The Summer for Gaming Has Been Weird
It’s difficult to get lost in new game announcements while the industry continues to violate developers and consumers alike.
Summer Game Fest is always an event we look forward to once June comes around the corner. If you don’t know, there used to be a time where companies would all get together and share what’s next in gaming with new releases, trailers, demos, and more. It was called E3, and that ended not too long ago in 2023. Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest took over and, honestly, it’s better. Frankly, for the month of June, it felt like everything was going well. So, before I go into why this summer for gaming has felt so off, and has even put excited fans in a strange position, I want to take a moment to appreciate the developers who went all out with their announcements and highlight a few of those titles.
XBOX Games Showcase
Xbox’s Showcase was one of our favorites. It was back-to-back bangers literally from the start. The fact that it started out with Gears of War: E-Day already shot it straight to the top of my list. We couldn’t believe how beautiful and gritty it looked, and we loved the new additions regarding the way you can traverse the world and hide. We truly thought it was going to be just another Gears entry with the same mechanics, but thankfully we were proven wrong. It was great to see that they put a heavier focus on the project after the showcase, diving deeper into what they’re doing with it. I love that it’s a prequel, and even though Gears 3 ended years ago, it remains one of the best trilogies and storylines. I love that they are diving deeper into that world.
Fable gameplay was shown in full right after, and we were not expecting that at all. It’s been a long time without a Fable title, and truthfully, we thought it would be a longer wait until we saw more of it. The mechanics and visuals were just incredible. Playground Games did a stellar job capturing what the Fable series is about, and I love that every single NPC is voiced and that they kept the charm of the world. Especially with the random things you can do, like buying and evicting everyone from their home, kicking chickens all around the town, or fighting the guards just because. My favorite feature is that you can have a reputation in one area, but go someplace else and be known as something entirely different. Your morality isn’t just flatly good or evil, and it isn’t the same all throughout the world, so it feels very alive and real.
Persona 4 Revival is a project we unfortunately knew about because of leaks that happened a while ago, even before this presentation (not sure why it’s always SEGA titles). Regardless of that, seeing the game in actuality was fantastic. It’s like every time ATLUS does a remake of the Persona series, it’s cooler and the graphics are better than the last. Both my brother and I played Persona 4 Golden before, but we never finished it fully (my brother is actually at the end). So, honestly this is the best announcement for us because we can experience the game the best way possible. I love the revamp of the music, graphics, and the really cool menus that I feel the UI team doesn’t get enough praise for. The new additions to the turn-based combat are awesome, and of course, each and every one of them aura farming while doing their All-Out Attack is warranted.
I could go on and on with Xbox’s presentation, but for this and the other showcases, I’ll just focus on one highlight. Xbox continued to have great titles shown throughout the showcase, like Resonance, A Plague Tale Legacy, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, and Senua!
PlayStation’s State of Play
Just like Xbox, PlayStation wasted no time showing the title everyone was waiting on, and what better project to showcase than Wolverine? We had our doubts at first, thinking it would be too similar to Spider-Man, but it’s actually gory, action-packed, and features incredible characters like Jean Grey, Sabretooth, Omega Red, and Mystique. Insomniac recently shared that the game will be more on the linear side, and we’re looking forward to that as we know it’ll make the gameplay more intense and cinematic! We’ll find out more when the title releases on September 15th, but I can’t wait to see more over the coming months.
We played Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls during the last closed beta, but seeing the new announcements and the teams they are creating is so damn awesome, and we can’t wait to jump back in. The project keeps looking better and better. We got a glimpse of Dr. Doom’s team called the Knights of Doom, and man, is it diabolical. They introduced fan-favorite Magneto with his cool classic outfit. Green Goblin is also here, I think this is the first time he’s ever been in a fighting game, and his combos are unique and wacky, so he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. Finally, Carnage just looks sick and menacing as hell. I can’t wait until the release on August 7th. Hopefully, we get another beta soon, maybe after EVO, just to experience how much it has changed.
The final and best announcement of their entire show was God of War: Laufey. It was a reveal that surprised us so much! They threw in an entire prologue gameplay demo, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it and dive back into the God of War universe. The lore, the world, and the story are just so rich, more colorful than the last entry, and there are more gods to fight. So far, the cast of characters is charming like Phranque (Frank) the Cube Master and Rue, the Excalibur sword with hidden secrets. Playing as Laufey looks incredible; she’s fast and agile, and they brought the jump back so we can perform aerial combos again. Seeing her juggle enemies with style and grapple them back for an execution is just cool.
