Steam Next Fest demo season arrives as Peak expands to consoles

Peak, a co-op climbing game from Team Peak, is now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 after first launching on Steam. Engadget reported that the game has sold more than 23 million copies; it debuted on Steam last year at $8, with an initial discount to $5, and the console versions cost $10. Developer Nick Kaman told Game File that the team had doubled the game’s content since its initial release, saying the increase justified doubling the perceived cost from $5 to $10 even though the console price rose by $2, Engadget reported.

Tape to Tape, an arcade hockey roguelite from Excellent Rectangle, left early access this week for Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch after being in early access since 2023. It usually costs $20 and is 10 percent off on Steam until October 30. Players pick a squad, unlock abilities and players, and take on opponents including a soccer team and 'farting princesses' while trying to stop a team of 'evil golfers' from destroying one of Canada’s national sports, according to Engadget. The game supports up to 10 local co-op players.

Engadget said it had played part of Emberville, whose prologue is now available and whose progress carries into the full game on October 27. It also tried Golden Retriever Simple Life, an FMV life sim about caring for a golden retriever named Pichu; its demo covers one week of in-game time, and the full game is due in February. Other demos Engadget planned to check out included Probably Stolen, a cyberpunk shopkeeping sim; Geodyssey, a Backrooms-style puzzler; Iron Skies, a propeller-plane shoot ’em up; Moonbrella, a 2D Metroidvania with no jump button; and My Arms Are Longer Now, a comedy game about heists with a very long arm.

During this week’s ID@Xbox Showcase, A Game About Digging A Hole Together received a December 4 release date and Mouthwashing was dated for consoles on October 29, Engadget reported. Croak, a platformer, was given a March release window.

Critical Reflex Time included platform updates and demo announcements as well as reveals for amFM, a surreal RPG in which players hop between dimensions and create machines to defeat enemies, and Keykruncher, in which the character has to eat keyboards to survive, according to Engadget.