How REANIMAL rose to become one of the most-played games at Steam Next Fest

The Challenge:

Say hello to REANIMAL, Tarsier Studios' creepy new baby. If the name Tarsiser rings a bell, it’s because they are the brains behind Little Nightmares I & II. The delightfully creepy platformers were firm favourites of both fans and critics. They’ve also sold north of 12 million copies. Hey, not bad!

Matching that success would test the mettle of any dev. But early looks suggest Tarsier, with THQ Nordic in their corner, might be onto something pretty special. There are similarities to Little Nightmares. REANIMAL shares a creepy atmosphere and also features child protagonists navigating the bleakest of environments.

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There are also, however, some fundamental differences. Gone is the 2.5D side-on platforming of the Little Nightmares games, replaced by a fully 3D world. REANIMAL tells a far deeper story, as well. This time around, there’s support for co-op (local and online). And finally, the horror has been ramped up: “a more terrifying journey than ever before” is how the Tarsier team describe their new title.

Although REANIMAL is slated to arrive in Q1 2026, you should always be looking to get ahead of the game (yes, we're ashamed of the pun) when it comes to marketing. And so the THQ Nordic team decided to spin up a demo and submit REANIMAL for inclusion in October’s Steam Next Fest.

Over the last few years, demos in general and Next Fest in particular have seen a dramatic rise in importance when it comes to game discoverability. 2019’s inaugural Steam Game Festival featured a comparativelymeasly 13 playable demos. Rebranded as Next Fest in 2021, Valve’s latest online demo event this October had a whopping 2,961 on offer. That’s some increase.

Securing a spot at Next Fest can be a pivotal moment for any game. But how do you compete once you’re in? What makes you stand out from thousands of other games all vying for player attention? Our tip: content creators. In this case study, we’ll look at REANIMAL'S startling Next Fest success and how the THQ Nordic team used Lurkit to help propel Tarsier’s game up the most-played Next Fest charts.

The Solution:

The REANIMAL demo went live on 13 October to line up with Steam Next Fest. The THQ Nordic team prepped creators ahead of the big day with a push via PR firm Dead Good Media. Tarsier Studios got in on the act themselves, with an X post encouraging creators to sign up to THQ Nordic's creator program, the Creator Portal.

The THQ Nordic team’s creator approach was smartly simple: make the demo as easy to get into as possible, then give creators a reason to shout about it.

To do that, the team ran a rolling Key Campaign to drive awareness of the demo, and they paired that with a single, attention-grabbing Mission inside the Creator Portal. The prize? A suitably terrifying Alone in the Dark (AitD) collector’s edition for one lucky creator.

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An *Alone in the Dark* collector's edition was on offer for one lucky creator taking part in the Mission

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The Mission, living inside the Portal, turned demo plays into shareable content. Creators were asked to stream the demo and let their community know about REANIMAL by posting on social media. The AitD collector’s edition providing a nice carrot to nudge participation.

Using Lurkit, the THQ Nordic team were able to track completions and quickly see which creators were driving the most watch time and views. Neat and tidy and not a spreadsheet in sight.

The Key Campaign opened the door, the Mission gave creators a reason to tell their community about the demo and Lurkit’s tech kept the whole thing ticking over smoothly. Let’s dive into the results.

The Results

REANIMAL successfully conquered Next Fest, becoming the fifth most-played game of the event. When you’re up against almost 3,000 other demos, that’s impressive stuff. And people loved what they played, too. According to SteamDB, the REANIMAL demo pulled in over 3,000 user reviews, with an incredible 96% of them positive. It’s given the horror demo’s Steam page a rare Overwhelmingly Positive tag.

While it was an excellent fifth place in the player number department, REANIMAL actually topped the charts in a couple of important metrics. Analysis by the team at GameDiscoverCo found that Tarsier’s game led the way when it came to both the number of wishlist increases (+177,025) and the number of followers added (+9,208). Check out these graphs.

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A big win for both Team Tarsier and Team THQ Nordic. Congrats to the entire THQ Nordic marketing team for this great synergy between influencer marketing, social media/programmatic and PR!

Hype for REANIMAL among content creators was evident from the outset of Next Fest. Eager creators snapped up the initial batch of demo keys from Lurkit inside a couple of hours. Let’s have a look at how these creators helped to spread the word about Tarsier’s new horror game.

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7.1k+ streaming hours watched

230k+ long-form video views

128k+ short-form video views

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And that’s REANIMAL in a nutshell: a clean combo of one-click keys, a single Mission and creator love that helped Tarsier’s game surge into Next Fest’s top five, while also driving a monster wishlist lift and rave reviews.

Let’s be clear, Tarsier’s reputation as a genre-defining studio and the incredible experience the REANIMAL demo delivered were CRITICAL to success at Steam Next Fest. The Lurkit crew were honored to help bring that experience to more creators hands in a seamless, positive way.

It’s a tidy reminder that, if you make access easy and give creators a reason to play and share, the results can be huge. Fancy the same for your game? Tell us about your game and we’ll help sketch a no-nonsense plan.

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How REANIMAL rose to become one of the most-played games at Steam Next Fest

Fifth most-played demo at Steam Next Fest

Biggest wishlist & follower increase of any game in Steam Next Fest

Over 25 million views across social media & video platforms

Company overview

Game overview

Products used

The Challenge:

The Solution:

The Results

How REANIMAL rose to become one of the most-played games at Steam Next Fest

Fifth most-played demo at Steam Next Fest

Biggest wishlist & follower increase of any game in Steam Next Fest

Over 25 million views across social media & video platforms

Company overview

Game overview

Products used

The Challenge:

The Solution:

The Results

Grow your games with the right creators