Rogue Bots 2027 is an indie game festival on Steam showcasing roguelike and roguelite games that have a heavy focus on robots, machines, androids, drones, mechs, and other mechanical creations.
Rogue Bots is an independently organized third-party showcase hosted on Steam, run by The Midnight Gamers.
Theme
Rogue Bots is open to games that fit within the Roguelike/Roguelite genre and feature robots, machines, androids, mechs, drones, or other mechanical characters or themes in a meaningful way.
We’re open to a wide range of art styles, tones, and gameplay approaches. The mechanical theme can be cute, dark, tactical, chaotic, cozy, strange, or anything in between — it just needs to be a real part of the game not a minor background element.
Tags
Your Steam page must include a relevant Rogue tag, such as Roguelike, Roguelite, Action Roguelike, Traditional Roguelike, or another similar tag that accurately fits the game.
The Steam Robot tag is not required.
Release Status
Released, unreleased, and Early Access games may apply. A demo is not required.
Games must have a public Steam store page by the first day of the festival. If your Steam page is not public when you apply, include a link to your press kit with screenshots of the completed Steam page.
Submitting Your Game
There is no fee to apply or participate.
You may submit more than one eligible game. Please submit a separate application for each game.
Selection
Games will be considered based on how well they fit both parts of the Rogue Bots theme, along with the overall presentation of the game and its Steam page. A game does not need to be large, already well known, or polished to AAA standards. We’re interested in strong concepts, clear presentation, and games that feel like a good fit for the showcase.
Last year’s event received about 500 applications, with about 200 games accepted. We anticipate more applications this year but hope to keep the showcase around the same size or smaller due to Steam’s new featuring guidelines.
Games that participated last year are not automatically accepted this year.
Applications open
November 10, 2026
Application Deadline
January 20, 2027 (We may close applications early if we receive more qualifying submissions than we can accommodate, so we encourage early applications.)
Acceptance notifications
Early February 2027
Festival dates
Early March 2027 Exact dates will be added when confirmed.
Accepted games will be included on the Rogue Bots showcase page for the full run of the event.
Developer Community
The application includes an opt-in question asking whether you’re comfortable sharing your contact information with other participating developers. Developers who opt in will receive a contact list of other accepted teams who also chose to share their information.
This was a popular feature in the festival community last year and made it easier for developers to contact one another directly about cross-promotion, bundles, and other collaborations.
Accepted developers will also be invited to the Rogue Bots Discord server for festival updates and another place to connect. Joining the Discord is also optional.
Promotion & Creator Outreach
Selected trailers, short compilation videos, and promotional graphics from some participating games will be shared through our social channels.
We'll also reach out to streamers and content creators about the festival and participating games. Last year's event led to live streams, interviews, and other creator coverage. Coverage for any individual game can't be guaranteed, but we will actively work to create those opportunities again.
Participating developers and creators will receive ready-to-share Rogue Bots graphics they can use on their own social channels to help promote the showcase and their participation.
Discounts
Steam discounts are optional but encouraged when possible. A strong number of discounted games can make the event more appealing to players and may also help when we pitch the showcase to Steam for additional visibility.
Highlighted Games
A limited number of participating games will be selected for the Highlighted Games section. Placement is limited and not guaranteed.
Hidden Gems
A limited number of exceptional participating games with very few reviews, or games that haven’t released yet will be selected for the Hidden Gems section.
Bundles
New for 2027, Rogue Bots bundles created by participating developers will be shown in a dedicated bundle section on the showcase page. Bundles must contain only games participating in Rogue Bots 2027.
Discounted
Games running a discount during the festival will be shown in the Discounted section.
Demos
Games with an active demo will be featured in the Demo section.
Multiplayer
Games with multiplayer features will be featured in the Multiplayer section.
See last year's Rogue Bots 2026 event page on Steam
Deadline: January 20, 2027
Early applications appreciated.
