Data Center Demo is climbing the Steam Next Fest charts, despite the irony that increased AI use and data centers are currently plaguing PC gaming, and are basically the reason for the Steam Machine's delay.
Simulation games have seen a huge boom in the last few years. While life simulation has long been popular, few other types of simulation games were standouts like Truck Simulator and Farming Simulator. Over the last few years, the genre has seen a boom, and you can play a simulation game for pretty much anything you can think of. Type 'Simulator' into Steam and you'll be hit with thousands of them.
It's not just the big names and genuinely fun games, like Powerwash Simulator, but also hundreds of low-effort asset flips looking to get in on the trend. Without playing Data Center Demo myself, and not having the technical understanding to really 'get' it if I did, I can't tell which category it falls into.
Luckily, there is a way to better understand it through the opinions of people far smarter than me. Heading to the user reviews to better understand its mystique, the top-rated comment at the time of writing reads, "I don't recommend buying it, but I do like the idea! The demo lacks depth, I hope in the future they add more complex systems meaning: failures, ddos, power fails."
Another user with nine hours on record says, "No game has ever yet made me pull out an Excel spreadsheet, let alone make it almost 3MB." Not all the vibes are positive, however, and alongside the depth lacking, there is some irony in that generative AI was used in the game's development.
"In-game logos and the store description are clearly shitty genAI," one review reads. "For some reason the tutorial contains a shit ton of info on real-life data center management, 99% of which has absolutely no application in the game. Not an asset flip but it looks low-effort all around."
Might not be the next TCG Card Shop Simulator then.
Modder takes Valve's AI measures one step further with a browser extension that adds an unavoidable gen AI warning to Steam games to cut out the slop
