Steam Game Festival 2021: More than 500 Free Games, FAQS and Many More!

Joen Coronel, Tech Times 29 January 2021, 06:01 am

Steam Game Festival 2021 will kick off next week which will feature 500 free games for six days.

What to Know About Steam Game Festival 2021

Next week, starting February 3, the first Steam Game Festival for this year will allow Steam players to enjoy more than 500 free games to play and download. The event will extend until February 9, Valve announced, according to a report by VG 24/7.

Besides game demos, the players can also watch the live streams from their favorite game developers, which can be viewed on Steam's page. They can also engage in discussion forums and chat about their expectations and other concerns after testing the free games.

While the past Steam Game Festivals bear the same format, the February Edition will have the first-day show hosted by Valve. You can watch the remaining events on Steam and Twitch pages. Once the live stream begins, few game demos will be selected on the screen.

According to Games Radar, here are some of the free games that players can access in the upcoming Steam Game Festival:

Hazel Sky
Fling to the Finish
Black Book
Almighty: Kill Your Gods
Shady Knight
Genesis Noir
The Riftbreaker
Bloodroots
Aerial_Knight's Never Yield
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
Blunt Force
Children of Silentown
Narita Boy

Criteria for the Game Eligibility

For a game to be eligible in the February Edition of the Steam Game Festival 2021, Steam made the following criteria that should be met:

Part of a Steamworks developer account in good standing.
A game on Steam with a release date set between February 10, 2021, and September 1, 2021.
For opt-in, make sure that your page has the "Coming Soon" part
Your game should be ready for a demo by the time the Steam Game Festival drops

Remember that a game can only take part in one of the three Steam Game festivals which include last year's Autumn 2020, this upcoming February edition, and the June edition.

When the Festival Starts, Steam reminds the game developers to:

Launch their demo if they have not yet released it
Make sure to promote your game demo on social media. Sharing is caring.
From time-to-time, keep an eye on the announcements from the Community Hub and other game channels to know the game feedbacks from the users.

Steam advises those who will make their game live streams to post the schedule ahead of the event. So, players will know what to mark on their calendars.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do Early Access games count as eligible for the Steam Game Festival entry?

A: Unreleased games are the only eligible entries for the Steam Game Festival. If your game is already released and available in Steam Early Access by the start of the festival, then your game is not eligible to participate in the Steam Game Festival.
Q: Do I need to have my game and store page reviewed in order to opt-in?

A. To opt-in for the February 2021 event, the store page should be made public and visible for all the viewers prior to the Steam Game Festival. To participate in the Festival, you will need to have the demo build of your game reviewed and approved. Please remember to give at least 3-5 business days to allow enough time for your build to be tested.

Q. I've changed my plans. How do I opt-out?
A. Just return to the opt-in page for your game by inserting your appID at the end of this URL https://partner.steamgames.com/optin/sale/game_festival_winter2021/ and deselect the checkbox at the very bottom of the page to pull out your game from the event.

Q. What have past editions of the Steam Game Festival looked like?
A. Here are the previous editions: