George In The Meta
Did AI games flood Steam Next Fest?
By George In The Meta ·
By the numbers, yes. Steam Next Fest October 2026 listed 7,319 games, more than double the 3,276 demos Kotaku counted when last October's Next Fest opened. I checked every store page I could open, and 2,512 of 7,093, or 35%, disclose AI. Whether that's a flood of crap is a different question. If you can make it work and it's not crap, great. Unfortunately, a lot of people can't make it work, and they do just make crap.
How many games were in Steam Next Fest October 2026?
Steam Next Fest October 2026 had 7,319 games on Steam's own event list, which I saved on 26 October, before the event closed at 10am Pacific (Steamworks). Counts differ depending on when they were taken: GamingOnLinux counted 7,164 demos on SteamDB's event page on 20 October (GamingOnLinux), and Kotaku put it at 8,011 (Kotaku).
My brother covers demos, and his point is that compared to last year, there were just so many more. The amount of games featured increased due to the ease of access that AI has given other people. Whether that ease is good or bad, unsure.
| Next Fest | Size | Counted by |
|---|---|---|
| October 2023 | About 900 demos | GameDiscoverCo, via Kotaku |
| October 2024 | About 2,700 demos | GameDiscoverCo, via Kotaku |
| October 2025 | 3,276 demos | Kotaku, on opening day |
| October 2026 | 7,319 games | Steam's event list, on the last day |
The 2023 to 2025 figures are from Kotaku (2025 preview, 2026 piece). They count demos at a point in time, so they're not exactly like for like with a full event list, but the jump is clear either way.
How many Steam Next Fest games use AI?
2,512 of the 7,093 Next Fest store pages I could read have Steam's "AI Generated Content Disclosure" section, which is 35%. I had a script open every game on the event list and look for that section, keeping the developer's own wording.
The other 226 pages are adult-only games, which Steam only shows when you're signed in, so they weren't checked. Whichever way they go, AI disclosures come to between 34% and 37% of the whole list.
That's close to PC Guide's count of 2,593 games, just over 36%, from a SteamDB filter on 20 October (PC Guide). GamingOnLinux's "at least 1,054" on the same day was well short.
What do Next Fest developers say they used AI for?
Next Fest developers describe it in their own words, and it ranges from a line to a full breakdown. A few from the event's store pages:
- "Text translated using AI." (Nozie Tower Defense XL)
- "Some UI icons were generated using AI." (Little Cat Goes Fishing)
- "We utilized generative AI tools (such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion) during the development phase to assist in creating 2D concept art, UI elements, and background textures for the game." (Rats Survivors)
- "This game connects to an AI service during gameplay to dynamically generate weapon mechanisms and game scripts, providing a randomized and evolving experience for the player." (Blackbox Creations)
Did I notice the AI games at Next Fest?
I did notice the AI games at Next Fest. I don't know if it was for the reason that other people did. I noticed because I was looking. As someone that also tries to do some AI games, the barrier of entry to get onto Steam and be featured in Next Fest, or get eyeballs within Next Fest, was a concept I was aware of.
So I don't know if I'm the best impartial person to have been aware that there was loads in there, because I'm not on the screaming "everything that's AI is terrible" side of the fence.
Does an AI disclosure put me off a demo?
An AI disclosure doesn't put me off a demo, not really. And I think if it does put anyone off a demo, then they're doing it for their own political means rather than anything else. It's like, oh no, I can't possibly do this because of AI.
It's the same thing as when people couldn't use the internet because it was killing TV, or couldn't use TV because it was killing radio. Especially the ones that say, oh my god, you have to do art this way. You can do it by whatever means you like. Otherwise, I could definitely say there's some art out there that is highly regarded that isn't art, because it's crap.
Does it matter if the AI is in the art, the code or the voices?
Whether the AI is in the art, the code or the voices, I couldn't care. It comes back to if you can make it work, it works. There is an art form to make good art with AI. And those claiming there isn't are just people that are disappointed that their job is going to disappear, because functionally we don't need them anymore. You just got to move along with the times. Haters gonna hate, right?
How does Steam's AI disclosure work?
Steam's AI disclosure has been part of the form developers fill in when they submit a game since January 2024. Valve splits it into pre-generated content, made with AI during development, and live-generated content, made by AI while the game runs, which also needs guardrails. Much of what developers write goes on the store page (VGC).
Since January 2026, developers have to disclose AI content players can see, like art, sound and story, but tools used behind the scenes, like coding assistants, don't need disclosing (TBreak). Valve also isn't using automated tools to catch games that don't disclose; it takes the developer's word for it (PC Guide). So 35% is the share that said so, not every game that used AI.
