Steam demo: a free, separate app for trying the game

What Steamworks says

• A demo has its own builds, its own release checklist and the application type Demo, with the full game's App ID entered in its settings. Valve reviews it before release.
• It can come out before the full game, but only once the full game's page is visible as Coming Soon, so players can wishlist the game.
• On the full game's page the demo appears as a button, either in the right-hand column or as a larger green box in the middle of the page.
• An optional store page of its own must describe only the demo's content and needs a trailer and at least five demo-specific screenshots; its capsule images must show that it is a demo.
• A demo with its own store page can receive user reviews. A demo never has a Community Hub of its own.
• Demos can appear on any Steam list where a free game could appear, including New & Trending, store hubs and tag and genre pages.
• Within 14 days of the demo's first release, the developer can send one release notification to the full game's wishlisters. Wishlist notifications have a two-week cooldown per App ID.
• Deactivating a demo stops it from launching through Steam; players who already have it keep it in their library.

Why it matters

A demo is the entry ticket to Steam Next Fest: the game must not be released and needs a publicly playable demo by the time the fest begins. Outside festivals, it lets players who are unsure try the game, and the demo's page always links back to the full game, where they can wishlist or buy it.

Because a demo is its own App ID, its numbers are its own too. Its players are counted under the demo, not the game, and its reviews sit on the demo's own store page. Its one wishlist notification goes to the full game's wishlisters, so its timing matters next to the release email and the first discount.

Example: a demo for the June 2027 Next Fest

Illustrative inputs for Pebblewick, the fictional demo game by Hollow Fern Games: a demo for Steam Next Fest from Monday, 14 June 2027 to Monday, 21 June 2027, released on Thursday, 3 June 2027.

Sending the notification on the demo's release day reaches the wishlisters eleven days before the fest. Valve recommends keeping two weeks between it and any other event that emails wishlisters, such as the release or a discount, because a player notified about an App ID in the last two weeks is not emailed again.

Related terms

• Coming Soon page: A Coming Soon page is a game's Steam store page published before release. Players can wishlist the game from it, and Valve reviews it before it goes public.
• Steam Next Fest: A week-long Steam event in February, June and October where unreleased games offer playable demos. Each game can take part in one edition only.
• Wishlist conversion: The ratio of a game's sales to its wishlists at launch, most often first-week units divided by the outstanding wishlists on release day.
• Outstanding wishlists: The wishlists a game still holds: every addition so far minus deletions and purchases by wishlisters. Launch estimates start from this balance.

Sources

• Steamworks: Demos · checked November 1, 2026
• Steamworks: Steam Next Fest · checked November 1, 2026
• Steamworks: Upcoming events and seasonal sales · checked November 1, 2026