In the announcement of the Steam Next Fest, I wrote that we can expect hundreds of demos. It turns out I seriously underestimated the number.
This year's Steam Next Fest features as many as 8700 games with free demo versions. Yes, you read that right. More than eight thousand titles.
On one hand, this sounds fantastic. More games mean more choices, more opportunities to discover hidden indie gems. On the other hand, such a large number of games presents one major problem. Visibility.
When 8700 demos compete for players' attention, many quality titles can easily go completely unnoticed. Most players won't browse through hundreds of pages of the festival; instead, they'll try out a few of the most popular games on the first few pages or those recommended by Steam.
When you have thousands of options, it often happens that you play almost nothing or stick to just a few titles that are already popular. Check your Steam library and tell me I'm wrong.
Of course, this doesn't mean that a large number of games is a bad thing. Quite the opposite. The Steam Next Fest remains one of the best places to discover new games before their release. However, this year it will take a bit more digging to find your next favorite. In a sea of 8700 games, it's easy to get lost.
