A field near Roskilde turns into one of Denmark's largest cities for eight days every summer. This event attracts over 125,000 visitors who arrive using the train service.
To accommodate this large flow of people, temporary infrastructure has been established. This temporary train station serves a dual function: it acts as an important transport hub and also as the main access point to the festival.
Valve officially released the schedule of promotions and themed festivals for the Steam platform for the first six months of 2027. This planning covers both traditional seasonal sales, such as the Steam Spring Sale and the Steam Summer Sale, as well as a series of events focused on specific game styles and genres.
In recent years, the company has adopted the practice of making these dates available well in advance. This measure aims to help both users and developers prepare for the most important campaigns held on the platform.
The semester's calendar includes several events segmented by game category, where discounts and greater visibility are offered for titles aligned with each festival's theme. The scheduled events are:
Among all the events, the Steam Summer Sale maintains its status as the platform's largest promotion, featuring thousands of games with discounts ranging from 10% to 90%. On the other hand, the Steam Next Fest continues to focus on allowing players to experience hundreds of indie titles and future releases through free demos before their official launch.
According to Valve, this agenda is part of a larger strategy to provide themed events throughout the entire year. The goal is to highlight different genres and consequently help developers increase the exposure of their games.
Soft power has recently been recognized as one of the key tools for the international positioning of states, allowing them to shape their image abroad through culture, education, science, tourism, sports, and media. For Uzbekistan, which possesses a vast historical heritage and a growing role on the world stage, developing this area is of paramount importance.
Dr. Abror Yusupov, a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, discussed in an interview with Podrobno.uz how the concept of soft power is changing amid digitalization and geopolitical changes. He noted that authoritative studies, such as the annual Global Soft Power Index 2026 report by Brand Finance, help assess not only a country's fame but also its reputation, as well as the influence of culture, education, and science on shaping the national image.
According to data from a study published in January 2026, Uzbekistan improved its ranking by seven places, reaching 92nd globally, which is one of the most noticeable positive trends in Central Asia. This reflects the growing interest of the global community in the country's reforms, cultural heritage, and foreign policy. However, Yusupov emphasized that Uzbekistan's soft power potential is not yet fully utilized.
The expert pointed out that many humanitarian, educational, and informational initiatives are developing in isolation, without a single long-term promotion strategy. Consequently, individual successes of Uzbekistan do not always receive due international coverage and support. Therefore, forming a comprehensive and systemic soft power policy is critically important for strengthening the state's position in the context of global competition.
Global experience demonstrates that there is no universal model of soft power; each state creates its own strategy based on its unique historical features, economic advantages, and goals. Abror Yusupov drew attention to examples of Japan, China, and Germany, which have managed to transform national strengths into effective tools of influence.
After World War II, Japan focused on education, technology, and culture, using the popularization of language, grant programs, and the promotion of anime, cinema, and cuisine. Beijing, meanwhile, actively promotes its image through infrastructure projects, digital technologies, automotive manufacturing, and the operation of over 260 Confucius Institutes in 75 countries. Germany built its model on science, engineering education, and technological reputation, supporting the Goethe-Institut and promoting German quality.
Yusupov concluded that successful soft power does not happen by chance but is always based on a long-term state strategy, investment in human capital, and systematic work to form an attractive image.
The expert believes that international experience can be extremely useful for Uzbekistan, given its rich historical and cultural heritage, civilizational experience, development of tourism, and achievements in science and sports. The main question now is how to unite existing resources into a single international positioning strategy.
Although Uzbekistan was previously often perceived as an unknown region, the situation is changing. The country is increasing its international presence through the development of tourism, art, and creative industries. Traditional elements, such as Uzbek cuisine, music, and historic cities, attract millions of tourists. Simultaneously, the creative sector, including film, design, and digital content, is developing, serving as an effective channel for promoting culture among youth.
The growing international interest is confirmed by the expansion of academic presence of the Uzbek language: starting from the 2024-2025 academic year, courses in Uzbek and Old Uzbek languages have appeared at Oxford University. By the end of 2025, Uzbekistan welcomed 11.7 million foreign tourists, and the ancient city of Khiva was included in the list of top travel destinations for 2026 by National Geographic.
The opening of the Center for Islamic Civilization is seen as an opportunity to present to the world the contribution of Uzbekistan's ancestors to world civilization in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, positioning the country as a center of enlightenment. Furthermore, young citizens of Uzbekistan demonstrate high results on the international educational stage, receiving grants to prestigious universities such as Stanford University. Sports also contributes to forming a positive image, as chess players and football players act as 'people's diplomats.'
The title Sensory Overload, which gained traction on social media with over 70 million views, has finally had its release date set. The game will be available for PC through the Steam platform on August 20, 2026, promising an experience that blends high speed, agility, and strong audiovisual intensity.
Developed by Pancake Studios, Sensory Overload incorporates elements of 'dropper' style maps found in Minecraft, combining them with rhythm and precision game mechanics, such as osu! and Geometry Dash. Players are challenged to navigate paths filled with obstacles at extremely high speeds.
In the gameplay, participants must dodge obstacles while falling through environments that become progressively more intricate. According to the creators, the initial goal is to induce sensory overload in the early moments of the game. However, as the player becomes proficient with the controls, the experience transitions into a state of focus known as 'flow,' where actions occur almost automatically.
Interest in the game increased considerably after its presentation at Steam Next Fest, which took place in June. The demo version made available during this event was responsible for leading Sensory Overload to accumulate over 90 thousand wishlists on Steam, reinforcing the good performance the title already showed on social media even before being accessible to the public.
Among the most notable attributes highlighted by the studio are: gameplay focused on quick reflexes and accuracy; paths inspired by Minecraft's 'dropper' maps; obstacles whose difficulty increases gradually; a psychedelic visual style full of effects; and an experience aimed at players seeking high-speed challenges. It is important to note that Sensory Overload will be released exclusively for PC, via Steam, on August 20, 2026.
