Steam Announces Official Bullet Heaven Category with New Fest
Valve makes a major platform change by officially recognizing a new and popular game genre. The new Steam Bullet Heaven category will debut with the upcoming Steam Bullet Fest 2026 event this year. This announcement follows a massive community push from players and indie developers for better genre categorization. Valve’s official documentation now clearly defines the difference between Bullet Hell and Bullet Heaven games for the entire storefront.
Steam Defines the Genre with Clear Rules
The platform released specific eligibility requirements for games to participate in the new festival. Bullet Hell games require players to dodge many projectiles from a 2D or top-down perspective. Conversely, Bullet Heaven or “Survivor-like” games feature the player as the source of bullets, mowing down overwhelming hordes of enemies.
The rules state that games must create a sense of “overwhelmingness” through projectile count. Therefore, traditional aim-and-reload shooters, most first-person games, and platformers will not qualify for this new dedicated category.
A Major Victory for Indie Developers and Fans
This formal recognition is a huge win for visibility within the indie development community. Previously, these games often became lost among the many roguelites released each year on Steam. Developers at studios like Awesome Games Studios actively campaigned on Reddit for players to add a custom “Bullet Heaven” tag to games.
Valve noticed this concerted push and responded by creating an official festival, which provides crucial validation and improved discoverability. Consequently, the upcoming Bullet Fest 2026 will showcase these titles to a much wider audience than ever before.
