Revision 1

The Steam Next Fest Demo is a free, time-limited playable build of ArcheAge Chronicles, announced on 1 October 2026 for the October 2026 edition of Steam Next Fest. It is the first build of the game that any player can download without applying or being selected, and the first public build to include PvP.

Schedule and Access

Content

The demo covers select content centred on Diamond Shores, which the studio describes as one of the game's early-game regions. Korean materials call the region 빛나는 해안 and place it among the early regions of Auroria. In the original ArcheAge a zone of the same name was the gateway to that continent; the demo materials do not say how the Chronicles region relates to it.

PvP is available for the first time in a public build. All four classes are playable, each with two of their weapons, and PvP channels are unlocked from the very start rather than after a story milestone. Players switch between standard and PvP channels at a Nui Statue, and the demo includes a kill log and PvP achievements. See PvP Arenas and Character Classes.

Some life content is excluded: Housing and trade are not available in the demo. The studio warns that the demo does not include the full range of content, that some features may be limited, and that players may encounter bugs or unexpected issues.

Where It Sits in the Testing Sequence

A report in May 2026 had tipped a demo for the June 2026 edition of the same event; none was released then.

Not Yet Known

As of 14 October 2026, before the demo opens, the studio has not published a level ceiling for the demo, a list of its dungeons or quests, or whether it will report results afterwards. Coverage of an October 2026 developer video says the demo adds new dungeons beyond the network test content, but the demo announcement itself does not mention dungeons. The demo is separate from the Early Access release, which is planned for later in 2026 with no date announced as of 14 October 2026.