With E3 officially canceled this year, Geoff Keighley has stepped up once again with another year of Summer Game Fest, which will start with a live show called Summer Games Fest Kickoff on June 9. This event is promised to be full of third-party announcements, reveals, and certainly a couple of surprises.
Being a third-party conference, it’s possible to see just about anything at this event, so you don’t want to miss out. Here’s when it’ll air, how to watch it, and what you can expect.
When is the Summer Games Fest Kickoff?
Summer Game Fest Kickoff will be streamed live on June 9 starting at 11 a.m PT. No word on how long the stream will be, but last year’s event was around two hours so we expect something similar in length this year.
How to watch the Summer Games Fest Kickoff
You can watch Summer Games Fest Kickoff on all the major streaming services, including Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter. But, for those in certain areas, you can even watch Summer Game Fest Live at select IMAX theaters.
What to expect from the Summer Games Fest Kickoff
Everything around what to expect at Summer Games Fest Kickoff has been kept pretty tight so far. The only thing we do know is the list of partners confirmed to be part of the event in some way, though that doesn’t guarantee they will show anything at the event. Some big names include 2K, Activision Blizzard, Capcom, Devolver, EA, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and more.
We do know a few games that will appear for sure, as the event’s Twitter page has begun teasing some games that’ll show up. Gotham Knights is a lock and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be on hand to talk about Fortnite. You can likely extrapolate what else will be there from the partners list. For instance, Mihoyo’s inclusion likely means that Genshin Impact will cameo. Bloober Team is also slated to appear, just as the studio is heavily rumored to be working on a Silent Hill 2 remake.
The only official statement to go out is that it will be a “cross-industry showcase with announcements, reveals, and more.” Considering last year was where we saw the first gameplay for Elden Ring and the reveal of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, there’s a strong possibility for major announcements here. All that to say, we can expect to be surprised.
What not to expect from the Summer Games Fest Kickoff
Based on Sony hosting its own State of Play, and Microsoft hosting the Xbox and Bethesda conference just a few days later, we don’t expect too much from either of these companies at Summer Games Fest Kickoff. It is possible that Xbox could tease something at this event before showing it off in more detail on their own, however with their two major releases of Starfield and Redfall being delayed into 2023, it’s unclear how much they actually have to show that would be coming out in the near future.
Nintendo is also absent from the partner list, as it likely will save any announcements for a Direct showcase this summer.
