With no E3 happening this year, there’s a massive void to fill. Developers have tons of video games to reveal, but nowhere to show them. That’s where Summer Game Fest comes in.
Organized by Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley, Summer Game Fest essentially acts as a modern replacement for E3. It’s a series of live streams and in-person events that loosely mimic the idea of a standard E3 season, giving gaming fans plenty of news to chew on. It all starts with the Summer Game Fest Kickoff stream today, where Keighley will showcase tons of new games from most of gaming’s biggest players.
If you’re looking for a showcase that feels as significant as E3’s press conferences, you need to tune into this stream today. We already know it’ll be filled with news on major upcoming games and the show always tends to bring some surprises. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s show.
When is Summer Game Fest Kickoff 2023
Summer Game Fest Kickoff 2023 will take place at noon PT today, June 8. While we don’t know the exact length of the show, a Day of the Devs stream is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. PT that day. You can expect the Kickoff to last around two hours, which is consistent with recent years.
How to watch Summer Game Fest Kickoff 2023
You have a few options if you’re looking to watch the show. The main place you’ll want to catch it is YouTube, where it’ll be broadcast in 60 frames per second, according to the Summer Game Fest website. It’ll also be streaming on the Summer Game Fest Twitch channel at that time. Geoff Keighley also tends to support co-streaming for the shows he produces, so you’ll likely find your favorite content creators streaming it that day too.
This year, you can catch the show live too. The Kickoff will happen on-stage in front of a studio audience at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. If you’re in town or feel like making a trip, tickets are selling for as low as $10 on Ticketmaster. You can also catch it in select Cinemark movie theaters in 23 cities across the United States.
What to expect from Summer Game Fest Kickoff 2023
There’s already a lot confirmed for this year’s show. We know that Ed Boon will be stopping by to give us our first look at Mortal Kombat 1 gameplay. We also know that Sam Lake will debut Alan Wake 2 gameplay, some Baulder’s Gate 3 news is coming, and we’ll get our first look at The Witcher Season 3. It also appears that Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty may be featured on the stream, as CD Projekt Red confirmed it’ll be featured at a press-only Play Days event following the show.
That’s the bulk of what we know for sure, but we can make a lot of educated guesses based on the list of partners associated with the event. For example, EA will have some presence at the show, which means we could get a new glimpse at the upcoming Immortals of Aveum. Square Enix is also confirmed for the show, so there’s a chance we could see the recently revealed Foamstars in action. We should also see games from Sega, Bandai Namco, Disney, Activision, and more. In short: It’s going to be a big deal.
The biggest question mark here is PlayStation’s involvement. Sony is listed as a partner on the show, but the company just ran its own reveal-filled PlayStation Showcase a few weeks ago. Still, there’s a chance it’s holding on to some big PS5 news. Last year, Sony used the show to reveal both The Last of Us Part 1 and the upcoming Last of Us multiplayer game. Perhaps we’ll get something similar this year — though it’s hard to imagine Sony would have held a top-tier announcement from its own show.
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