Dreadmoor Demo: October 6, 2026 on Steam
The Dreadmoor demo launches on Steam October 6, 2026. What's in it, how it differs from the playtests, and what officials have said about saves.
Last updated: September 25, 2026
A free Dreadmoor demo launches on Steam for PC on October 6, 2026. The developers announced the date on July 16, 2026 during the Secret Sauce Showcase, and it is the first broadly playable build most people will get — the earlier tests were time-limited playtests, not a demo.
What the demo includes
The official demo announcement lists the systems you can exercise end to end:
- Explore the Submerged Lands — a flooded, slowly mutating post-apocalyptic region, with the harbour as your starting point once you secure a vessel.
- Grappling Hook Gun — retrieve drifting cargo from the water.
- Lockpicking and puzzles — pick locked containers and solve environmental puzzles.
- Ship's radio — tune it to uncover new destinations across the flooded world.
- Fish, process, and trade — catch peaceful and predatory fish, process your catch into useful materials, and trade fish and salvaged resources with the people still living there.
The press release around the announcement adds flavor worth knowing before you play: fish can be sold to buy gear or dissected for rare organs used to craft lures, wreckage and scrap feed boat upgrades, and the bait shop in the demo sits on a set of gigantic crab legs. According to the official copy, the demo lets you "explore DREADMOOR's core gameplay systems and discover what life is like after the collapse of the world."
Demo vs. playtests — and your saves
The demo follows five playtests (January 2026, the Steam Ocean Fest preview in May, June, August 11–17, and the Open Playtest on September 10–14). Two facts from that history matter:
- Playtest saves never carried over. The developers stated this directly in the August playtest FAQ: progress "will not be retained for future playtests / demos / betas / the full game," and they asked players to delete old save folders.
- A lot was reworked between tests. The September Open Playtest notes list a reworked quest chain, improved areas, new fish, updated dialogue, and changes to the fishing system itself — so any guide or video from before the demo may describe systems that have since changed.
⚠️ Treat demo progress as demo progress
The developers have applied a clean-slate policy to every test so far. Until they say otherwise, it is safest to expect demo progress to stay in the demo — plan your first sessions for learning the systems, not for building ahead.
Before you start
- Skim the beginner guide for the core loop, and the fishing guide for how the skill-based system is supposed to work.
- Check the system requirements — the recommended spec targets smooth ray tracing on Unreal Engine 5.
- The demo is single-player; there is no co-op (multiplayer status).
When the demo goes live, we will re-verify every guide on this site against it, starting with the systems listed above.