Summer Game Fest

Summer Game Fest is a live video game event organized and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. The event takes place annually over multiple live streams during the North American summer period, the most notable of which is the "main show" which usually airs on the first day of the event and showcases upcoming major releases. The "main show" is usually then followed by a "Day of the Devs" after-show that is focused on indie titles. Multiple other streams showcasing other upcoming game titles that are both affiliated and unaffiliated with the official Summer Games Fest event also occur in the few days following the main show. It was created in 2020 following the cancellation of the industry's most prominent events such as Gamescom and the now-discontinued E3, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020


Games journalist Geoff Keighley had been working with the ESA since before 2000 to support the E3 convention typically held in June of each year, including running the E3 Coliseum, a side event to give developers and their games more exposure than the standard press conferences. Ahead of the planned E3 2020 show, the ESA had announced a number of changes to its approach, aiming the content of the show towards what it described as a "fan, media and influencer festival". This change of approach was criticized by some in the industry, and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it would not be participating in the event, after missing E3 2019, as the vision offered by the ESA did not match its expectations; Keighley also opted out of the show, noting he did not "feel comfortable participating" due to the changes.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ESA canceled the physical event for E3 in 2020. Keighley began working with numerous developers and publishers to run a four-month Summer Game Fest from May 1 to August 24, 2020, helping developers and publisher to host live streams and other events in lieu of the cancellation of E3 and Gamescom. Alongside Summer Game Fest, Keighley promoted the third Steam Game Festival, following after The Game Awards 2019 and from the previously canceled 2020 Game Developers Conference, which ran from June 16–22, 2020. Over 900 games had demos available on Steam for players to try, alongside a slate of interviews with developers throughout the period. A similar event for Xbox One games occurred from July 21–27, 2020, as part of the Summer Game Fest.

Among games and other announcements made during the Summer Game Fest 2020 included:
 * Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, a remastered version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its sequel for modern systems.
 * Unreal Engine 5, the next iteration of Epic Games' game engine to be released in mid-2021.
 * Star Wars: Squadrons, a new game from Motive Studios and Electronic Arts featuring team-play combat using the spacecraft of the Star Wars universe like X-wing fighters and TIE fighters.
 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, a sequel to the original trilogy of Crash Bandicoot games on the original PlayStation console, being developed by Toys for Bob and Activision.
 * Cuphead releasing for the PlayStation 4.

2021
The second Summer Game Fest took place from June 10 to July 22, 2021 coinciding with E3 2021. From June 15–21, 2021, ID@Xbox offered a number of demos of upcoming games for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S consoles as part of the Summer Game Fest.

The Summer Game Fest opened with an announcement stream of games hosted by Keighley on June 10, 2021. Among titles presented include:


 * Among Us
 * The Anacrusis
 * Back 4 Blood
 * Call of Duty: Warzone
 * The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
 * Death Stranding Director's Cut (PS5)
 * Elden Ring
 * Escape from Tarkov
 * Evil Dead: The Game
 * Fall Guys
 * Jurassic World Evolution 2
 * Lost Ark
 * Metal Slug Tactics
 * Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (NS)
 * Overwatch 2
 * Planet of Lana
 * Salt and Sacrifice
 * Solar Ash
 * Tales of Arise
 * Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (PC, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBXS)
 * Two Point Campus
 * Valorant
 * Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt

The Summer Game Fest included the first Tribeca Games Spotlight on June 11, 2021, featuring games that had been nominated for the inaugural Tribeca Film Festival video game award. These games included:


 * The Big Con
 * Harold Halibut
 * Kena: Bridge of Spirits
 * Lost in Random
 * NORCO
 * Sable
 * SIGNALIS
 * 12 Minutes

Koch Media presented a showcase on June 11, 2021, as part of the Summer Game Fest. Alongside introducing their new publishing label, Prime Matter, Koch Media's presenting covered the following games:


 * The Chant
 * Codename Final Form
 * Crossfire: Legion
 * Dolman
 * Echoes of the End
 * Encased
 * Gungrave G.O.R.E.
 * King's Bounty 2
 * The Last Oricru
 * Painkiller 2
 * Payday 3
 * Scars Above

Sony participated in the event by holding a State of Play on July 8, 2021. Announcements made during the event include:


 * Arcadegeddon
 * Deathloop
 * Death Stranding: Director's Cut
 * Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles
 * F.I.S.T.
 * Hunter's Arena: Legends
 * Jett: The Far Shore
 * Lost Judgment
 * Moss: Book II
 * Sifu
 * Tribes of Midgard

2022
The third Summer Game Fest ran throughout June 2022, with its core programming from June 9–12. Participating publishers with individual showcases included Capcom, Devolver Digital, Epic Games, Netflix, Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox.

2023
The fourth Summer Game Fest was a combined digital and physical event for the first time, held on June 8, 2023, at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles; a physical component was available to the press in 2022.

