What the Results of the June Steam Next Fest Reveal: Wishlists, Genres, Trends, and Anomalies in Numbers and Graphs

Traditionally, following the Steam demo festival, we prepare a detailed report on the outcomes of the main projects and overall trends. We will also share less obvious conclusions, as well as discuss anomalous cases and unsuccessful boosts.

Topics covered in the report:

Statistics from the February Steam Next Fest: number of participants, increasing competition, and general conclusions;
Top demos by subscriber growth over the week, including the unique case of Nightwater;
Festival leaders by the number of new wishlists, including projects from Russian-speaking teams;
Most common tags among the top 50 demos of Next Fest;
What the tags indicate: successes of multiplayer games, new trends, and less obvious insights;
Top genres and those still struggling to find an audience.

Another Next Fest — More Records

More than 4,300 demos participated in the June festival. This is yet another record. The previous record was set in February 2026 — over 3,300. With each event, the competition only intensifies, and the battle for users' attention becomes more fierce.