The next Steam Next Fest runs February 22 to March 1, 2027, and registration closes January 10. The one after it is June 14 to 21, 2027. All three 2026 editions are over; October 2026 ran October 19 to 26. If that’s all you came for, you’re done. 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. This page is the reference for all three 2026 editions plus the two Valve has dated for 2027; February 2027 and the October edition each have their own deep dive.
Key facts
- Every date on this page is read off the per-edition Steamworks Next Fest pages. The 2027 dates were last checked November 2, 2026; an earlier version of this page listed the February 2027 demo and all-items deadlines a week later than they are.
- There is no fixed workback. Registration closed 49 days before the October 2026 fest opened, and it closes 43 days before February 2027 and 50 days before June 2027, so the only safe source is the page for the edition you are entering (Steamworks, checked November 2, 2026).
- A title may participate in one Next Fest, ever, and its release date has to fall after that edition concludes (Steamworks Next Fest documentation, checked September 15, 2026).
- The entry requirement a store page can fail on its own is the demo: of 286 unreleased Steam pages we captured between March 7 and August 18, 2026, 110 (38.5%) listed a publicly visible one, and 131 (45.8%) showed no release timing beyond “coming soon” or “to be announced” (our demo study, published September 8, 2026).
- The pre-fest cohort we froze on September 14, 2026 holds 137 consented unreleased pages that were carrying a demo on that date.
Planning for the next edition? Our Steam Next Fest February 2027 guide has every deadline and a prep timeline. The October 2026 guide stays up as the record of that edition.
Steam Next Fest 2026 at a glance
Three 2026 editions and the first 2027 one, each with its own set 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 (closed) | Sep 14 | Sep 28 | Oct 8 |
| February 2027 | Feb 22 - Mar 1, 10am PST | Jan 10, 11:59pm PST | Jan 18 | Feb 1 | Feb 11 |
The practical takeaway: every 2026 registration window has closed, so the next one you can act on is February 2027, and it closes January 10. 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 how it went
The June 2026 fest opened June 15 at 10am PDT and closed June 22 at 10am PDT; it is now over. The Press Preview, the early-access window where press and content creators browse participating demos, ran from June 4 through the fest’s close.
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 |
Our Next Fest checklist covers the prep side for your own edition: page polish, demo messaging, streamer outreach. One thing worth knowing before any 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, and the October window has since closed too, so the next entry point is February 2027.
October 2026 edition: every date and deadline
The October 2026 fest ran October 19 at 10am PDT to October 26 at 10am PDT. Registration closed on August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm PDT, which was also the cutoff for your materials to be considered for Valve’s official marketing, so the teams that treated it as a soft deadline paid 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 8 | Trailers pulled for the official Next Fest trailer |
| Sep 14 | Demo build and store page submitted for review, for Press Preview inclusion |
| Sep 28 | 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 was. Registration closed 49 days before the fest opened, and the demo build was due five weeks out, which matches the five-week and three-week workback in Valve’s parent Next Fest doc. The registration gap is the part that moves between editions, so read the edition page, not a rule of thumb.
If you are reading this for February 2027, the same shape applies: put January 10 in the calendar, but work backward from January 18. A registration takes an evening; a demo that’s actually fun takes months. Valve runs a Zoom Q&A before each edition (August 18 for October, December 8 for February) and it 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 up to that point by entry count: GameDiscoverCo counted 3,500+ demos, up 19% from October 2025 and 51% from February 2025. June 2026 then passed it, at 4,382. 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 February 2027 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. The general workback timeline in the parent Next Fest doc says 5 weeks before the fest if you want the demo live during the Press Preview, 3 weeks before if it only has to be ready for the public opening (read November 2, 2026). October 2026 followed it: September 14 (five weeks) and September 28 (three weeks). So does February 2027: January 18 and February 1. The earlier 2026 editions ran closer to four weeks, so check the page for your edition.
Aim for the 5-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. The October 2026 kit was still listed as “COMING SOON” on the Steamworks page on September 3, 2026, so expect each edition’s kit closer to the fest itself.
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 your fest. Our capsule design guide covers what works at that size.
Steam Next Fest February 2027: what is known
February 2027 is no longer a pattern guess. Valve has published the edition page, and it runs February 22 at 10:00am PST to March 1 at 10:00am PST. The dated milestones on it:
| Date | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Dec 8, 2026 | Live Zoom Q&A for participants, 10-11am PST |
| Jan 10, 2027 | Registration closes (11:59pm PST); marketing-materials cutoff |
| Jan 18 | Trailers pulled for the official Next Fest trailer |
| Jan 18 | Demo build and store page submitted for review, for Press Preview inclusion |
| Feb 1 | All required items due for review |
| Feb 11 | Press Preview starts (10am PST); trailer opt-out deadline |
Two things worth noting if you have been working off the 2026 pattern. First, the 49-day registration rule does not hold here: January 10 is 43 days before February 22, not 49, so a date counted back from the 2026 editions is six days off. Second, February 2027 keeps the five-week and three-week build deadlines from Valve’s parent doc, the same shape as October 2026. The one constant across every edition so far is the Press Preview, which has opened 11 days before the public start every time.
Our February 2027 guide has the full timeline. Valve has also dated the edition after it, June 14 to 21, 2027: registration closes April 25, the demo build and store page are due May 10, all items May 24, and the Press Preview opens June 3. Both appear on the Steamworks upcoming events calendar. Since a game gets one fest ever, pick the one that sits one to three months before your realistic launch date and plan against that edition, not the nearest one you can technically make. The page check suggests an edition from your release date, and the prep tool counts down only to the next one.
Frequently asked questions
When is Steam Next Fest June 2026?
It ran June 15 at 10am PDT through June 22 at 10am PDT and is now over. Registration had closed April 27. The next edition is February 22 to March 1, 2027, with registration open until January 10.
What is the registration deadline for Steam Next Fest October 2026?
August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm PDT, now passed. That same date was the cutoff for inclusion in Valve’s official marketing materials. The demo build and store page deadline for Press Preview inclusion was September 14, and all required items were due for review by September 28. The fest ran October 19 to 26. The next registration deadline is January 10, 2027, for February 2027.
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 was still marked “COMING SOON” on September 3, 2026.
The order of operations never changes: store page live, register from the base game’s App Landing Page before the deadline, demo build and store page submitted for review about five weeks out. For October 2026 that last date was September 14; for February 2027 it is January 18. Track 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.