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Steam Next Fest is back with countless demos of interesting games. We’ve already picked our favorites.
The choice is not easy. That’s why we have some personal recommendations from the editorial team for you, so you can get started right away when the demo event opens its doors.
By the way, you can find the Steam Next Fest promotion page here:
(Steam Next Fest (February 2026 )
1348 Ex Voto
Genre: Action-adventure / MedievalDeveloper: SedleoRelease: March 12, 2026
Historically accurate late Middle Ages, this game is calling my name. 1348 Ex Voto is set in, believe it or not, 1348 in Italy. The main character is Aeta, a young woman who is searching for her kidnapped friend (or lover?). Bianca.
Aeta is a noblewoman and is referred to as a knight in the game description, but I suspect that she is pretending to be a man in order to bear this title. This is consistent with her short haircut and androgynous appearance. Wonderful! What a cool character concept.
I’m especially curious to see if there’s a fun game concept behind it, because so far the trailer has only given me a few clues about the story and the pretty, but also unrealistic graphics. Time to put on the cuirass and grab the longsword. I’ll tell you about my impressions next week!
Replaced
Genre: Action platformerDeveloper: Sad Cat StudiosRelease: April 14, 2026
Two years ago, I attended the Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles. Between all my appointments, I found a little time to finally walk around the actual festival area. I poked my head into a tent where dozens of gaming stations were set up, including blockbusters of the time such as Stalker 2. But amid all these screens and blockbusters, my gaze was drawn to one game in particular: Replaced.And if you look at any screenshot of this action platformer, I guarantee you’ll feel the same way. Replaced immediately burns itself into your retina: this 2.5D game has a style that no other game has presented in this form before. And what’s more, it seems like an absolute dream come true for cyberpunk fans like me. It has grungy city streets, bright neon signs, and an anachronistic 80s look mixed with sci-fi and chrome.
And my colleague Natalie confirmed it just two weeks ago in a preview: Replaced delivers what it promises. You get a dark cyberpunk thriller set in an alternative, nuclear-ravaged America, where you play as a humanized AI who uncovers a corporate conspiracy.It has style, cool acrobatics, and exciting fights.If you like cyberpunk and want to play one of the genre’s most promising titles of 2026, now you can.
Arkheron
Genre: Battle Royale Action RPGDeveloper: Bonfire StudioRelease: 2026
Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually the last person who would say we absolutely need another new battle royale game! But Arkheron shakes up the BR principle so fundamentally with its Diablo perspective, cool fantasy setting, and dynamic character development that it creates something almost completely new (and really exciting).
As I fight my way up floor by floor with my team through the magical tower, the loot constantly determines my play style. If I find a crossbow after five minutes, I’m the ranger. This awakens my old spirit of discovery and replaces the tired hero stereotypes of similar games.
And then there’s the combat system. Isometric, but with direct targeting? For me, that’s an absolute game changer. I love Diablo and Titan Quest, but let’s be honest: often it’s just a numbers game. Arkheron, on the other hand, plays directly, the fights unfold with force, and hits are an expression of skill rather than a matter of course.
Arkheron takes the drama of a battle royale and packs it into a vertical dungeon crawling scenario that is more tactically challenging than almost anything I’ve seen lately. I’m looking forward to hitting the playtest servers again at Steam Next Fest!
Armatus
Genre: Third-person shooter / ActionDeveloper: Counterplay GamesRelease: 2026
The developers at Armatus proved just over five years ago that they can come up with really cool games. Their PS5 launch title Godfall may have lacked the finishing touches in some areas when the console was released, but the concept of lightning-fast melee combat, heavy armor, and motivating loot grinding already won me over back then.
This time around, Armatus is not a pure action role-playing game, but a third-person shooter with very similar character design. Instead of a colorful high-fantasy setting, however, this time we find ourselves in an alternative, dark version of Paris. As the last warrior of a fallen order, you blast your way through the streets of the demon-infested French capital in your heavy, gold-plated armor to find the lost gate to heaven.
In terms of gameplay and pompous look, Armatus seems to have taken noticeable cues from Godfall. If you liked its concept and aesthetics, you should definitely give the current demo a try. Especially cool: in the fast-paced firefights, you don’t just have to rely on your firearms, you can also fillet demons in close combat with a massive energy sword.
Pirates: Rogue’s Fortune
Genre: RogueliteDeveloper: NINPO Game StudioRelease: 1st quarter of 2026
When it comes to video games, I’m a simple guy. I like pirates and I like roguelites – so Pirates: Rogue’s Fortune had me hooked right away. I control a cute little pirate ship that is constantly attacked by enemy pirates while hunting for valuable treasures.
