With highly anticipated gaming conventions like E3 and Gamescom cancelling their live gatherings due to the current pandemic, digital options are becoming increasingly attractive to developers and publishers. Jumping on the digital bandwagon is Geoff Keighley, creator of The Game Awards, who announced the Summer Game Fest, or what appears to be another contender for this year's digital E3 replacement, to fill the need of new announcements from the gaming world in summer 2020.

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Keighley described Summer Game Fest, which runs from May to August 2020, as "a new season of news, in-game events, and playable content from the entire video game industry". According to a news release, the event will provide “playable, limited time demonstrations and trials of select game content”.

Accessible online, the event will apparently run in phases, with Phase 1 being run in partnership with developers and publishers like Bethesda, CD Projekt Red, Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Squre Enix; so expect demos from their games. This ties in with another event Keighley helped organize, the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition, which runs from June 9–14, or the same week that E3 was supposed to take place.

PHASE 1 pic.twitter.com/Y1K2Wd5l7H

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2020

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While both Sony and Microsoft are participating, Nintendo isn't at this time. Speaking to gameindustry.biz, Keighley said that he hopes that Ninty will join in later.

You can already sign up on the Summer Game Fest website linked below and get notified as soon as the official schedule goes live.

Summer Game Fest Official Website

 

[claussm]

Nice! Mr. Keighley doing great work for the industry as usual. Looking forward to this!

 

[notimp]

Doritos guy gets bought out by industry consortium, thats horrified, because their PR events didnt work so far. (Social distancing = hard to generate hype, by filming hyped masses.)

Something, something, entertainment.

 

[sarkwalvein]

The concept sounds nice.

 

[notimp]

The concept sounds nice.

Why? Not trolling - actually interested. Summer tours have always been part of the industry, to make gaming more mainstream (rent a few trucks, load up a few kiosks, hit a summer volleyball tournament that you sponsored).

Reading this, this seems to be that - meets a Steam promo (that will allow publishers to promote their distribution platforms as well).

This is club med entertainment, meets - we gotta do something, because E3 fall flat.

Someone call the sellout man - that still for whatever reason has the public image of being press.

 

[Deleted User]

Nice

 

[James_]

inb4 this becomes an actual replacement for e3


this post might not age well

 

[sarkwalvein]

Why? Not trolling - actually interested. Summer tours have always been part of the industry, to make gaming more mainstream (rent a few trucks, load up a few kiosks, hit a summer volleyball tournament).

Reading this, this seems to be that - meets a Steam promo (that will allow publishers to promote their distribution platforms as well).

This is club med entertainment, meets - we gotta do something, because E3 fall flat.

To me the idea of something like Gamescom without having to go to Gamescom sounds good.

The reasons are that I enjoy watching announcements, meeting the people of indie sector and seeing what new things they have, and also meeting the clubs of retro computing with their new stuff.

But to be honest, I don't like people conglomerates. Perhaps I am somewhat lazy and introvert, I don't know, but I don't like that much walking from one place to another between thousands of persons or doing queues that never end.

If in some way it would be possible to translate the good parts of the experience minus the bad parts, I think I would enjoy that. I am not so into in-game events (but that could be nice too, perhaps).

But some other ways that translate the entertainment that Gamescom provide me would be welcome, e.g. many filmed events / videos, and being able to test small time-limited demos without having to do several hours queues sounds interesting.

Sure they intend to do this for big players with AAA titles (that's what the companies want after all), but I would like they also giving space inside the events for indie developers and e.g. people from the retro-gaming clubs, to show what they are working in, what they have. I hope they realize this would attract more people, and make things more varied and less monotonous.

Some way to keep the social part too, to make contact with developers and other fans easier (not sure how this could be done well in a non in-situ way, but sure there are ways)... There are things, though, that I don't know how to translate into a concept like this, specially fan participation and fan made stuff, cosplay, fan musicians, etc., but also being able to see and test new non-released technology... sure you can't download a demo for that /s.

