The June 2025 Steam Next Fest will host hundreds of new free demos through Monday, June 16, at 1 PM ET. Several games showcased during last week's industry events are playable here, and some of the most intriguing selections are scheduled to launch within the next few weeks. Although Valve's event ends next week, some of the demos might remain available indefinitely.
Hell is Us (launching September 4)
This upcoming third-person shooter features fast-paced combat with surreal enemies as players explore various landscapes without a map or quest markers. The high-end Unreal Engine 5-powered graphics come with controversially high system requirements. The developer recommends an RTX 4090 to play in 4K with upscaling at 30 frames per second, making the demo a good opportunity to benchmark the game.
Mina the Hollower (launching October 31)
Yacht Club Games, developer of the critically acclaimed platformer Shovel Knight, recently released a new trailer for its first major follow-up. While Shovel Knight recalled NES classics like Mega Man and DuckTales, footage of Mina the Hollower indicates it will feature top-down puzzle action gameplay reminiscent of the early Legend of Zelda games.
Baby Steps (launching September 8)
The creator of the well-regarded Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy returns with another absurd platformer. Baby Steps has players control an "unemployed failson" by individually moving his feet with physics-based controls to navigate a strange world. Some nostalgic users might recognize Baby Steps as a 3D take on Foddy's famous 2008 browser game QWOP.
The Necromancer's Tale (launching in July)
This classic isometric-style RPG casts players as a noble employing magic in an alternate-history 18th-century kingdom near Venice. The developer claims that the story lasts between 25 and 50 hours, and it features over 400,000 words with more than 180 characters to encounter. The demo natively supports PC and macOS.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (launching July 31)
The developer behind Blasphemous is preparing to launch a new 2D pixel art entry in the iconic Ninja Gaiden series of action platformers. The trailer features the complex, fast-paced combat the series is known for, showing multiple playable characters. The demo includes two tutorial levels, two full levels, and an extra, more challenging difficulty mode.
Parkside: Decayed Soul Manipulation (launching in 2025)
This immersive sim feels like a comedic but faithful homage to the original Deus Ex. Players control an assassin in large, open-ended levels with multiple available paths for completing objectives. Although the demo has been available for a while, a recent Next Fest update introduces new weapons, a new tutorial, new characters, a redesigned menu system, vehicle controls, and more.
Metal Eden (launching in Q3 2025)
A fast-paced first-person shooter from the developer of Ruiner, Metal Eden somewhat resembles Doom 2016, but with a more cyberpunk and slightly anime-inspired aesthetic. The demo allows players to try the first two missions and benchmark the game's detailed Unreal Engine 5 graphics. A recent update added hardware RTX and the option to deactivate motion blur, though the developer is still working to resolve shader compilation stuttering, a common issue with this engine.
Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream (launching July 15)
Eriksholm is a top-down stealth game set in a fantasy city inspired by early 1900s Scandinavia. Players control three characters with different abilities as a cinematic, intrigue-laden storyline unfolds. Although most of the gameplay occurs from an isometric perspective, dialogue scenes showcase the game's highly detailed Unreal Engine 5 visuals and characters.
Holstin (launch date TBA)
Set in early 1990s Poland, this action horror game features a unique shifting perspective system that combines pixel art and retro 3D graphics. The screenshots and trailers show seamless transitions between side-scrolling, top-down, isometric, and third-person gameplay. Although the release date on the Steam page says "TBA," the developer describes this demo as its last, so the full game might launch sometime this year.
This list is just a drop in the ocean compared to what else is available over the next week. Some of the games might still be early in development, so developers are looking for feedback. Search the Steam pages for links to developer social channels and Discord servers.