Steam Next Fest has returned, once again offering a playground for those titles brave enough to drop a demo ahead of their official launch.

Valve kicked things off on the 14th with the October 2025 edition of Steam Next Fest. It is, as ever, a curated sprawl of upcoming projects allowing you to get hands-on before you commit. You can browse through various tabs organised by genre, theme, and specific features to find your next obsession.

If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed, the 'Charts' and 'Live Streaming' tabs are your best bet to see what the hive mind is currently buzzing about. The charts break down 'Most Wishlisted Upcoming Games', 'Trending Upcoming Games', and 'Most Popular Demos'. Meanwhile, the streaming tab lets you watch developers or content creators put these demos through their paces, giving you a proper look before you download.

As of 11:00 AM on the 14th, the demo stealing the spotlight is 'Half Sword', a physics-based medieval combat simulator that leans heavily into the chaotic reality of clashing steel. It is followed by the turn-based strategy veteran 'Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era', the open-world co-op survival title 'Everwind', the typing battle royale 'Final Sentence'—where typists fight to survive in a locked room—and the co-op horror adventure 'Reanimal'.

Local Korean titles are making a respectable showing, too. Wemade Max is showcasing 'Midnight Walkers', a PvPvE extraction shooter from One Way Ticket Studio. XL Games brings us 'The cube, Save Us', an escape-action game by Studio Cube. Com2uS Holdings presents the Metroidvania side-scroller 'Fatal Claw', while LoadComplete offers the merge PvE title 'Crusaders Quest: Merge Chess'. Rounding out the local list, Line Games is showing off the hack-and-slash action of 'Ember and Blade'.

The indie scene is also well-represented by a raft of homegrown talent. Team Samoyed, of 'Teamfight Manager' fame, is back with 'Teamfight Manager 2'. Meanwhile, indie publisher PsychoFlux Entertainment is pitching 'Buysell', a deck-building roguelike focused on the cut-throat world of retail and shop management.

You will also find 'Samukid', a Sokoban-style action roguelike from developer 'Armed Farmer'; 'Korean Exorcist Association', an occult fantasy adventure rooted in Korean shamanism by 'Team Dada'; 'Detective Bloodphobia', a mystery visual novel from 'Gustav' (known for 'Cat in the Box'); and 'Rabbit’s Time', a casual healing simulator from solo developer 'Hye-pae'.