Is There a Steam Next Fest Badge 2023?

Steam Next Fest is a celebration of the thousands of weird and wonderful indies that hit the platform each and every year. It’s designed to put games that wouldn’t normally garner much attention in front of a wider audience and show them to new fans.

While the heart of Steam Next Fest is highlighting indie games to potential fans, it’s also offered other benefits in the past that have given many Steam users a reason to engage with it. The additional incentive has traditionally been a Badge, a cosmetic item for users to display on their profile.

Related: August 2023 Indie Spotlight: Four Experiences You Can Vividly Live Through

Can You Get a Steam Next Fest Badge 2023 for October

At the time of writing, it seems pretty clear that there’s no Steam Next Fest Badge for 2023 for the October Steam Next Fest. The community has been discussing this at length since before the event started, and almost everyone is convinced there’s no Badge.

While it appears as though there was a seasonal Steam Next Fest Badge for an event earlier in the year, Valve hasn’t put up any requirements to get one for this most recent event. No marketing around the event even hints at a badge, so we’re almost certain there isn’t one.

Why is There no Steam Next Fest Badge 2023 for the October Event

The reason there seems to be no Steam Next Fest Badge for October 2023 is the fact that the Badge doesn’t really do what it’s meant to. The idea was that the requirements to get the Badge in previous years, which were to play a certain number of demos for 10 minutes each, would get more indie games in front of potential new fans.

However, it looks like all the Badge did was make collectors download a few demos, leave them running for 10 minutes, and then delete them. This netted them the Badge, but it didn’t see them try the games they downloaded demos for out in any meaningful way. In fact, it was more of an encouragement to ignore games rather than play them.

Will There be a Steam Next Fest Badge for 2024

Valve might be rethinking the way the Steam Next Fest Badge works for 2024. At the time of writing, the company hasn’t commented on the lack of Badge or mentioned it in any way. It seems as though the Badge wasn’t planned to be part of the October Steam Next Fest, and may not be part of future events like it if user behavior doesn’t change.

On the other hand, Valve could introduce new requirements that get players to be more engaged with the demos they download from the event. It remains to be seen if any communication surrounding the Badge and how it can be earned will be made.