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News
By Austin Wood published 13 April 2020

The festivities will "expand to more platforms" according to Geoff Keighley

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(Image credit: Valve)
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Steam is hosting a summer game festival from June 9 through June 14 to highlight upcoming games through limited-time demos and other ways to "connect with the developers."

If that date sounds familiar, that's because E3 2020 was scheduled to kick off on June 9 before it was canceled due to coronavirus concerns. With an E3-sized hole in the games industry's summer lineup, it seems Valve has stepped in to give some developers an opportunity to show their stuff. Developers have until April 24 to submit their game for the festival; more eligibility details can be found here. 

Industry producer Geoff Keighley discussed the Steam summer festival on Twitter. "The Steam Game Festival will give you the chance to play demos of upcoming games from developers around the world," he said. "And you can do it for free from the comfort of your own home in these uncertain times."

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  • Key art for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, showing a large battle with a castle and dragon in the background, cropped to focus on the fairy army As Steam Next Fest gets bigger and more crowded with free demos, these developers are still finding wins: "It's kind of early access for Early Access"

Of course, Steam being a PC platform and all, its summer game festival doesn't have the wide-reaching appeal of a mecca like E3. Fortunately, Keighley says "the festival will also expand to more platforms," though it's unclear how. 

If you're interested in seeing what the festival has to offer, you can sign up to receive reminders and other notifications here. Even better, you don't need a virtual ticket or anything to participate. If you have a Steam account, you can take full advantage of any "time-limited demos or short playable experiences" that appear.  

In addition to keeping everyone entertained, here are the many ways the game industry is helping with coronavirus relief efforts.  

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Austin Wood
Austin Wood
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Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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