The Game Awards announces The Game Festival, a Steam digital event featuring over a dozen limited-time game demos

The Game Awards has announced The Game Festival, a digital consumer event hosted on Steam that brings hands-on gameplay demos to users around the world. It will feature more than a dozen first-look game demos for a limited 48-hour window before they are removed from Steam. The event will run from December 12 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. PT to December 14 at the same time.

“Six years ago I bet everything I had to create The Game Awards as a way to celebrate our passion for gaming,” said The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley. “Now feels like the right time to take the next step with The Game Festival, a completely digital approach to the consumer event space. Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.”

Here are some of the 12-plus games that will release free, limited-time demos on Steam for The Game Festival 2019:

• Acid Knife (Powerhoof)
• CARRION (Phobia / Devolver Digital)
• Chicory (Greg Lobanov)
• The Drifter (Powerhoof)
• Eastward (Pixpil / Chucklefish)
• Haven (The Game Bakers)
• Heavenly Bodies (2pt Interactive)
• Moving Out (SMG Studio / Devm Games / Team17)
• Röki (Polygon Treehouse / United Label)
• SkateBIRD (Glass Bottom Games)
• Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
• System Shock (Nightdive Studios)
• Wooden Nickel (Brain&Brain)

In addition to hosting The Game Festival 2019, Steam will air The Game Awards 2019 live in 4K resolution, feature a The Game Awards 2019 sale, and offer viewers the opportunity to win a Valve Index VR headset and free games throughout the broadcast.

The Game Awards 2019 will broadcast live on December 12 at 5:30 p.m. PT / 8:30 p.m. ET via YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Facebook, Twitter, and various other platforms.