Summer Game Fest Is Almost Here!
Starting tomorrow there will be really cool games being announced with the chance of us being to try out demos as well!
Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest is soon about to happen! It is a season of digital video game events from many developers and publishers, featuring new game reveals, announcements, and world premiere trailers. Summer Game Fest 2023 will stream live tomorrow, Thursday, June 8th, at 3 pm EDT / 12 pm PDT, and you all can watch it on Youtube and Twitch. But that's not all. Other events will happen before and after the Summer Game Fest showcase, so catch them when you can! Here's a rundown of what to expect from Summer Game Fest 2023 and some games I'm excited to see!
The Semi Pre-Show: Sony's PlayStation Event and Other Announcements
In some ways, Summer Game Fest 2023 started early with game announcements and events in May. One was the PlayStation Event, where Sony showed off some of its upcoming games for the PS5 and PSVR, including Dragon's Dogma 2, Spider-Man 2, and Alan Wake 2. A Lot of sequels but all of them look so fire that I know they will be just as good or even better than the originals.
Mortal Kombat 1 was announced on May 18th, 2023, after it was teased for a while by Ed Boon, and it came with a great trailer. It will release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and… the Nintendo Switch. I am unsure how a next-gen game like that will run on the Switch, but I think they will make it work. I am excited to see more of the game and whether it is a remake/restart of the story timeline.
Another pre-show highlight was the release of the Pikmin 4 trailer, which finally gave us a glimpse of the long-awaited sequel to Nintendo's charming strategy game. The trailer showed off the character customization in the game. So Nintendo will have a direct later in June or for July or August. They are having their Nintendo Live Event in Seattle in September, so if they have another big announcement - they'll have people try it out there.
Also, Nintendo randomly announced a sequel to 1-2 Switch last week called Everybody 1-2-Switch. There wasn't a trailer for it, so it was a sneak announcement, mainly because it was officially announced on Twitter the night of June 1st. Either way, how will that game be? I hope to see people talk about it or a demo release so we can try it out. It should be released later this month, June 30th.
There is one last event before the official Summer Game Fest Showcase: the Guerrilla Collective Showcase. It will start later today, June 7th, at 3 pm EDT / 12 pm PDT. I am excited to see what they have to show for their showcase, as this is my first time hearing about the Guerrilla Collective.
The Main Event: Summer Game Fest Showcase
The main event of Summer Game Fest 2023 is the showcase event on Thursday, June 8th, at Noon PT / 3 pm ET. There will be big game reveals, announcements, and world premiere trailers from companies like Activision, CD Projekt Red, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, PlayStation, Sega, Square Enix, and more.
Some of the confirmed guests for the showcase are Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, who will show off the first gameplay from Mortal Kombat; Remedy's Sam Lake, who will show more about Alan Wake 2; and CD Projekt Red's Paweł Sasko, who will reveal new details on Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty.
The Post-Show: Day of the Devs Showcase and More
Other events are also happening after the main event, which I can't wait to see! Some other events that are part of Summer Game Fest 2023 include:
Day of the Devs Showcase: June 8th at 5 pm EDT / 2 pm PDT
Devolver Digital Showcase: June 8th at 6 pm EDT / 3 pm PDT
Tribeca Games Spotlight: June 9th at 3 pm EDT / 12 PDT
OTK Games Expo: June 10th at 2 pm EDT / 11 am PDT
Indie Games Showcase: June 10th at 12 pm EDT / 9 am PDT
Future Games Show Summer Showcase: June 10th at 1 pm EDT / 10 am PDT
Xbox Games Showcase + Starfield Direct: June 11th at 1 pm ET / 10 am PDT
PC Gaming Show: June 11th: 4 pm EDT / 1 pm PDT
Ubisoft Forward: June 12th at 1 pm ET / 10 am PDT
Capcom Showcase: June 12th at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PDT
The full schedule for these events is on the official Summer Game Fest website. More events will likely happen because Capcom recently announced its showcase the other day, which will be on June 12th.
My Expectations for the Showcases
So many games are ready to be shown with each event, and it will be unreal once we see what the developers have to offer! I get so happy around this time because we see many incredible ideas and innovations. The main events that I am looking forward to are the Summer Game Fest Showcase, Xbox Games Showcase, Devolver's Showcase, and Capcom's Showcase.
From the Summer Game Fest showcase, I want to see more gameplay of Alan Wake 2! I played the original and was surprised to see how much has changed and upgraded with the sequel. I also want to see gameplay from Death Stranding 2. Kojima has something cooking, mainly because he was just at Apple's WWDC event showcasing Death Stranding Director's Cut. I have more in mind, but I can't wait to see new announcements - I know it'll be huge.
I want to see a new Gears of War from Xbox's showcase. It's been a long, long time since we have seen anything new from that series. The Gears series is one of my favorites, and I grew up playing those games with my brother, playing both the campaign and the multiplayer. I hope things work out for that series, and I don't want something similar that happened to Halo Infinite to happen to Gears. Starfield is a game I am cautiously excited about.
Bethesda had us bamboozled with Fallout 76, and I don't want that to happen again with Starfield. Seeing how Redfall came out, I hope Xbox can bounce back. I also want to see gameplay from the new Fable game. It's been a while since Fable got announced, so seeing a modern Fable game would be fantastic!
From Devolver's showcase, I hope we see a new My Friend Pablo and Hotline Miami! Those two were dope games and were unique in their story and gameplay. Hotline Miami, I know the story has ended, so if they do make another - I'm curious if it'll have a different style or keep the same vibe: top-down shooter, challenging, great soundtrack. I also want to see more gameplay from The Plucky Squire! It looked so fun from the different graphic styles and switching from 2D and 3D designs, so it would be cool to see!
From Capcom's showcase - I mostly want to see more gameplay from Dragon's Dogma 2! I did not expect to see that during PlayStation's event or at all because Capcom had forgotten about it, primarily because the first Dragon's Dogma was bundled with Resident Evil 6 when that got released. Pragmata is another game that I want to see more of. The original trailer caught my attention, so to see gameplay would be a nice reveal!
Free Demos and Betas!
In addition to the digital events, Summer Game Fest 2023 also offers free digital demos of select games to fans during the season. You can download and play these demos on the platforms the developers choose. Mostly it'll be on PC through Steam or Epic Games Store. Other times they will do play tests or demos on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or Switch.
Some demos/betas I know will be available will be the Final Fantasy 16 demo on PS5 and Mortal Kombat 1 Beta on Xbox Series X|S and PS5. The director of Final Fantasy 16 mentioned that they aim to have a demo available two weeks before release. They hope the saved data from the demo will be available to transfer into the main game. Mortal Kombat 1 is having a beta/stress test soon to prepare for the release on September 19th. They have much more info about the playable characters, how the matches will be, and other stuff on their Twitter.
I am excited that we can try out so many demos of massive games like Mortal Kombat and Final Fantasy. It reminds me of the earlier generation with Xbox 360 and PS3 because we had so many demos then, and it was cool to try them out if we wanted to buy the game.
Get Ready for Tomorrow!
Summer Game Fest 2023 is shaping up to be an exciting season for video game fans. Whether you're into big AAA titles or indie gems, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Don't miss out on this opportunity to see the future of video games and join the celebration!