Steam Next Fest 2027 runs February 22 to March 1 and June 14 to 21, according to Valve's Steamworks pages. February registration closes January 10, 2027, at 11:59 PM PST. Your game can join only one Next Fest ever, so the winning move is arriving with a ready demo, a converting store page and a wishlist base to build on.
Here's how to choose your edition and prepare for the fest, from registration through follow-up.
Steam Next Fest 2027 dates and deadlines
These dates come from the Steamworks pages for February 2027 and June 2027, plus the Upcoming Steam Events list. Some news sites and blogs list different deadlines, so work from the Steamworks page for your edition.
| Milestone | February 2027 | June 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Registration deadline | January 10, 11:59 PM PST | April 25, 11:59 PM PDT |
| Submit demo build and store page for review to have the demo live for Press Preview | January 18 | May 10 |
| All required items submitted for review | February 1 | May 24 |
| Press Preview begins | February 11, 10 AM PST | Not listed on the page we read |
| Fest starts: set demo live or opt out before this | February 22, 10 AM PST | June 14, 10 AM PDT |
| Fest ends | March 1, 10 AM PST | June 21, 10 AM PDT |
| Wrap-up page with most-played demos | March 1 | Not listed on the page we read |
Steam also runs an October edition. When we checked on October 28, 2026, the October 2026 edition was live, but no October 2027 dates had been announced. The main Next Fest page states the three-times-a-year pattern: February, June and October. Check the events page for updates.
Who can join Steam Next Fest?
According to Steamworks, your game must:
- Never have joined Next Fest before. Previously participating titles, including different editions of them, cannot enter again.
- Be tied to a Steamworks developer account in good standing.
- Have a published, public base game store page.
- Have a publicly playable demo by the start of the fest.
- Remain unreleased until the edition ends. Early Access and free-to-play games are allowed, provided they are not yet released.
- Not be a prologue, preview or short version of an existing released game.
Register from the base game's app page, not the demo. A green checkmark confirms registration; uncheck the box on the registration page to cancel. Having a playtest does not affect eligibility.
Which Next Fest should you choose?
How To Market A Game's February 2026 Next Fest benchmark report, based on 182 self-reported survey responses, found that pre-fest wishlists had the strongest relationship with wishlists earned: a Spearman correlation of 0.825.
Chris Zukowski recommends aiming for 2,000+ wishlists before the fest and considering launching only after the last Next Fest.
| Wishlists before Next Fest | Games in sample | Median wishlists earned | 70th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 999 | 71 | 322 | 485 |
| 1,000 to 9,999 | 60 | 1,006 | 1,722 |
| 10,000 to 99,999 | 36 | 5,215 | 9,633 |
| 100,000+ | 7 | 12,882 | 27,661 |
These are benchmarks, not a promise. If your wishlist base is small and you have months to spare, June or October may serve you better than February. Our guide on when to start marketing your game lays out the timeline.
Prepare a demo that earns wishlists
The same survey measured demo conversion as players who played and then wishlisted, divided by total players. The median was 16.33%, with the 30th percentile at 12% and the 70th at 20%. Use those as a rough bar.
Here's what Steamworks requires and recommends, alongside the draft's preparation advice:
- Build a separate demo app linked to your base game, following the Steamworks demo documentation. Republish the base game so the Download Demo button appears.
- Submit for build review early. Steamworks says to submit three weeks before the fest or risk missing it. Review checks that promised features exist and the game runs; it is not full QA.
- Release before the fest. Steamworks suggests going live at least 30 minutes before the start. Zukowski advises releasing well before it rather than shadow-dropping the demo.
- Make the first 10 minutes count. Cut setup friction, show your hook fast and finish with a clear wishlist prompt. You can link to the full game's store page through the Steam Overlay.
- Keep the demo up afterward. Steamworks notes that players have been disappointed when demos disappear immediately after the event.
- Disable achievements, as the demo documentation recommends, and carry progress forward with Steam Cloud.
A separate demo store page needs a trailer and at least five demo-specific screenshots. Its capsules should make clear that it is a demo. Zukowski's benchmark report also recommends a separate Steam page for the demo, but that is a recommendation, not a requirement.
Prepare your Steam store page
Steamworks tells developers to refresh their assets, descriptions and tags. Confirm that tags are accurate because they affect where your game appears.
Eligibility also requires at least one public trailer on the base game page. Valve builds the Next Fest trailer only from videos already on your page: “we are not able to accept alternative videos.”
- Capsule: Make the title readable at thumbnail size and the genre signal clear. Preview it beside similar games.
- Trailer: Lead with gameplay in the first seconds.
- Screenshots: In the SteamBuddy dataset of 22,429 Steam games, the typical game has nine screenshots and top games have 10.
- Short description: Typical length is 214 characters, while top games use 224. The limit is 300.
- Tags: Most games use all 20 slots.
Run your page through the free SteamBuddy audit. It scores capsule, copy, tags and wishlist conversion out of 100 against 20,000+ games. Zukowski's survey puts the page conversion sweet spot at roughly 20% to 30% for games with 1,000+ wishlists.
Plan livestreams, press and creator outreach
Participating games appear in the fest listings, and the event itself drives traffic. However, Steam does not run paid advertising for Next Fest, so your own marketing still matters.
Livestreams
Steam has a section for streams of participating games. Streaming is optional, and Steamworks recommends testing your setup beforehand. VR games need an external tool such as OBS.
Plan a few scheduled sessions, such as a developer walkthrough, Q&A and community play session, and announce the times in advance.
Press
Valve sends a Press Preview to select outlets. Steamworks states that “press will not have special access to your store page or your demo,” and the page does not mention press keys.
Do your own outreach: send a short pitch with your demo link and a clear hook. Our gaming PR service handles this if you lack the time.
Creators
Contact streamers and YouTubers in your genre two to three weeks before the fest. Give them the demo link, a one-line description of what to try and the fest dates.
For tactics without a budget, see our guide to marketing an indie game with no budget. For paid reach, social media features and Steam wishlist campaigns can push traffic during the fest window.
What to do during Next Fest week
- Check your Steamworks wishlist report daily. Data lags a day, according to the reporting docs.
- Reply quickly to demo reviews and Discord feedback.
- Post clips of player reactions with the store link.
- Do not release during the fest. Games released before the edition ends become ineligible.
What to do after Next Fest
- Keep the demo live so late visitors can still play.
- Send your one demo wishlist notification, if you have not already. Steamworks allows one email and push notification to wishlisters within two weeks of the demo's first release. Notifications have a two-week cooldown per app.
- Pull the numbers. Compare wishlists before and after, net of deletions, and check demo conversion against the 12% to 20% benchmark range.
- Read the feedback and fix the top three issues before posting an update.
- Follow up with creators and press who covered the demo, and thank them.
- Check the Wrap-up page. Valve features games with the most-played demos and emails featured titles.
To translate your new wishlist total into launch expectations, see our guide on Steam wishlist ranking and the wishlist to sales ratio.
Start before the registration deadline
February registration closes January 10, 2027, at 11:59 PM PST. Audit your page with SteamBuddy, fix what it flags and consider a free GAMES.GG listing to build reach before the fest.
