Steam Next Fest Wrap-Up & What’s Next for Notmads

Steam Next Fest – Thank You

Steam Next Fest is coming to an end, and I just want to say: I’m incredibly happy with how it went.

The game reached so many new players, and for the first time a lot of people got to experience Notmads hands-on. But more importantly, I was able to gather a huge amount of feedback — through Steam comments, Discord, and live streams. That feedback has been extremely valuable.

I’m genuinely satisfied with how things went because it helped me clearly identify areas that need improvement. I now have a big list of changes and refinements to work on.

The Beginning of the Game

One of the most repeated points was that the beginning can feel slow.

Even though the demo is packed with content and systems, the pacing at the start doesn’t always reflect the depth of the game. I believe I understand why this happens, and I’m going to focus heavily on improving that early experience — so players can reach the core gameplay loop and the most exciting parts of the game faster, without losing the atmosphere.

That said, many players pushed through and kept playing. Some of you played more than 20 hours in the demo — which honestly blows my mind. That kind of engagement means a lot.

Beast AI & Progression

Another area mentioned was the beast AI behavior.

I agree — it still needs work. During development I prioritized the main gameplay loop, and the more advanced AI systems are part of the later-stage beast progression, which isn’t reachable in the demo.

I knew not allowing players to reach that stage during the demo could be a possible mistake, but I didn’t want to make the demo too long. In hindsight, I understand the curiosity and expectations around it.

The later stage of the beast has significantly improved AI and more configuration option s, and I’m excited for players to eventually experience that.

Building System

The building system is, in my opinion, one of the strongest and most unique features of the game.

That said, in the demo you only see a glimpse of it.

Progression is limited — you can’t fully unlock crafting, refining materials, and the complete station ecosystem yet. This is intentional because those mechanics are tied to the story and how systems are unlocked naturally. Later on, all the crafting stations and advanced features are introduced step by step beyond basic building.

There’s also a major feature not present in the demo: building while moving on top of the beast. That comes after further progression and is a big part of the long-term experience.

Most of the improvements needed here are quality-of-life related — clarity, smoother workflows, better feedback — not fundamental redesigns. The foundation is strong, but it will continue to evolve.

Other Improvements

There are also improvements planned in:

• Quality of life changes

• Better loot distribution and rewards

• Combat refinements

• General polish and clarity

All of this feedback has been incredibly useful in shaping the next steps for Notmads.

Thank You & What’s Next

The most important thing is this:

Every comment, suggestion, idea, and bug report helped.

I’m truly grateful to everyone who downloaded the demo, spent time playing it, and took the effort to share thoughts and feedback. That kind of involvement directly makes the game better.

I’ll be leaving the demo available for about another week, since some people told me they didn’t have time to try it during the event and still want