The developers of SubZero put out a message on their social media announcing a delay from November this year to March 2026. The reason for the delay was due to a bug with Steam Next Fest. The message is below, translated.
Dear players,
We regret to inform everyone that due to a serious system error on the Steam platform, the demo version of Below Zero Point could not successfully participate in the October 2025 Steam Next Fest.
We have verified through multiple communications with Steam and other developers that our submission and operational process fully followed platform rules, and no mistakes were made on our end. Steam has confirmed that this issue was caused by a critical bug on their platform. Despite our active efforts to resolve it, Steam ultimately only offered us a chance to participate in the next festival as a solution.
Below Zero Point is primarily developed by us independently. No one looks forward to sharing the game with you more than we do. However, during development, our budget has already been severely exceeded, and we currently cannot afford additional promotional expenses. Since indie games rarely get such a chance for wide exposure during Steam Next Fest, we have no choice but to make the difficult decision that:
The original release date of November 28 has been postponed to March 6, 2026 (Friday) at 7:00 p.m.
The game will officially launch after the next Steam Next Fest ends.We sincerely apologize for this delay. We will hold additional giveaway and bonus events when the game officially launches. Ongoing activities will continue as planned and are not affected.
We thank every one of you who has followed, supported, and offered feedback for Below Zero Point. Your encouragement helps this game continue to grow. We look forward to bringing the full version of Below Zero Point to you next spring.
Thank you for your understanding and for being willing to wait and experience our game!
So the SubZero demo was not promoted by Steam during Next Fest, as they hoped, and therefore fewer people than they expected played it. So they have decided to postpone the release until the next Next Fest to get extra promotion..
Interestingly they say they are already severely over budget, so they are relying on big sales to actually recover that money. Being promoted at Next Fest may help, but that is also dependent on the audience being receptive. The sales of FMV games is erratic at the best of times.
