When the next Steam Next Fest is
Valve runs Next Fest three times a year, in February, June and October, and each edition runs for one week1. The editions currently named in the Steamworks documentation are October 2026, February 2027 and June 20271.
Exact start and end dates are announced per edition rather than fixed to particular days of the month, and at the time this page was last checked Valve had not yet published the specific dates for the October 2026 edition. Treat the month as the thing you plan around and confirm the days on the edition page once it goes up, because everything below is measured backwards from the start date.
The deadlines that actually bind you
The registration form is not the hard part. The demo build has to pass Steam review, and that review is what you can miss.
Four weeks before the Fest: submit your demo for review if you plan to have it live before Press Preview1.
Two weeks before the Fest: submit your demo for review if you only need it live by the start of Next Fest1.
Ten days before the start: Valve shares the list of participating games with press outlets. Your demo should be live by then to be part of that coverage2.
Before registration closes: your base game store page needs at least one publicly visible trailer1.
Thirty minutes before the start, at the latest: Valve strongly encourages having the demo actually live by then1.
Whether your game is eligible
Most of the eligibility rules are permanent facts about the game rather than things you can fix in the week before.
The title has not previously joined a Next Fest. Participation is limited to ONE edition, ever1.
The game will not be released before the edition concludes1.
The base game store page is published and public1.
The game is not a prologue, preview or short-form version of something already released on Steam1.
The Steamworks developer account is in good standing1.
How the week runs once it starts
Registration asks you to choose the one or two primary genres that best fit your base game, and Steam sorts your title using that selection together with your Steam Tags1. This is not optional decoration: a game with no categories selected will not be displayed during the event2.
Placement changes partway through. The first few days are completely randomized everywhere except explicitly named lists and personalized segments, which run off the player's own play behaviour. After a few days, logged-in users start seeing the carousels ordered by an algorithm instead1. So the visibility you get in the back half of the week is earned by how players behaved with your demo in the front half, which is the practical argument for having it live and polished at the start rather than patching into the event.
One thing the rules do not constrain is your release date. There are no requirements about when the game launches, so long as it is after Next Fest ends1.
How to register a game for Steam Next Fest
- Confirm the game is eligible. Check that the title has never joined a previous Next Fest, is not a prologue or short-form version of a released game, and will not release before the edition ends.
- Publish the store page and a trailer. The base game store page has to be published and public, with at least one publicly visible trailer on it before registration closes.
- Pick the edition and register. Register through Steamworks for the edition you want. A title only gets one Next Fest ever, so choose the edition deliberately rather than joining the next one that happens to be open.
- Select one or two categories. Choose the primary genres that fit the base game. Steam sorts your title using those plus your Steam Tags, and a game with none selected is not shown during the event.
- Submit the demo for review in time. Submit four weeks before the Fest to be live for Press Preview, or two weeks before to be live for the start. Leave room to act on review feedback.
- Set the demo live before the event opens. Have the demo publicly playable at least thirty minutes before Next Fest starts, and ideally by the Press Preview date ten days out.