In the randomly generated battles, I can’t move from my spot and have to send my enemies to the bottom of the sea while they circle around me. If I emerge victorious, I grab my rewards, upgrade my ship, and face the next battle. Typical roguelite. But the cherry on top is yet to come.
Outside of the sea battles, I can disembark and search underwater among the rocks and silt for valuable resources and discover secrets. This reminds me in the best sense of the entertaining action-adventure SteamWorld Dig, for which I still fire up my Nintendo 3DS every few years.
Dinoblade
Genre: SoulslikeDeveloper: Team Spino LLCRelease: 2026
Tim Schweizer: About two years ago, as I was half-asleep and scrolling through my TikTok feed, I came across a completely absurd video: two dinosaurs fighting fiercely with huge weapons in their mouths. Fascinated, I scrolled through the profile and discovered that behind these cool clips was a senior gameplay animator from Sucker Punch Productions. What started out as a fun gimmick has now landed on my radar as a full-fledged game with the grandiose name Dinoblade.
And that’s perfect, because in this Soulslike action RPG, we control a young Spinosaurus (objectively the best dinosaur, of course!) through a prehistoric world. But instead of just biting, our prehistoric giant lizard wields a colossal greatsword. Our scaly rivals have also upgraded their weapons and stand in our way with thick axes and hammers, while we must prevent the impending extinction of our species in fast-paced battles.
In terms of gameplay, we can expect a merciless mix of powerful combos, dense jungle biomes, and dangerous apex dinosaurs. The animations of the perfectly timed counters and parries, accompanied by powerful music, look particularly impressive. After unfortunately missing the first demo at the last Steam Next Fest, I will definitely be taking a look at this absurd action gem this time around.
Windrose
Genre: Survival RPGDeveloper: Windrose CrewRelease: Unknown
I grew up with pirates as a child. Fortunately, not in real life, but at least in the entertainment sector! After all, Monkey Island 3 was the first PC game I ever played through. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the formative influence of Pirates of the Caribbean – both on the big screen and as a Disneyland attraction – on a developing brain. The result of all this: I love playing pirates! I love this wonderfully romanticized buccaneer fantasy, with epic ship battles, treasure hunters, cutthroats, and Caribbean vacation flair.
In the world of video games, however, we rarely come together because hardly any game truly combines everything I want from a pirate game. Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag comes closest to achieving this. But with Windrose, there is a candidate that could replace Ubisoft’s legendary action game!
I’m not even a huge fan of survival games, but Windrose makes too good an impression to ignore as a buccaneer fan. Just like in a role-playing game, I build my own pirate, establish my own island empire, go on the hunt for booty, and can even fire all guns in authentic sea battles. That’s exactly what I would have wanted from Skull & Bones!
The demo is already available to play, and I’m getting ready to play it right now by digging my old pirate hat out of the attic! Yoho, yoho!
Unhomely
Genre: Puzzle horrorDeveloper: Studio 8-TrackRelease: TBA
There are games on Steam that I can’t write about often enough because most people out there aren’t interested in them. So I just sneak them into collection articles like this one, hehe. If you’re standing… just stay standing, because it will come as no surprise to anyone that I love little indie horror games – and even more so when they combine escape room-style puzzles with a psychological story. I play the young journalist Blair Ward, who gets a unique opportunity. She gets to interview the mysterious tech mogul Tom Ballinger, whose inventions are considered revolutionary. So I drive to his vacation home in the remote wilderness of New Zealand… and discover that the fine gentleman isn’t even there (red flag #1). Instead, he asks me to wait for him for three days and stay in his house (red flag no. 2). Of course, he monitors me with his security cameras (red flag no. 3).
But of course, that doesn’t stop me from snooping around his house, rummaging through all the drawers and searching for information about Tom and his latest invention. But something isn’t right here. Blair is plagued by nightmares that painfully remind her of her own problems and past. And then there’s this mushroom growth… Wait, did it just turn off the light by itself?! (Red Flag No. 4).
For me, Unhomely is the perfect game for a relaxing evening when I want to get a little spooked and solve exciting mysteries. It’s a shame that the demo was over after about half an hour – there’s no release date yet.
Which of our demo recommendations will you take a closer look at? And more importantly, what games can you recommend? Feel free to write in the comments which demos everyone should definitely try out.
