The October edition of Steam Next Fest has begun, with thousands of FREE demos awaiting your gaming fingers. Check out the trailer above for a sneak peek of the variety of games you'll find!

We host Steam Next Fest three times a year (February, June, October) as a way to highlight games before they've launched. Developers from all over the world share their demos, and by wishlisting your favorites (after playing them for free!) you can keep up with their path to official launch on Steam.

New for this edition: we've made some changes to (hopefully) make it easier to browse the fest. Now you can search by genre, theme, feature, and even sub-category. Our video below gives you a quick tour.

The October 2026 edition of Steam Next Fest runs through October 26th at 10 a.m. Pacific.

Have fun!

-The Steam Team

(Below: Our welcome video with a quick tour of the updated navigation for Steam Next Fest)

Steam Next Fest is a week-long celebration featuring hundreds of FREE playable demos as well as developer livestreams and chats. Players try out upcoming games on Steam pre-release, developers gather feedback and build an audience ahead of their Steam launch, everyone wins!

Announcing the next edition of Steam Next Fest, a week-long celebration of upcoming games. Save the date for the October 2026 edition, headed to Steam October 19 through 26! Explore and play hundreds of demos, watch developer livestreams, and chat with the teams about their games in progress, coming soon to Steam.