Summer Game Fest announced for June, just as E3 2021 rumors heat up

By Giovanni Colantonio April 2, 2021

Summer Game Fest is officially returning in June. The digital video game showcase was announced one day after a new set of rumors emerged about E3’s own digital 2021 plans.

Summer Games Fest was founded last year by Geoff Keighley. The four-month event served as a way for developers to show off their game announcements last summer after E3 2020 was canceled. Keighley previously said that the event would return this year, but now we have some firm details on what it will entail.

The showcase starts in June, though no exact date was given. It’ll highlight both AAA and indie games over the course of different events. The first confirmed event is Day of Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition. Co-produced by Double Fine and iam8bit, the digital showcase will feature exclusive news and gameplay reveals. Developers can currently submit their games for consideration.

More details on what developers are participating in the show and the planned schedule are coming over the next few weeks. Fans will be able to tune in via major streaming platforms, such as Twitch.

The announcement comes just as more confusion has set in about the future of E3. A new report from VGC says that the ESA is planning on rebranding E3 as the Electronic Entertainment Experience for its 2021 digital show. According to the report, it has considered introducing some form of paywall for the show, which could be how fans access hands-on demos.

E3 took to Twitter to deny the rumors, tweeting, “E3’s 2021 digital show is a free event for all attendees. We’re excited to fill you in on all the real news for the event very soon.” No official details about the show have been revealed otherwise, except that it will take place from June 15 to June 17.

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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…

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Geoff Keighley returned today with his third Summer Game Fest kickoff showcase. This showcase featured titles big and small from all corners of the video game industry. We got new looks at games like Mortal Kombat 1, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Alan Wake 2, trailers for the new seasons of Fortnite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and even the announcement of games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Sonic Superstars.

Like previous Summer Game Fest kickoff showcases, this live stream was quite dense, with lots of games to keep track of. Don't worry if you think you missed some featured games, though, as we've rounded up every announcement made during the Summer Game Fest kickoff showcase.
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Summer Game Fest Kickoff 2023: how to watch and what to expect

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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.

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Despite how inevitable the complete downfall of E3 felt over the past several years, E3 2023’s official cancellation still strings as it’s a significant loss for the game industry. For gamers, press, and developers, the show served multiple purposes that digital livestreams and scattered publisher-specific events don't currently replicate. In lieu of E3’s cancelation this year, and potentially forever, it’s time for other gaming events to step up and help push the video game industry forward.
Why we lost E3
I’m lucky enough to have the experience of attending three E3 shows across 2017, 2018, and 2019 and many publisher-run events focused on specific games or tighter game lineups. In its final years, E3 felt like the perfect middle ground to the gamer-focused PAX and industry-focused GDC, where people from all walks and sides of the video game industry could come together, see what’s coming in the future, and share their love for games.

It also felt more freeing than publisher-run events, as I discovered and experienced games of all sizes that I may not have otherwise and got to meet many people from every angle of the game industry. Apparently, the Entertainment Software Association struggled to convince enough people that this style of expo was important four years after the last physical event.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Entertainment Software Association president Stanley Pierre-Louis blamed E3 2023’s cancellation on the Covid-19 pandemic, “economic headwinds” due to the current recession that impacted marketing budgets, and the fact that “companies are starting to experiment with how to find the right balance between in-person events and digital marketing opportunities.”
The first two are understandable and have impacted a lot of physical events over the past couple of years. Still, the last reason speaks to a bit more worrying of a shift for those looking to network, get attention from the press, get a broader look at the industry’s future, or even pitch a game.
What we lose
Events are a great way for indies to get unexpected and much-needed attention from players and the press; look at the chance encounter that got one of our team’s freelancers hooked on Homeseek at PAX East. Now, indies will have to hope to gain attention at those more indie-focused events like PAX or be cherry-picked to be featured in a more prominent company’s showcasing. There’s also the networking and pitch factor to it.