COLOURED STATIC PRESS / UNDERCURRENT / OCTOBER 2026
THE NEXT FEST SIGNAL
Hundreds of demos. We find the games worth your time.
19–26 OCTOBER 2026 · STEAM NEXT FEST
Opens 18:00 BST on Monday 19 October. Closes 17:00 GMT on Monday 26 October, after the UK clock change.
THE MISSION
More discovery. Less repetition.
Steam Next Fest brings hundreds of free demos of upcoming PC games to players. We’re here for the smaller studios, curious ideas and genuine surprises that can be overlooked in the noise.
This page is our evolving coverage desk. A listed title isn’t an endorsement: announced participants stay separate from games we’ve actually played. We’ll add hands-on impressions, interviews and daily dispatches as the festival unfolds.
OUR COVERAGE
PLAYED BY CSP
Hands-on impressions, with the demo build and context clearly identified. We don’t award final scores to unfinished games.
UNDERCURRENT WATCHLIST
Interesting indie demos on our research list. Their participation is confirmed, but their quality is still untested.
DEVELOPER SPOTLIGHT
Interviews and stories about the people behind the games, when arranged.
THE DAILY SIGNAL
Short updates and standout discoveries, added as we find something genuinely worth reporting.
INITIAL RESEARCH LIST
Eight confirmed JanduSoft participants
These games are confirmed in JanduSoft’s 25 September event announcement. Our team has not yet played the demos. Availability and individual Steam pages will be checked as the event begins.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
TREMEN
DEVELOPER: Red Meat Entertainment
A graphic-novel-inspired old-school FPS in a brutalist nightmare. High priority for developer outreach.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
Codex Lost 2
DEVELOPER: Freemana
A mysterious dark-fantasy Soulslike featuring weapons, spells and open exploration.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
Cards After Midnight
DEVELOPER: JanduSoft & Boomfire Games
A roguelike card adventure: werewolf by night, hunted survivor by day.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
Dark Rail
DEVELOPER: Steam Veil Games
Turn-based railway management and grim moral decisions in an industrial world.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
Ariadne’s Tale
DEVELOPER: JanduSoft
A mythological first-person puzzle adventure through the Minotaur’s labyrinth.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
Olympus Rangers
DEVELOPER: Mechano
Creature team-building and tactical combat across several battle modes.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
The Transference
DEVELOPER: Kuraishisama
A late-1990s Andalucian escape-room thriller involving family secrets.
ANNOUNCED · NOT YET PLAYED
Dark Alley
DEVELOPER: CheesecakeGames
A detective mystery centred on a missing British investigator in Kyoto.
SOURCE: JanduSoft Next Fest announcement. We will add other publishers and independent developers as our research continues.
HANDS-ON DESK
What we’ve actually played
We have not published hands-on Next Fest verdicts yet. However, two promising candidates already have free demos on Steam: TREMEN and Dark Rail. Both are available for players to try now. These are download links, not CSP recommendations; our verdicts will come only after actual playtime.
DEVELOPERS & READERS
What have we missed?
Making a Next Fest game, or found a demo that deserves a closer look? Send us the name, Steam page, press assets or interview pitch. Editorial coverage stays independent and is never guaranteed.
MORE SIGNAL. LESS NOISE.
EVENT SOURCES: Steam Next Fest · Valve Steamworks schedule.