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Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletterWe have nearly sandblasted through February's Steam Next Fest blowout before it ends on March 2, so Valve is commemorating the event's halfway mark with official details on what made up its 10 most-played titles. I just… I think there's something a little wrong with the publisher's parameters. According to Valve, Bungie's Server Slam for Marathon counts as a demo.
The Marathon release date is set for March 5, but the Destiny developer is testing its new extraction FPS' strength with the Marathon server slam beta period that began February 26. The idea was to run "a technical stress test," as Bungie writes in a blog post about the event, which offers a sample platter of the game – like a few zones in the Tau Ceti IV colony, access to five factions, and even upgrade trees. I don't think it's comparable to the many brief demos all kinds of developers, including those with far fewer resources than Bungie, have put out.
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Marathon's server slam sees 143,000 concurrent Steam players so far, which isn't far behind Arc Raiders' own server slam
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I've been writing about new indie games for years, and these are the 10 best Steam Next Fest demos to play this weekend
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How to download the Marathon server slam and when it ends
- Marathon
- Burglin' Gnomes
- Windrose
- Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors
- Far Far West
- Outbound
- John Carpenter's Toxic Commando
- Wanderburg
- Fate Trigger
- Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite
But what makes your Steam Next Fest top 10?
As Steam Next Fest gets bigger and more crowded with free demos, these developers are still finding wins: "It's kind of early access for Early Access."
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ NewsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. TOPICS Valve Steam Next Fest CATEGORIES PC Gaming Platforms
Ashley BardhanSocial Links NavigationSenior WriterAshley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.
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Marathon's server slam sees 143,000 concurrent Steam players so far, which isn't far behind Arc Raiders' own server slam
I've been writing about new indie games for years, and these are the 10 best Steam Next Fest demos to play this weekend
How to download the Marathon server slam and when it ends
Marathon server slam announced, open preview weekend starts February 26 as Bungie prepares for March launch
Embark has no hard feelings about Arc Raiders briefly being censored in Bungie's Marathon Server Slam: "Loot is loot"
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