and finding it out you can actually try it then and there. This is why Valve’s Steam Next Fest is such a gem, as it lets you and indie developers share their games ahead of release.
This Steam Next Fest is set to run February 6-13, starting at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET (February 7 at 5am AEDT), with Valve promising “hundreds of game demos.”
You can also expect “a multi-day celebration of upcoming games. Explore and play hundreds of game demos, watch developer livestreams, and chat with teams about their games in progress, coming soon to Steam.”
Valve tends to do multiple week-long Steam Next Fest celebrations every year in an effort to spotlight a plethora of different games, so there’s sure to be something for everyone.
Personally, I really like the look of Rushaway and Spiritfall. Rushaway is a 2.5D platformer where you run around the four sides of a tower, exploring a number of paths and attempting to find your way to the goal (think Klonoa mixed with Neon White). Spiritfall is an action roguelike with platform fighter combat and a truly gorgeous hand-drawn looking artstyle, and the demo has actually just been launched ahead of Steam Next Fest!
So the festival is already working its magic, as a game I’ve seen that interests me has just put a demo up I can play now. This is absolutely why you should keep an eye on Steam Next Fest, as the free game demos are everywhere and at least one is sure to pique your interest.
You can learn more and set a reminder for Steam Next Fest on the event’s page.
In the meantime, we’ve put together a list of the best indie games you can play right now, as I’m sure a few of the games featured by Valve will end up being popular classics. Alternatively, the Steam sale on base-building games is still ongoing if you want a game on the cheap, and we’ve got a list of all the best free Steam games if you’re looking for the very best kind of deal.
