Steam Next Fest October 2026: Dates and Start Time by City
Steam Next Fest runs from Monday, October 19 at 10:00 am PDT to Monday, October 26 at 10:00 am PDT. That is 17:00 UTC on both days, according to Valve's Steamworks documentation. During the week fans can try demos of upcoming games, chat with developers, watch livestreams and learn about games that are not out yet.
Start and end time in your city
| City | Starts (Mon, Oct 19) | Ends (Mon, Oct 26) |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 10:00 am | 10:00 am |
| Mexico City | 11:00 am | 11:00 am |
| New York | 1:00 pm | 1:00 pm |
| São Paulo | 2:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| London | 6:00 pm | 5:00 pm |
| Lagos | 6:00 pm | 6:00 pm |
| Berlin | 7:00 pm | 6:00 pm |
| Johannesburg | 7:00 pm | 7:00 pm |
| Cairo | 8:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
| Istanbul | 8:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
| Riyadh | 8:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
| Nairobi | 8:00 pm | 8:00 pm |
| Dubai | 9:00 pm | 9:00 pm |
| Karachi | 10:00 pm | 10:00 pm |
| Delhi | 10:30 pm | 10:30 pm |
| Dhaka | 11:00 pm | 11:00 pm |
| Jakarta | 12:00 am (next day) | 12:00 am (next day) |
| Singapore | 1:00 am (next day) | 1:00 am (next day) |
| Manila | 1:00 am (next day) | 1:00 am (next day) |
| Seoul | 2:00 am (next day) | 2:00 am (next day) |
| Tokyo | 2:00 am (next day) | 2:00 am (next day) |
| Sydney | 4:00 am (next day) | 4:00 am (next day) |
| Auckland | 6:00 am (next day) | 6:00 am (next day) |
Most places keep the same clock time on both days. London and Berlin are an hour earlier at the end because Europe's clocks go back on October 25; US clocks change on November 1, after the event. "Next day" means the day after the date in the column heading.
What you can do
- Try demos of PC games that are not out yet, and wishlist the ones you want to follow, as PocketGamer.biz describes the event.
- Chat with developers and watch livestreams. Valve says both are part of the festival.
- Find it on Steam. The event page is store.steampowered.com/sale/nextfest.
- Share what you find with the event hashtag, #SteamNextFest.
Dates that matter
- October 8: the Press Preview starts at 10:00 am PDT (17:00 UTC).
- October 19: Next Fest opens at 10:00 am PDT (17:00 UTC).
- October 26: Next Fest ends, and Valve's Wrap-Up of the games with the most played demos launches.
- February 2027: the next Next Fest is planned.
Which games take part
Valve's rules say a game must be upcoming, have a public demo by the time the festival begins, and be released after October 26. A prologue or "chapter 1" of a game that is already out does not qualify. Each title can join only one Next Fest, so the games in this edition will not be in the February one.
