With my first game, Soma Cube, I made one big mistake: I didn’t know about Steam Next Fest, so I never registered it. I’m not making that mistake again. This time, I met the deadline with my new game, Just Fly.

The next Steam Next Fest (October 2026) is right around the corner, and I almost missed the registration window. By accident, I discovered that registrations close almost two months before the event, on September 1st, 2026. I assumed I had time until late September to register alongside a finished demo. In reality, you only need an active Steam page, even if it’s just an empty draft. It doesn’t even have to be public. As long as you pay the app fee, you can register. My hastily created Just Fly Steam page was still under review when it was accepted into the festival.

To publish the Steam page, I also needed a video, so I put together a short trailer showing very early gameplay. Now, I have six intensive weeks ahead of me to prepare a fully working demo that feels like a finished game rather than an early prototype.

You shouldn’t submit rough prototypes to Steam Next Fest, it’s not a playtest! It’s a major marketing opportunity, and a bad demo wastes your single chance. Each game can participate in Next Fest only once. Fortunately, you can opt out even a day before the event begins without penalty. Steam won’t penalize you, and you can register the same game for a future Next Fest, as long as you opt out before the festival starts.

What is Just Fly?

Just Fly is a cozy adrenaline game about flying through procedurally generated sky islands, making every run unique. It is designed for relaxing, very short sessions without forced objectives. Right now, there are no specific goals: you can cruise peacefully or skim close to the terrain for a rush of adrenaline. In future updates, I will introduce high scores and points for risky flying, but the cozy, goal-free mode will always remain.