Geoff Keighley, organizer of The Game Awards, presents his new project: four months of online presentations, announcements, gameplays and demos for everyone.
Things are starting to come alive! After a few months in which they have only canceled more and more events, in which the E3 itself has fallen and even launches of the caliber of The Last of Us 2 have been forced to delay, it seems that we began to see the light at end of the tunnel. The event with the first Xbox Series X games, confirmed by Microsoft for next May 7, now adds a new event created by Geoff Keighley, the Summer Game Fest. The famous organizer and presenter of The Game Awards has unveiled this new project, which will serve as an alternative to the Los Angeles fair and which, over four months (yes, yes, four months, from May to August) will serve showcase dozens of companies to show all their news to the world.
Introducing @summergamefest, a new season of news, in-game events, and playable content from the entire video game industry. May – August 2020, and a developer showcase with @ iam8bit too. See you soon! https://t.co/Hp7WuLrjXk pic.twitter.com/DashSP4Q5I
– Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2020
What does Summer Game Fest consist of?
As if it were a music festival full of concerts, Keighley assures that Summer Game Fest "is not just an event", but a succession of many. Hence its four-month duration. The objective of this “online festival” is to unite the main companies in the industry under the same banner, now that E3 has fallen and each one is on their own. Each company will decide what to show and when, but the Summer Game Fest organization will be in charge of helping with communication, broadcasting and sponsorship. "It serves to amplify the message of each company and reach more people," Keighley commented in an interesting question and answer about the event. They will ensure that everything can be followed through the main digital platforms (YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Facebook, Twitter …) and there has even been revealed a first and number group of developers who have joined the initiative, as you can see in the following tweet:
PHASE 1 pic.twitter.com/Y1K2Wd5l7H
– Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2020
There will be demos of the games for everyone
"When you think about it, the idea of a group of consumers waiting in line to play at a booth is a bit dated, especially with digital distribution," Keighley told Variety. During the Summer Game Fest, some of the games that are going to be shown will offer everyone the demo that they would normally take to fairs and face-to-face events. They will be demos with very specific content, which can only be downloaded for a limited period of time and, although the details depend on each company, it has already been confirmed that they can be downloaded through platforms such as Steam and Xbox. Of course, Keighley asks that no one get excited and wait for demos of Halo Infinite and Cyberpunk 2077, because there will be no test versions of all the titles, much less this year, in which everything has been a little hasty and people are still struggling with the coronavirus. However, he defends this option as the future, believes that it will be established and considers it one of the three pillars of the festival. Digital events, sample titles, and playable content.
A number of principles guide @summergamefest – Digital events, in-game events, and playable content. You already know about @Steam Game Festival, and today we're also announcing that @xbox is planning a playable Game Festival too this summer. More to come!
– Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2020
When does it start?
The calendar will be announced in the coming days, although we already know which presentations will serve as a starting gun and as a closing. The Summer Game Fest will start with the Xbox Inside on May 7, in which we will see the first Xbox Series X games, and will end with the GamesCom 2020 kick-off conference, a fair that although this year will be digital, will count again with an Opening Night Live like last year's. Between one and the other there will be several “phases” (like the one you can see in the tweet with the companies), in which more collaborations and dates will be announced. It must be understood that the organization of the Summer Game Fest does not force anyone to show everything they have in one or two days, and the developers can choose to show things little by little. It is understood that the coronavirus has taken its toll on the delivery dates and many of the things planned for E3, for example, could take longer to be ready, so they can be distributed little by little throughout the summer. In addition, each company will decide what approach it has to the event, being able to prepare conferences, round tables, interview sessions, live gameplays, tests or whatever they decide.
There are so many amazing @summergamefest events planned. The schedule launches soon on the website, and next Thursday @xbox will have a special inside Xbox Episode at 11 am ET / 8 am PT with Xbox Series X gameplay. pic.twitter.com/yGR35MW0bF
– Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2020
