Next Fest Q&A September 25 2024 (10am PT session)

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:
00:00:00 Open
00:00:32 Intros
00:01:18 Overview of what to expect for Next Fest October 2024
00:04:06 Prioritizing visibility
00:05:29 Will games participating in Next Fest get higher priority
00:05:57 Does a demo need to be live to participate in the press preview
00:07:43 Can games participate in multiple Next Fests
00:08:19 Can a game release before Next Fest begins
00:08:58 How to increase visibility during Next Fest
00:09:45 How to time announcements
00:10:29 What determines the ranking on Next Fest pages
00:12:39 When will press assets be available
00:13:01 How are seasonal elements handled
00:13:25 What helps with discoverability
00:15:06 Press Preview
00:15:29 Do press automatically get access to demos
00:16:03 Next Fest categories and the front page of the Steam Store
00:16:38 Do trailers need to be uploaded somewhere specific
00:17:41 Can a trailer get uploaded just before Next Fest begins
00:18:23 Can a demo store page get disabled while the demo is still live
00:18:58 Can user reviews be disabled
00:19:18 Demos with and without separate store pages
00:20:14 October Next Fest Deadlines
00:22:02 One or multiple trailers
00:22:41 Will future Next Fests be extended to run longer
00:24:11 How do wishlists impact discoverability
00:25:06 Best tagging practices
00:25:40 How has the main page structure changed
00:26:25 Best tag practices (continued)
00:27:14 Where will a game appear to customers
00:28:23 Trailer best practices
00:29:08 Press preview
00:30:18 Does a demo require a separate store page from the base game
00:31:29 Will a separate store page for a demo increase visibility
00:32:37 Can a demo get released before the start of Next Fest
00:33:41 Is a separate store page for a demo recommended
00:34:54 Is there a difference between a dev page and a public facing page
00:36:07 How are livestreams being implemented for this Next Fest
00:38:02 Categories vs tags
00:39:06 Demo build review process
00:40:01 Can demo builds be patched during Next Fest
00:40:50 Is Next Fest page content localized
00:42:16 Demo deadlines
00:43:15 Visibility
00:44:24 Does concurrent players during Next Fest affect performance of the base game launch
00:45:27 Livestreaming an internal demo build
00:45:49 Trailers and the press preview
00:46:46 Trailer upload deadlines
00:47:44 Front page upcoming release criteria
00:48:44 Using Next Fest to improve visibility
00:50:50 Can a livestream be pre-recorded
00:52:03 Game discoverability
00:52:30 How will review scores affect visibility later-on in Next Fest
00:53:05 Is there a separate place to upload demo trailers
00:53:31 Emailing players directly when a demo launches
00:54:37 Follow-up - Separate trailer upload space for a demo
00:55:18 Visibility on the stream tab
00:56:19 Launching a demo prior to Next Fest
00:56:58 How long should a trailer be for the micro-trailer tech
00:58:37 Regarding the increasing number of games participating in Next Fest
00:59:24 Wrap up

[Anomliz]

Good luck every developer, for the October Next Fest and all future ones.

[DividedWeFall]

I'd like to nominate ADIL for ventriloquist of the year...
😅

[gunting]

I'm still seeing game that has price tags in it. This one will be removed right? Then how about the one that has "Pre-purchase" buttons already and can start earning money through this fest, wouldn't this be an unfair advantage?

[yoyopoe]

As a player, nexfest isn't really that interesting because too many games.
The most popular, already popular titles, will float their way to the top. We're talking maybe a hundred games, and the rest of the thousands of games will remain hidden in the randomized list and very small chance of being discovered. Despite the well meaning of some communities who do a good job exposing the demos they found.
As a player I have no desire to browse the list for hours.
This is not something that you people are considering because you're considering this from the pov of game developers, and steam developers. So you kind of have the blinders of optimism.

[darkmattergamesofficial]

1500 to 3000 in one festival cycle? I wonder how many are AI slop titles. Just seems like too big of a jump. Let the best game win!