Steam’s massively successful Game Festival initiative will be back for another go running between October 7 and 13. In that period, PC gamers will be treated to a vast collection of free demos to try out of games set for release in the near future.
After the Spring edition of the gaming extravaganza featuring 13 titles, Valve ran the epic Summer Edition with another 900 demos of yet-to-be-released games, and now, the cycle continues with the upcoming Autumn edition.
Back in the day, it was relatively easy to find a demo of a game to try before you buy, but the practice ultimately fell out of fashion, especially with the rise of gaming media such as your friendly local EarlyGame showcasing new games all the time.
That’s why this digital event is extra special. Players are presented with demos of hundreds and hundreds of games to try out for free. These are time-limited, so they’ll offer just a taste of what the game is about, without spoiling the entire experience.
On top of that, developers are right there, doing interviews, Q&A’s, and exclusive streams, so gamers are encouraged to interact with the studios and shower the devs with questions.
Us gamers, on the other hand, are given a chance to sample an unprecedented number of games - there are more being offered than any of us can try in just a week - and the big green “wishlist” button is right there for the ones we like. One cool feature is that the Festival page is customized for each Steam user, according to the games they’ve been playing in the past, so some will be presented with more retro-style games, other will be offered story-rich experiences.
How many new titles will be presented this time is anybody’s guess. The 900-strong list last time was overwhelming, to say the least, so we won’t be surprised to see a reduction in October. Or, you know, Valve can go nuts and double it. We’ll find out when the event is live!
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