The way the camera pans and moves during combat is always nice in a cinematic way, and the music sounds fantastic and mystical. I can’t wait to hear more. They showed us twenty minutes of gameplay, and I still want to see more. Watching it did bring up many questions for us: Like, who truly blew that horn? How was she able to contact Kratos at certain points? Was that really her, or just an illusion? What other gods are we going to see? Will Zeus be there? Maybe Baldur? As you can see - the story got us too locked in. The project looks done, but we’ll likely have to wait until around next year since the fall is so packed. I know it’s not too far away, though.
There were too many titles that caught our attention in the PlayStation Showcase, like ILL looking all creepy and disgustingly good, Control Resonant with its brand-new addicting melee combat and confusing cityscape, or how Capcom is continuing its streak with Onimusha: Way of the Sword and its engaging sword combat demo.
Nintendo Direct
No matter what, I will always get excited to see a Nintendo Direct. I love seeing what new things they are doing and experimenting with, especially with their old franchises like Star Fox. There was definitely some good stuff in this presentation. I love the resurgence of co-op games, so when Orbitals was shown, we were so hyped to see it! The 80s-inspired anime style immediately caught our attention, and the fact that this company is doing some really cool experimentation with the graphics and expanding on what we can do in co-op is awesome. Split Fiction and It Takes Two definitely set the bar for what co-op games can do, so I wanted to check it out with that mindset. I like what I see, especially the big emphasis on puzzles and traversal using spaceships and gravity guns. We’re excited to check it out when it releases, especially since it’s an exclusive!
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave: It’s been a while since we had a new Fire Emblem game, so seeing full-fledged gameplay was very cool. The story intrigues me, and honestly, the last Fire Emblem game I completed was Awakening, while for my brother, it was Fire Emblem: Three Houses. We took some big breaks from the series, so we’re definitely looking forward to seeing how this game turns out.
The fact that we’re getting a full-fledged remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is amazing. I honestly wasn’t expecting it, especially because they had already done a remake for the 3DS, so I thought they would keep that in the past, but this is well worth it. I wish that we got to see some gameplay, especially because the game is releasing later THIS YEAR! We’ll be keeping our eyes out for this one.
Summer Game Fest Main Show
Summer Game Fest’s Main Show rarely disappoints because there’s literally a title for everyone to enjoy. But this year specifically went insane with some great reveals. Gen Atlas was a great surprise because seeing the creator of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus creating a brand new project is very unexpected. It’s almost been 10 years since The Last Guardian released, which was his last directed game, so he’s definitely been missed. From this trailer alone, I feel like Gen Atlas will be an emotional and eerie robot story where things get intense. I can’t wait for it, and honestly, it is one of my most anticipated releases!
Blood Message is such a surreal game. It feels like a mix of the most cinematic games, like God of War, Uncharted, and Assassin’s Creed, all in one. The experience is intense and war-filled, and honestly, I cannot believe the gameplay we saw is even real. It felt like how it was when we saw Watch Dogs for the first time, and I like that feeling. When the gameplay looks unreal and then we actually get to play it, it’s exactly like that, that’s just the way it is. So, I cannot wait to see and eventually play it when it drops.
Final Fantasy VII: Revelation was the last announcement, and it was well-deserved because we’ve been waiting to see the ending and what comes next in the trilogy! Honestly, they did such a great job releasing three whole titles in the last six years (seven when this one comes out); it is insane how they pulled that off. Most companies take a long time doing that, especially for such big sequels.
Developers and Gamers Left Behind
As you can see, there was a moment at the start of the summer where gaming felt like the best thing in the world. Unfortunately, the weeks that followed brought a harsh reality check. I’m not saying it’s a curse, but I honestly blame Tupac being put in Stranger than Heaven for the chaos.
Digital Only Future
Even with the massive hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto VI, Take-Two and Rockstar Games have mentioned that there will not be a physical copy of the title as far as they know. That means one of the biggest releases is going digital-only, which honestly feels like a terrible idea, especially when relying on platforms owned by Microsoft and Sony. If you get banned or lose access to your account, you can unfortunately lose all of your “purchased” items. The worst part is that they might still sell you a physical case, but you won’t actually own the game as it will be a code to redeem, just the physical plastic case. I’m assuming that GTA VI will be online-only, which is a nightmare for game preservation and ownership.
