Next Fest Q&A August 2024

Members of the Steam Business Team answer developers’ questions about registering for and getting the most out of Steam Next Fest. Topics covered in this presentation: 00:00 - Open 00:14 - Introductions 00:53 - Overview 03:23 - Changes to Next Fest October 2024 - 07:13 - Are there restrictions on who can conduct a livestream 07:56 - Playtests during Next Fest 08:39 - Do trailers need to be live to be included in Steam Marketing Materials 09:38 - Press Preview 11:51 - Do livestreams need to be associated with the demo or the main game AppID 15:03 - Can game marketing trailers be posted outside of Steam prior to Next Fest 16:36 - Press Preview 17:47 - Game featuring on the Next Fest page 20:57 - Press Preview and game visibility 21:39 - Can demos be updated after the initial upload 23:09 - Coming Soon banners 24:09 - Pre-orders vs Pre-purchase - 24:59 - Demo stand-alone pages 25:50 - Game visibility 27:38 - Trailers on the Steam Page 28:03 - Demo game links 28:38 - Featured games 29:24 - Press Preview 30:58 - Steam accounts and livestreams 31:41 - Demo notifications 32:59 - What is the goal of Next Fest 34:08 - How important is the trailer to register for Next Fest 35:33 - Can we publish our game before Next Fest 35:51 - Important dates for Next Fest October 2024 36:20 - Separate Demo page 36:44 - How many games are in Next Fest 38:05 - Pre-recorded vs live livestreams 39:03 - Can the demo live on the store page after the game releases 39:45 - Deciding which Next Fest to participate in 40:43 - Notification date to be included in the Official Trailer 42:25 - Demo of full game store page 43:12 - Restrictions on how many Next Fests can be participated in 44:22 - Does removing the demo remove a user’s previous ability to play it 45:24 - Stand-alone demo store page vs full game store page 47:10 - How many games will be participating in Next Fest October 2024 49:27 - Can demos have restricted access 50:29 - Better game visibility during press preview 51:38 - Home page and livestreams 52:41 - Can a game register for Next Fest even before a coming soon page is live 53:39 - Can reviews be removed in-between demo builds 54:47 - Reviews and Next Fest visibility 56:06 - Deciding which Next Fest to participate in 57:38 - Closing remarks