A dungeon crawler RPG, a "next-gen" RTS, and a moody survival game top Steam Next Fest's 50 most-played demos as Valve reveals record-breaking wishlists
Feb. 13, 2024This year’s annual event racked in more than 3 million wishlists
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Filling out the top 10 are the strategy space RTSHomeworld 3, the auto-battler strategy gameBackpack Battles, the zombie survival sandboxDread Dawn, the turn-based strategy game Millennia, the roguelike deckbuilder Balatro, the online co-op dungeon-crawlerRotwood, and the derivative, aptly named MetroidvaniaDeviator.
You can check out the full list for yourselfhere, but suffice it to say there’s an eclectic mix of all sorts of different genres and themes in there. I’m a little bummed to see so little love for horror on the list, especially after playing demos for thisgorgeous Dark Souls and Princess Mononoke-inspired boss rush horrorand thisunimaginably dark PS2-style indie horror game, but I’m both surprised and happy to seea couple of newco-op horror gameson the list which previously had escaped my radar.
In a press release, Valve said: “This event racked up more than 3 million wishlists across all available demos; the most of any Next Fest so far!” Last week, I reported on the indie developer community’s response to the unprecedented amount of engagement inthis year’s Steam Next Fest and how helpful it is to smaller studios fighting for some precious exposure.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer, I’m responsible for managing the site’s western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I’m too afraid to finish.
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