I initially thought that would be an isolated incident, or that Rockstar would change their mind by the time the project releases, but it seems like it was all part of their plan. PlayStation recently announced that they won’t be making any physical discs starting in January 2028. I’m sure they wanted to time that decision for the end of this year or next, especially after seeing the massive number of pre-orders for GTA VI. It makes me feel like the gaming industry has been moving toward treating games as disposable products rather than art to be appreciated, much like movies. With next-gen consoles from PlayStation and possibly Xbox going fully digital, it’s clear that we won’t own the games we buy, we’ll just hold onto licenses.
You’d think these companies would focus on improving their digital platforms to ensure a reliable experience for consumers, but at any time, they can remove the titles you have purchased for no reason, especially if they lose the licenses. We’ve seen this happen recently with movies being pulled from people’s libraries. I would be livid if that happened, and you should be too, because it isn’t right that you can purchase something only to have it taken away because a corporation decides they can.
Developers Being Laid Off
If it isn’t PlayStation causing a ruckus, you can always count on Xbox to make everyone’s day worse. If you didn’t know, Xbox has a new CEO named Asha. She took over after Phil Spencer left, and while she has been transparent, it feels like that transparency comes with a catch. It feels like she has a gun to the developers’ heads, forcing studios like Bethesda to reveal their future roadmaps, such as plans for Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters and Fallout 5, long before they are actually ready. Beyond that, the transparency has been pretty sad, as she immediately made it clear that a major restructuring was coming. What that literally means is that many people are going to be laid off in the coming weeks and months, and that has already started. I believe there will be 3,200 layoffs in total, and so far, 1,600 have already happened across the different studios they own.
Before Asha took over, Xbox had purchased many studios like Activision, Double Fine, and more. It felt like they wanted to be the top gaming entity and own everything, but it backfired, especially after they put Call of Duty on Game Pass. Asha’s “goal” is to revitalize Xbox and stop operating at a loss, but unfortunately, that means many people have lost their jobs and will continue to do so over time. The only saving grace is that the studios they parted with, like Double Fine Productions and Compulsion Games, became independent, while companies like Undead Labs and Ninja Theory are in conversation to be sold to new ownership rather than closing down entirely.
It sucks that the teams have to deal with these management issues, because a good chunk of these layoffs and sell-offs could have been avoided if these companies hadn’t been acquired in the first place.
Out-pricing the everyday gamer
I’m telling you right now, flat out, I despise generative AI. The introduction of ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot has caused nothing but issues, especially as these companies rush to build data centers to keep up with the demand for their services. Unfortunately, AI isn’t going away, and it will continue to mess things up, especially by wasting vital resources like water. Because these corporations are scrambling to keep up, they have placed massive bulk orders for RAM and storage components like SSDs and HDDs. Those huge orders have caused so much damage that they have driven up prices for everyone, including the gaming companies that sell consoles to us.
It started with the tariffs, which drove up the cost of consoles, but the situation is even worse now. The massive amount of RAM being bought up for AI data centers has driven prices up so much that hardware like the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and the Switch 2 have become so damn expensive. It’s even impacting new hardware, like Valve’s Steam Machine, which was supposed to be around $750 but ended up costing over $1,000. That jump deterred a lot of people from buying one because the price of access is just too high. It feels like the everyday gamer is getting priced out, little by little.
How Do We Move Forward?
As much as some people insist on keeping politics out of gaming, it is unfortunately inseparable. Issues like affordability, access, and our livelihoods are now at the forefront of the industry. Gaming has shifted from a casual pastime into an expensive luxury, which begs the question: how do we move forward?
We can start by supporting the developers who are dealing with layoffs or navigating that uncertain process. When buying new releases, make a point of purchasing physical copies whenever possible. Digital-only mandates feel designed to shut down physical retailers and take control away from us, so voting with your wallet matters. If money is tight, don’t feel pressured to buy every new launch - replay the titles you already own or dig into that backlog instead. That is exactly what I plan on doing.
Beyond the industry side of things, it is important to keep yourself sane by taking it one day at a time. The constant barrage of gaming news can be overwhelming, especially if you are glued to Twitter constantly. It is okay to step back. Play the games that bring you comfort and remember why you started gaming in the first place. As for me and my brother, we are going to do our best to highlight the projects where developers are pouring their hearts into their art. We need to support indie game creators and uplift the voices that are rightfully pushing back against the businesses trying to tear it all down.