Steam Next Fest June 2026 runs June 15 to June 22, opening and closing at 10am PDT. The October edition runs October 19 to 26, and its registration deadline is August 31 at 11:59pm PDT. If that’s all you came for, you’re done in two sentences. But the interim deadlines around those dates are where developers actually get burned, so I’ve laid out every one of them below, verified against the official Steamworks documentation as of June 10, 2026.
Steam Next Fest 2026 at a glance
Three editions, three sets of deadlines. Every date in this table comes straight from the official Steamworks Next Fest pages, not from third-party guesses.
| Edition | Fest dates | Registration deadline | Demo due (Press Preview) | All items due | Press Preview starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2026 | Feb 23 - Mar 2, 10am Pacific | Jan 5, 11:59pm (closed) | Jan 26 | Feb 9 | Feb 12 |
| June 2026 | Jun 15 - 22, 10am PDT | Apr 27, 11:59pm PDT (closed) | May 18 | Jun 3 | Jun 4 |
| October 2026 | Oct 19 - 26, 10am PDT | Aug 31, 11:59pm PDT | Sep 21 | Oct 5 | Oct 8 |
The practical takeaway for anyone reading this in June 2026: registration for the June edition closed on April 27, so the only edition you can still act on this year is October. Our Next Fest prep tool tracks these deadlines with a live countdown if you want something you can check daily; this article is the reference version with sources.
June 2026 edition: dates and where things stand right now
The June 2026 fest opens June 15 at 10am PDT and closes June 22 at 10am PDT. As I write this on June 10, the public fest has not started yet. It opens in five days. The Press Preview, the early-access window where press and content creators browse participating demos, went live on June 4 at 10am PDT and is running now.
Here is the full June 2026 timeline for the record:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Apr 27 | Registration closed (11:59pm PDT) |
| May 4 | Trailers pulled for Valve’s official marketing materials |
| May 18 | Demo build and store page review deadline for Press Preview inclusion |
| Jun 3 | All required items submitted for review |
| Jun 4 | Trailer-permission opt-out deadline; Press Preview begins |
| Jun 15 | Fest opens, 10am PDT |
| Jun 22 | Fest ends, 10am PDT; Wrap-Up page launches |
If your game is in this edition, the logistics are done and the marketing work starts. Our Next Fest checklist covers the prep side: page polish, demo messaging, streamer outreach. One thing worth knowing before opening day: Valve states that “the first few days of Next Fest are completely randomized in all locations except for explicitly named lists.” Early visibility is a lottery for everyone. After the first days, the most-played and most-wishlisted lists take over, and momentum compounds from there.
If you missed the April 27 registration cutoff, you cannot join late. Valve does not make exceptions. Target October.
October 2026 edition: every date and deadline
The October 2026 fest runs October 19 at 10am PDT to October 26 at 10am PDT. This is the edition with an open registration window, and the deadline is August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm PDT. That date is also the cutoff for your materials to be included in Valve’s official marketing for the event, so treating it as a soft deadline costs you twice.
The interim deadlines after registration:
| Date | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Aug 18 | Valve’s live Zoom Q&A for participants, 10-11am PDT |
| Aug 31 | Registration closes; marketing-materials cutoff (11:59pm PDT) |
| Sep 7 | Trailers pulled for the official Next Fest trailer |
| Sep 21 | Demo submission deadline for Press Preview inclusion |
| Oct 5 | All required items due for review |
| Oct 8 | Press Preview starts (10am PDT); trailer opt-out deadline |
| Oct 19 | Fest opens, 10am PDT |
Notice how front-loaded this is. Registration closes 49 days before the fest opens, and your demo needs to be submitted four weeks out if you want press to see it.
Put August 31 in your calendar now, but work backward from September 21. A registration takes an evening; a demo that’s actually fun takes months. The Zoom Q&A on August 18 is worth attending if this is your first fest, since Valve staff answer participant questions directly.
February 2026 edition: dates and deadlines for the record
The February edition already happened, but people keep searching for its dates (I see the queries in Search Console), so here they are. The fest ran February 23 at 10am Pacific to March 2 at 10am Pacific. Registration closed January 5 at 11:59pm. The demo build review deadline for Press Preview was January 26, all required items were due February 9, and the Press Preview started February 12. One quirk: Steamworks lists the February times as “PDT (UTC-7)” even though February is on standard time, which is why I’m writing “10am Pacific” and you should too.
February 2026 was the biggest Next Fest yet by entry count: GameDiscoverCo counted 3,500+ demos, up 19% from October 2025 and 51% from February 2025. On outcomes, Chris Zukowski’s post-fest survey put the median demo at 806 wishlists gained, with standouts like How Many Dudes? (14,740) and Ship Shaper (11,566). Be honest with yourself about that median, though: GameDiscoverCo’s estimate across all 3,500+ demos puts the true median nearer ~200 wishlists, because the devs who bother answering a post-fest survey are mostly the ones who marketed hard. The full breakdown lives in our Next Fest results analysis.
