Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Everything announced at Summer Game Fest’s kickoff stream

Giovanni Colantonio
By

This year’s Summer Game Fest started off with a bang. While no one was quite sure how Geoff Keighley’s gaming showcase would fare with E3 right around the corner, the kickoff stream was absolutely stacked. It started strong with the reveal of Borderlands spinoff Tiny Tina’s Wonderland and ended with the biggest game: Elden Ring.

The two-hour stream (plus the Day of the Devs event that followed) was loaded with surprise announcements, celebrity interviews, and musical performances. It’ll be a tough act for E3 to follow, but that hopefully sets the stage for an exciting weekend of reveals. Here’s all the major news from the first day of Summer Game Fest 2021.

Recommended Videos

Elden Ring gets a release date and trailer

ELDEN RING - Official Gameplay Reveal

The biggest shocker was Elden Ring, which closed out the show after years of memes. We got a glimpse at a new trailer that gave us a close look at its fantasy setting and gameplay. Even more shocking is that the game got a release date: January 21, 2022. That’s much sooner than some had been expecting, making this a genuine bombshell moment for Summer Game Fest. Hopefully we’ll see a little more at Namco’s E3 showcase on Monday, June 15.

Related

Tiny Tina’s Wonderland is a new Borderlands spinoff

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Official Announce Trailer

We’d heard rumors about it leading up to E3, but now it’s official. Borderlands is getting a fantasy spinoff game called Tiny Tina’s Wonderland. It features a star-studded voice cast that includes Andy Samberg, Wanda Sykes, Ashly Burch, and more. The game is scheduled for an early 2022 release.

Death Stranding gets a PS5 Director’s Cut

Death Stranding director's cut Trailer 4k 60fps

Hideo Kojima appeared on the screen to offer up a surprise. Death Stranding is getting a Director’s Cut on PS5. A teaser trailer for the game featured some cheeky callbacks to Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid franchise.

Vampire: The Masquerade gets a multiplayer spinoff

While we patiently wait for an update on the indefinitely delayed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the series is getting a multiplayer spinoff game. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt will come out sometime this year, and fans can sign up for a closed alpha right now.

Metal Slug Tactics is a new spin on an old classic

Metal Slug Tactics - Reveal trailer

Shoot-em-up classic Metal Slug is getting a surprising new installment. Metal Slug Tactics is a Fire Emblem-style strategy game that features characters fighting on a grid. Dotemu, the team behind last year’s standout Streets of Rage 4, is working on the game.

New content coming to Among Us

Indie sensation Among Us is getting tons of new content. A road map for the game was shared during the show, which revealed that new roles and modes are coming. The biggest addition is a Hide-and-Seek mode, though details on what that entails weren’t shared.

Jurassic Park Evolution 2 is coming

Jurassic World Evolution 2 | Announcement Trailer

Jeff Goldblum made a celebrity cameo during the show to reveal Jurassic Park Evolution 2. The surprise sequel to the dinosaur park building game will be released sometime this year.

Call of Duty: Warzone’s next season teased

We got a slight teaser of Call of Duty: Warzone’s next season, which debuts on June 17. It’ll feature a “hijacked gulag,” whatever that means, plus plenty of new maps and guns.

Evil Dead: The Game gets a gameplay trailer

Evil Dead: The Game - Gameplay Overview Trailer

We finally got a closer glimpse of Evil Dead: The Game. A gameplay trailer showed off the multiplayer title’s gameplay, which looks about as gory as one would expect from the zombie franchise.

Tons of indies shown at Day of the Devs

A ton of indie games were shown during a delightful Day of the Devs stream. The biggest game shown during the stream was Axiom Verge 2. Developer Thomas Happ shared new details on the Metroidvania and confirmed it’ll come to PS4 and PS5. Other highlights included Soup Pot, The Wandering Village, and stop-motion title Vokabulantis.

And everything else …

  • Indie game Sable got a September 23 release date.
  • A NieR: Automata skin is coming to Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.
  • Smite is getting a Stranger Things crossover event.
  • Fast and Furious content is coming to Rocket League.
  • MMO Lost Ark is coming to the West this fall.
  • Salt and Sanctuary sequel Salt and Sacrifice is coming in 2022.
  • Two Point Campus will launch in 2022.
  • The Anacrusis is a new co-op shooter developed by Stray Bombay.
  • Prime Label is a new publisher, and it’s working on a new Painkiller game.
  • Tales of Arise got a new gameplay trailer.
  • Sky: Children of Light comes to Switch this July.
  • Two new Overwatch 2 character skins debuted.
  • Planet of Lana is a new indie with a hand-painted art style.
  • Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin got a new trailer.
  • We saw a gameplay trailer for Endless Dungeon.
  • A new Back 4 Blood enemy type made its debut.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Section Editor, Gaming
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
Everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023
Jin in Tekken 8

Gamescom, one of the largest video game expos in the world, takes place this week in Germany. To kick things off, Geoff Keighley held another Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase to give us an update on what's in store from the gaming industry, with a slight focus on already announced titles and games by European studios. Keighley and influencer Jasmin Gnu hosted the main event following a pre-show hosted by Kyle Bosman.

While the show was long and slow-paced, we did get plenty of new looks at upcoming games like Mortal Kombat 1, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and Tekken 8. Director Zack Snyder even swung by to debut a trailer for Rebel Moon during the show. It's a lot to keep track of, but we've rounded up everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 and its pre-show right here.

Read more
Even if you love Dark Souls, you’re not ready for FromSoftware’s next game
A combat encounter in Armored Core 6

I’m going to bet that a good chunk of people reading this have never played an Armored Core game. I’d be willing to bet most haven’t even heard of Armored Core, and if they have, it’s simply that “one series FromSoftware made before Dark Souls.” And if you have played Armored Core, you don’t need me to tell you what’s in store for Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.

I’m talking to everyone else -- the ones who dabbled in Dark Souls, love Bloodborne, and tore through Elden Ring. I can tell you with confidence that you’re not ready for Armored Core VI. No, this isn’t Dark Souls with mechs, and for as much as FromSoftware has iterated on the core design with its now decade hiatus from the series, this is still very much an Armored Core game.

Read more
Every FromSoftware Soulsborne game, ranked
A dragon in Elden Ring.

It could be said that FromSoftware's ever-expanding collection of punishing but rewarding role-playing games – lovingly referred to as the Soulsborne series – has been among the most influential of all time. In fact, the cultural impact of Soulsborne games has been so powerful that it's led to an entirely new subgenre of role-playing games known as "Soulslikes." But while many studios have tried to mimic the famed Japanese developer's game design philosophy to varying results, few have come close to offering the same breathtaking experiences.

Granted, as the grandfather of Soulslikes, FromSoftware simply knows its way around the genre like no other. And by maintaining extremely similar gameplay mechanics, controls, and UI elements across each game, the studio ensures that its games, though not directly connected, remain familiar to fans who have played previous entries in the series. The most consistent thing of all, though, is the consistently challenging combat and exploration, which has defined the series since the beginning and is often the most-cited reason players flock to the games.

Read more