The Summer Game Fest is officially coming back this year in June. Born from the ruins of in-person games events last year, the Summer Game Fest is a digital effort to keep up the hype of E3, Gamescom and similar conventions that were, and may continue to be, canceled due to the pandemic.
Last year’s Summer Game Fest unfolded over months, going arguably far too long. This year, the show looks to be addressing that issue, with its creator Geoff Keighley responding to a question on Twitter stating that the showcase would take place over “less than 1 month.” In today’s announcement, he even made sure to call this Summer Game Fest a “concentrated” show.
Just like last year, Double Fine and iam8bit will be hosting Day of The Devs as part of Summer Game Fest. Day of the Devs, a long-running indie games showcase, has opened themselves up for submissions, specifically looking for developers with “diverse backgrounds working on interesting and unique games.” Submissions are not only open till April 9, but also come at no cost to developers.
I was all for the Summer Game Fest last year until every announcement that happened in the summer was somehow roped into it, making everything part of the Summer Game Fest. A more concentrated series of announcements over the course of June could be exactly the shot in the arm gaming audiences look to shows like E3 for, especially as E3 looks to be shaking things up dramatically and the return of in-person shows is still up in the air. Here’s hoping they stick the landing this year.