Steam rebrands Game Fest to Next Fest, announces dates

Steam has announced the upcoming Next Fest, which is a rebrand of its annual Game Fest. 

Taking place on June 16th to June 22nd, the week-long event will feature hundreds of demos, numerous livestreams and, of course, game sales.

Next Festival will provide gamers with the chance to watch developer streams and get an inside look at many of the games on show.

Steam’s last Game Festival took place in February. You can take a look at the highlights in this compilation of the event on YouTube.

Steam Next Fest

With five days of demos, streaming and developer talks, Steam Next Fest will probably be one of the biggest weeks for PC gaming in 2021.

Taking place during the same week that E3 would typically take place, there’s sure to be numerous developers looking to take advantage of the spotlight Steam will provide. 

Steam’s decision to rebrand the festival came from the desire to “directly communicate its focus.”

With physical events like GDC, E3 and Eurogamer on hold due to the pandemic, game developers have had a harder time promoting upcoming titles. Next Fest will provide that opportunity during a week when the world is already typically focused on gaming. 

Gaming events

Steam’s decision to run Next Fest the same week as the cancelled physical E3 event is likely not a coincidence. 

E3 will go ahead, although it will likely be a purely digital presentation. E3 organisers have confirmed the event will be digital, but have provided no further details on what the event will look like. 

We can likely expect conferences from Microsoft, Bethesda and a number of developers during the digital E3 event. 

One of the first digital gaming related events to take place in the UK after the coronavirus pandemic will be EGX Rezzed. 

Planned for the 15th - 17th July, EGX Rezzed will take place in the Tobacco Dock venue space and will feature a number of independently developed games, developer talks and other activities. 

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