To summarize, this is an advertisement tool of course, but I like the entertainment value the idea of translating something like Gamescom into some kind of on-line festival could provide me. This is the concept that sounds nice to me.

 

[MikaDubbz]

I gotta give Keighley kudos. A few years ago I laughed at the guy and the dreams he had for this industry, but fuck,he's really going all for it, and shit, he's gotten just about everyone to participate in this, just shy of Nintendo, which he still hopes might join a later phase. I'm impressed.

 

[notimp]

To me the idea of something like Gamescom without having to go to Gamescom sounds good.

The reasons are that I enjoy watching announcements, meeting the people of indie sector and seeing what new things they have, and also meeting the clubs of retro computing with their new stuff.

But to be honest, I don't like people conglomerates. Perhaps I am somewhat lazy and introvert, I don't know, but I don't like that much walking from one place to another between thousands of persons or doing queues that never end.

If in some way it would be possible to translate the good parts of the experience minus the bad parts, I think I would enjoy that. I am not so into in-game events (but that could be nice too, perhaps).

But some other ways that translate the entertainment that Gamescom provide me would be welcome, e.g. many filmed events / videos, and being able to test small time-limited demos without having to do several hours queues sounds interesting.

Sure they intend to do this for big players with AAA titles (that's what the companies want after all), but I would like they also giving space inside the events for indie developers and e.g. people from the retro-gaming clubs, to show what they are working in, what they have. I hope they realize this would attract more people, and make things more varied and less monotonous.

Some way to keep the social part too, to make contact with developers and other fans easier (not sure how this could be done well in a non in-situ way, but sure there are ways)... There are things, though, that I don't know how to translate into a concept like this, specially fan participation and fan made stuff, cosplay, fan musicians, etc., but also being able to see and test new non-released technology... sure you can't download a demo for that /s.

To summarize, this is an advertisement tool of course, but I like the entertainment value the idea of translating something like Gamescom into some kind of on-line festival could provide me. This is the concept that sounds nice to me.

Havent thought much about that in detail yet. Gamescom style means less exclusives available - less substantiated information about Games (when you let 100 people stand in a cue to play a game for 10-15 minutes, that doesnt result in proper information surfacing), ...

There are always pros and cons...

Same as with those Nintendo Directs. (Hate the preppy nature of them, hate the always upbeat narration, hate theevery game is the best thing every, except for Deadly Premonition 2 which doesnt fit with our target image, so we burry it in a trailer roll, ...

Also, Microsoft did that influencer events marketing years ago, before influencer was even a term - so In my mind, I always think back to those days... (see f.e. https://news.microsoft.com/2002/09/24/microsoft-acquires-video-game-powerhouse-rare-ltd/ (that was almost 20 years ago) )
-

And furthermore, that now Mr. Dorito is at the ready to produce them their replacement E3 - well, I guess, that this is what E3 always has been anyhow - but man, does this stink from a "there is a difference between media reporting, and public relations" perspective - because in cases like these, there isnt.

Hope this doesnt replace E3 in the long run.

Thats the mindset I'm bringing to it..

 

[Bladexdsl]

covid is still around you know? inb4 this is cancelled too

 

[MikaDubbz]

covid is still around you know? inb4 this is cancelled too

Why would they cancel an online event? Pretty sure this thing has come about the way it has because of Covid.

 

[Spider_Man]

So we see everyone else going to digital streaming, nintendont who quit exhibitions to save money and opt to digital, now cancels its digital format.

Hmm talk about been cheap, not that Nintendo really have anything to brag about.

Come next gen, itll be even further behind as devs again opt to support the new hardware and forget about thr switch as it wont be financially wise to try dumb down its new titles to run on inferior hardware and have little sales.

This is why third parties port over its old titles, little costs, fast turn round, already made its money so if its a flop, its not a massive loss as if it was a fresh new title, or a seperate studio to make a versions just for the switch.

 

[nani17]

Not a bad idea at all. Good this repacw E3 down the road?

 

[Jonnysert]

E3 died but we aint no pheoenix to rise again instead we just got ourselves a new bird to take its place