The following companies were featured:


 * Activision
 * Amazon Games
 * Annapurna
 * Bandai Namco Entertainment
 * Behaviour
 * Capcom
 * CD Projekt RED
 * Devolver Digital
 * Digital Extremes
 * Disney
 * Electronic Arts
 * Epic Games
 * Focus Entertainment
 * Gearbox Publishing
 * Grinding Gear Games


 * Hoyoverse
 * Kabam
 * Larian Studios
 * Level Infinite
 * Magic the Gathering
 * Neowiz
 * Netflix
 * Nexon
 * Niantic
 * North Beach Games
 * Paradox
 * Pearl Abyss
 * Phoenix Labs
 * Plaion


 * PlayStation
 * Pocket Pair
 * Razer
 * Samsung Gaming Hub
 * Second Dinner
 * Sega
 * Smilegate
 * Square Enix
 * Steam
 * Techland
 * Tribeca Festival
 * Ubisoft
 * Warner Bros. Games
 * Xbox

Nintendo and Konami did not participate. Instead, Nintendo held a Nintendo Direct online presentation unaffiliated with the event on June 21.

2024
The fifth Summer Game Fest was held at the YouTube Theater on June 7, 2024 and it ended on June 10, 2024.

The following titles were showcased:


 * Asgard's Wrath 2
 * Batman: Arkham Shadow
 * Battle Aces
 * Battle Crush
 * Black Myth: Wukong
 * Cairn
 * Civilization VII
 * Crisol Theater of Idols
 * Cuffbust
 * Dark and Darker
 * Deer and Boy
 * Delta Force: Hawk Ops
 * Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
 * Dune: Awakening
 * Enotria: The Last Song
 * Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
 * Fear The Spotlight
 * Grave Seasons
 * Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions
 * Honkai: Star Rail
 * Hyper Light Breaker
 * Killer Bean
 * Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
 * Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
 * Lego Horizon Adventures
 * Mecha Break
 * Metaphor ReFantazio
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind
 * Monster Hunter Wilds
 * Neva
 * No More Room in Hell 2
 * Once Human
 * Party Animals
 * Phantom Blade Zero
 * Project C
 * Skate
 * Sleep Awake
 * Slitterhead
 * Sonic X Shadow Generations
 * Star Wars Outlaws
 * Tears of Metal
 * The First Descendant
 * The Simulation
 * Unknown 9: Awakening
 * Wanderstop
 * Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

The following titles had new updates, downloadable content, or ports showcased:


 * Alan Wake 2: Night Springs
 * Monster Hunter Stories (remaster)
 * Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (remaster)
 * New World: Aeternum
 * Palworld
 * Street Fighter 6 (Year 2 content)
 * The Finals (Season 3 content)
 * Valorant (console release)

In addition, Innersloth, creator of Among Us, announced Outersloth, a game fund to support other indie game developers. Innersloth also showcased the upcoming animated television series based on Among Us. Nintendo and Konami were not featured. Nintendo instead hosted a Nintendo Direct on June 18, while Konami will announce their games at a future date in methods that do not involve the show.

Following his experience at the 2024 Summer Games Fest, Diego Nicolás Argüello of Paste thought the event was in an "transitional period" and shifting towards something "more in line with what E3 used to be". He commented that "as of now, the Summer Game Fest conglomerate stands as a hybrid of sorts—a fading summer vacation with the preview commitment traditions of old. Perhaps it was naive to expect the 'chill' vibe to remain as one of the event's pillars, as it's already becoming larger than its intended place and runtime. It's clear that this ambition is deliberate. But I'm glad I caught it during this period".

Main Show
The most notable and watched part of Summer Games Fest is the "Main show" which is usually held on the first day of the event and is used to showcase and show trailers for major upcoming releases. Most of the content shown on the show is paid promotional content from major publishers. though a few "free slots" are also reserved for smaller and indie games and studios to be showcased at the show.

Day of the Devs
Following the main show a "Day of the Devs" after-show is then immediately shown following the main show and is used to mainly showcase upcoming Indie games. The stream was first incorporated at Summer Games Fest in its inaugural event in 2020. after the event which was originally an, in-person free festival held in San Francisco was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and has remained a part of the event since. The games selected to showcased on the stream are selected following an application process that closes a couple months before the event. Developers and publishers do not have to pay any costs or fees to featured on the stream.

Publisher-Specific Shows
Like E3, a number of publisher-specific shows take place during Summer Game Fest.

Trailers
Publishers and Developers pay for trailers to appear during the main show. With marketing professionals stating that for the main show for 2024 that it costs $250,000 to air a one minute trailer with $100,000 being added to the price for each additional 30 seconds. Though a few "free slots" are also reserved at each main show for smaller and indie games and studios. Esquire estimated that those rates the 2023 Game Awards made $9.65 million in fees to air trailers for the main show in 2023. This has generated some criticism as it makes airing a trailer during the show mostly out of reach for smaller and independent studios who do not get a free slot.