Eligibility rules and the one-fest-per-game limit
Valve’s eligibility requirements are short but strict. To participate, you need:
- A Steamworks developer account in good standing
- A published, public store page for the base game
- A publicly playable demo by the time Next Fest begins
- A release date after the applicable edition concludes
- A game that is not “a prologue, preview, or short-form version of an existing game already released on Steam” (Valve’s wording)
That second requirement trips people up more than it should. Your store page must be live before you register, which is one more reason to get your Coming Soon page up early rather than treating it as a launch-week chore.
Titles may only participate in one Next Fest, ever. Not one per year. One total. If you join October 2026 and your launch slips a year, you cannot run it back in a later edition. This makes edition choice a one-shot strategic decision, and my take is you should spend it on the edition that sits 1-3 months before your actual, realistic launch date, not the earliest one you can technically make.
How registration works in Steamworks
Registration happens from the base game’s App Landing Page in Steamworks, not from the demo app. This confuses people every single edition. You’ll see the Next Fest registration banner on your main game’s page; if you’re hunting for it on the demo’s app page, you’re in the wrong place.
During registration, Valve asks you to select one or two primary genres. These selections combine with your store tags to determine which browse categories your demo appears in during the fest. That placement matters, because category browsing is one of the main ways players find demos once the randomized front-page rotation has cycled past you. If your tags are an afterthought, fix them before you register; our tag optimizer will show you where your current tags place you and what the better-trafficked alternatives are.
After you register, the remaining requirements (demo build, store page assets, optional trailer for the official fest trailer) get submitted through the same Steamworks flow ahead of the review deadlines in the tables above.
Demo build review and submission deadlines explained
Valve reviews every demo build before the fest, and the timing rules are explicit: submit your demo build no later than 4 weeks before the fest if you want it live during the Press Preview, or 2 weeks before if it only needs to be ready for the public opening. For October 2026, those dates are September 21 and roughly October 5 respectively.
Aim for the 4-week deadline. The Press Preview gives press and creators an 11-day head start on your demo, and coverage that lands during fest week usually got played during preview week. Skipping Press Preview to buy two extra weeks of polish is usually a bad trade.
Valve also notes that build review “is not a full QA process.” They check that the demo runs and meets requirements; they do not check that it’s good or stable on every config. Crashes during fest week are your problem. Test on low-end hardware, test the first ten minutes obsessively, and read our demo best practices guide before you lock the build.
One more data point on timing. In February 2026, demos launched more than a month before the fest did much better than late arrivals: of the top 10 wishlist earners, 5 had launched their demos months ahead, 4 launched one month prior, and only 1 surprise-dropped during the fest. The demo deadline is a floor, not a target.
The Next Fest asset kit and artwork rules
The “asset kit” people search for is Valve’s partner kit, a zip file distributed via Dropbox (the February one was literally named NextFestFeb2026_PartnerKit.zip) containing images and templates for announcing your participation on social channels. It’s free promotional material: logos, frames, and ready-made formats so your “we’re in Next Fest” posts look official. As of June 2026, the October 2026 kit is listed as “COMING SOON” on the Steamworks page, so expect it closer to the registration deadline.
The asset kit is for your social channels. Your store capsules still follow Steam’s standard graphical asset rules during the fest: game artwork, the game name, and an official subtitle only. No review quotes, no award logos, no tiny text. The small capsule (462x174 px) is the format most Next Fest browsers will see your game in, so if it doesn’t read at a glance, fix that before October. Our capsule design guide covers what works at that size.
The deadline pattern to expect for 2027 editions
Valve has not announced 2027 dates, and anyone giving you specific 2027 dates right now is guessing. What I can give you is the pattern across all three 2026 editions, and it held to the day:
- Three editions per year: February, June, October
- Registration closes exactly 7 weeks (49 days) before the fest opens: January 5 for February 23, April 27 for June 15, August 31 for October 19
- Press Preview begins 11 days before the public opening, with the trailer opt-out deadline on the same day
This is an observed pattern, not a Valve guarantee, and they can change it whenever they like. But if you’re sketching a 2027 launch plan today, penciling in a February fest with a late-December/early-January registration deadline is a reasonable working assumption until Valve publishes real dates.
Frequently asked questions
When is Steam Next Fest June 2026?
June 15 at 10am PDT through June 22 at 10am PDT. As of this post’s publication (June 10, 2026), the fest has not started; the Press Preview has been live since June 4, and the public fest opens in five days. Registration closed April 27.
What is the registration deadline for Steam Next Fest October 2026?
August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm PDT. That same date is the cutoff for inclusion in Valve’s official marketing materials. The demo deadline for Press Preview inclusion is September 21, and all required items are due for review by October 5.
Can my game be in Next Fest twice?
No. Valve limits each title to one Next Fest participation, ever. Demos, prologues, and short-form versions of games already released on Steam are also ineligible. Choose the edition closest to (and before) your real launch window.
What is the Next Fest asset kit?
A partner kit Valve distributes via Dropbox containing images and templates for announcing your participation on social media. It is separate from your store page assets, which must still follow Steam’s standard capsule rules. The October 2026 kit is marked “COMING SOON” as of June 2026.
If you’re targeting October 2026, the order of operations is: store page live, register from the base game’s App Landing Page before August 31, demo build submitted by September 21. Track all of it with the Next Fest prep tool, then move on to the part that actually determines your wishlist haul: the prep work in our Next Fest checklist.