Summer Game Fest Delivers Indie, AAA Showcase after 2020 E3 Fail
If Warner Bros. needed a podium to finally reveal the next Batman game, this would be it. | Source: Rocksteady Studios
- The Summer Game Fest has announced two developer showcase events on June 22 and July 20.
- The events will feature a selection of news, gameplay, and updates from indie as well as AAA developers and publishers.
- Despite E3’s cancellation, alternative events are already carving out a stacked schedule of events for this summer.
Geoff Keighley is back with more excellent summer gaming news. This time around, The Game Awards host and mastermind behind the four-month Summer Game Fest has announced not one but two summer developer showcases .
Summer Game Fest Indie and AAA Double Bill
Summer Game Fest is presenting this double bill of digital developer showcase events alongside Day of the Devs – an annual indie showcase usually held at GDC organized developer Double Fine and event organizer iam8bit . The Game Awards is jumping in on curating duties.
Per a tweet published today sharing the news, the first is on Monday, June 22, and the second on July 20. According to Geoff Keighley, viewers that tune in to celebrate independent and larger AAA publishers with updates, gameplay, and news on unreleased games.
Confirmed participants include Annapurna Interactive, Team17, thatgamecompany, and more. Submissions are open for developers and publishers to pitch their games for a chance to feature during one of the two Summer Game Fest shows, which suggests the complete line-up isn’t quite set in stone.
Nevertheless, if the Summer Game Fest-hosted Unreal Engine 5 tech demo showcase stands as any measure of what to expect, the events should produce their fair share of surprises. The wording implies a digital take on E3-style showcases – fitting given the cancellation of the event this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A Busy Summer of Gaming Ahead
Despite the crisis axing publisher and developer plans, alternative events are already carving out a stacked schedule of events alongside the Summer Game Fest.
In June, EA is hosting a digital Play Live showcase, while rumors and insiders suggest Sony is prepping a PlayStation 5 event with a focus on next-gen titles.
In July, Ubisoft is hosting Ubisoft Forward to showcase, and Microsoft has promised a look at first-party next-gen titles coming to Xbox Series X.
