In between major sales, Valve tends to hold demo festivals for PC gamers, offering the classic trade show experience, but all available from the comfort of their homes. Right on schedule, the Next Fest venture is back for the first time in 2025, offering a week-long digital festival to try out thousands of gameplay slices from upcoming games.
This mainly includes demos from indie developers, but several major publishers are also offering some of their wares.
Valve"s latest event is now open for PC gamers, and it can be accessed by going to the event"s dedicated hub page here. To sort through the hundreds of demos available, players can use the hub page"s various sorting and filtering options. Up top, buttons offer quick access to separate and important sorting options like "By Genre, By Theme, By Feature," with each one offering more granular settings when clicked upon.
The powerful Steam tags system is available below to make new discoveries quicker on each page. Of course, logging in will also enable existing Steam users to utilize Valve"s recommendation algorithms to find game demos they might like.
Meanwhile, the Charts section offers an easy way to find the most popular demos on the platform right now, letting you try the most hyped titles to see if you"re in the same camp too. Currently, a few of the top contenders are Mecha BREAK, Gothic 1 Remake, Dune: Awakening, Lost Skies, Car Mechanic Shop Simulator, and Breathedge 2. Expect this list to change as the week progresses though.
Next Fest is back! For the next week, try out thousands of demos for upcoming games of all kinds - from hardcore survival shooters to cute sims, there"s something for everyone in Next Fest.
— Steam (@Steam) February 24, 2025
Wishlist your favorites and get to the demos while they last!https://t.co/5FWDBRdFl4 pic.twitter.com/RPeLmlYUH0
"Steam is excited to kick off a full week of demos on new games from developers all over the world: FREE demos that YOU can play before they even launch," says the company in the announcement. "Hundreds (ok, more than that) of demos are here, and you"ll find them for any genre or category your gaming heart desires. Take a look around, chat with developers, check out their livestreams, and wishlist the ones you love!"
The February 2025 edition of the Steam Next Fest is slated to end on March 3 at 10 AM PT. For those wanting some discounted games, though, keep in mind that following this event, Valve will begin the 2025 Steam Spring Sale on March 13. Find the complete schedule for Valve"s upcoming Steam sales and events here.