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Summer Game Fest 2021: Who’s attending, schedule, and more updates

While E3 2021 is right around the corner, it isn’t the only gaming event planned for June. Taking place in the same month is Summer Game Fest 2021, a lengthy celebration of all things gaming, featuring announcements, world premieres, and performances. It won’t be exactly like E3, but if last year’s Summer Game Fest is any indication, it will be jam-packed with things to look forward to.

To make things easy, we’ve compiled everything there is to know about Summer Game Fest 2021 so far, including the attendee list, how to watch, and what to expect from it. We’ll update this post as more information becomes available.

When is Summer Game Fest 2021?

Summer Game Fest: Kickoff Live on June 10!

Summer Games Fest 2021 begins at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 10, starting with its Kick Off Live! event. This will be hosted by The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley and will feature a performance by Weezer. It’ll feature a Days of the Devs showcase, which aims to highlight upcoming games from independent studios. Throughout June, more events that fall under the Summer Game Fest umbrella will take place as well.

How to watch Summer Game Fest 2021

Summer Game Fest 2021 will be streamed live across many platforms including Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, and more. The event will be free to all, so there will be no need for a press badge or tickets. We’ll update this with links to each platform when it gets closer to the event’s start date.

What to expect from Summer Game Fest 2021

As Geoff Keighley explains, this event is a “free, fan-first, global experience,” that aims to “bring the entire video game community together for a memorable month of announcements and updates.” Throughout the month, many of the industry’s leading publishers will make game announcements while celebrating the medium. It will be an all-digital experience, just like it was in 2020.

The Kick Off Live! showcase plans to have “more than a dozen” world premieres and announcements for upcoming games, setting the tone for the entire month-long celebration. Currently, it seems there are many plans for the event that have yet to be revealed. In addition, the list of participating companies will grow as we get closer to the start date.

Summer Game Fest schedule

June 10

Kickoff Live! — 11 a.m. PT

June 11

Koch Primetime — noon PT

New Event Added – Friday, June 11, Noon PT / 3 PM ET. #SummerGameFest pic.twitter.com/xPTrBNSdrO

— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) May 28, 2021

Recently, Koch Media, the parent company of many publishers including Deep Silver, announced it will hold its own showcase for Summer Game Fest. It will debut on Jun 11 at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET. The company’s stream, which is being referred to as Koch Primetime, will be watchable on Twitch.

June 12

Ubisoft Forward — noon PT

June 13

Xbox + Bethesda Games Showcase — 10 a.m. PT

Microsoft and Bethesda will have a joint showcase this year, which will last 90 minutes. This event will feature announcements about upcoming titles across both companies, as well as reveals for new Xbox Game Pass titles.

June 16

Steam Next Fest — 10 a.m. PT

June 23

Sonic Symphony Orchestra — noon PT

July 22

EA Play Live — TBA

Which companies will attend Summer Game Fest 2021?

There are over 30 companies that will participate in Summer Game Fest this year. These companies will provide “updates for fans,” presumably in the form of E3-style announcements. These are the companies that plan to attend Summer Game Fest 2021:

  • 2K
  • Activision
  • Amazon Games
  • Annapurna Interactive
  • Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Battlestate Games
  • Blizzard Entertainment
  • Capcom
  • Devolver Digital
  • Dotemu
  • Electronic Arts
  • Epic Games
  • Finji
  • Frontier
  • Gearbox Publishing
  • Hi-Rez Studios
  • Inner Sloth
  • Koch Media
  • Mediatonic
  • MiHoYo
  • PlayStation
  • Psyonix
  • Raw Fury
  • Riot Games
  • Saber Interactive
  • Sega
  • Steam
  • Square Enix
  • Tribeca Festival
  • Tencent Games
  • Warner Bros. Games
  • Ubisoft
  • Wizards of the Coast
  • Xbox

How much of a presence each company will have at Summer Game Fest 2021 remains to be seen, but fans can at least expect to see something from each — whether it’s a game announcement or update on an existing project.

Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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