The 50 most-played demos of Steam Next Fest include musical martial arts, a Stalker-inspired MMO, a superhero management sim, and at least 2 games that are basically Sea of Thieves in space
While Steam Next Fest is happening, it's always a bit of a whirlwind around here, as we try to play as many demos as possible and pick out the coolest among them. So it's always nice, once the dust has settled, to look back and see which games really resonated, and what picture it all paints of the upcoming release calendar.
Particularly interesting is seeing which were the most played demos—the ones that you lot gravitated towards the most. And this time, it's a really cool spread of games.
Topping the charts is a soulslike, proving the genre is still as popular as ever. Our own Tyler Colp wasn't super excited by Vindictus: Defying Fate, calling it just "pretty well put together", but he did say "it's got the soulslike pacing down". But it seems like you guys were more enthusiastic, or at least keen to check it out for yourselves.
As usual, multiplayer games made a big splash. Wildgate came in at a well-deserved number two—its mix of FPS action with Sea of Thieves-inspired shenanigans (in space!) seemed like a winning combo during our hands-on this month. Weirdly, Jump Ship at the number three spot has a similar premise. Clearly at heart we all dream of being part of a ramshackle starship crew with our mates.
Also in the top 10 are multiplayer horror game MIMESIS, and long-awaited, Stalker-esque MMO PIONER, demonstrating the power of both spooky co-op with friends, and unnecessary capital letters.
But there's loads of really unexpected stuff on the list, too. I can't say I would've predicted a rhythm action martial arts game at number five, but clearly Dead as Disco has been a deserved hit—as Harvey put it, it's "a technicolour treat on the eyes, but it's also snappy and responsive".
He had just as much praise for Dispatch at number 15 on the list, a unique adventure game about working at a dispatch office for superheroes. Nailing both its Telltale-esque cinematic storytelling and its surprisingly in-depth management sim sections, the demo was one of the most impressive of Next Fest.
I was personally happy to see that a ton of you checked out Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Absolum. Publisher Dotemu is continuing to prove itself the new king of old school side-scrollers with these—the former a brutal action-platformer, the latter combining 2D brawling with elements of roguelikes. I was really impressed with both during a hands-on event earlier in the year, so it's lovely to see them now getting the wider attention they deserve.
My pick of the list, though, is Ball X Pit, at a very respectable 12th place. Combining Breakout with elements of roguelikes, auto-battlers, and even city-builders, it's one of those games that you only have to play for five minutes to know that the full release is going to eat up 100 hours of your time. The demo's still available for this one—you've got to check it out.
If you're curious to see the full top 50, it's available to peruse on Steam's Next Fest page—check it out, and double the length of your wishlist.