The Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley is putting together a 4-month gaming extravaganza called Summer Game Fest. This event hopes to fill the void left by E3, which was canceled earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Summer Game Fest will span from May-August 2020 and include various digital events, announcements, and playable content during that time. While we are still getting specific details about Summer Game Fest, Keighley has revealed the lineup for “Phase 1” of this festival. Here are the studios confirmed for this phase:
- 2K Games
- Activision
- Bandai Namco
- Bethesda
- Blizzard
- Bungie
- CD Projekt Red
- Digital Extremes
- EA
- Sony
- Private Division
- Riot Games
- Square Enix
- Steam
- WB Games
- Xbox
It’s time to play the future. pic.twitter.com/JZiPToqpjM
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2020
More About Summer Game Fest
Geoff Keighley recently spoke with Variety on the idea behind Summer Game Fest:
“When you think about it, the idea of consumers waiting in line to play a game at a booth is antiquated, especially with digital distribution,”
“In these uncertain and challenging times, it’s more important than ever that video games serve as a common and virtual connection point between us all. SGF is an organizing principle that promises fans a whole season of video game news and other surprises from the comfort of home.”
At the time of this writing, Keighley is currently hosting an AMA on Reddit focused on Summer Game Fest. One interesting question asked so far was whether or not this event was created due to the global pandemic. Keighley replied:
“COVID-19 accelerated the plans, but the idea of doing a big global, digital, interactive festival has always been a dream of mine. We sort of started this last year around TGA with The Game Festival.”
The content schedule for the digital festival has not been released yet but you can head over to their official website and sign-up to be notified when it drops. You’ll be able to watch each digital event on any of the major streaming platforms (YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, etc.).
Are you excited to see the first phase of the Summer Game Fest? Do you think the event will be able to capture what so many love about E3? Let us know in the comments below!