Geoff Keighley officially announced today that Summer Game Fest will return for its second year in June 2021. The host of The Game Awards, one of the biggest nights in the industry, created the games showcase last year after E3 was canceled due to COVID-19. The completely digital Summer Game Fest acted as a free and safer alternative for gamers to celebrate the industry’s upcoming releases.
Keighley revealed the news via the Summer Game Fest Twitter account. Unfortunately, Keighley did not provide too many details other than the June 2021 window. However, another tweet this morning invited developers to submit their games to the event’s Day of the Devs showcase. So, at least we know that the showcase is included in the Summer Game Fest 2021 lineup. Day of the Devs is free for developers to join. If you’d like to receive updates about Summer Game Fest 2021, you can sign up for alerts on the official website.
Last year’s Summer Game Fest featured a series of events spread out between May and August, so it was a bit scattered. Thankfully, Keighley confirmed that this year’s schedule will run under a month long. He also said that more information on Summer Game Fest 2021 will come in the next few weeks.
.@SummerGameFest returns this June!
A spectacular, concentrated global showcase of the future of video games — where everyone comes to play.
Sign up now at https://t.co/1ZwAhZ66ie for event updates + text alerts. pic.twitter.com/0h1lmuOBh3
— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) April 2, 2021
What to expect from Summer Game Fest 2021
There’s no official lineup of game announcements just yet. However, last year‘s Summer Game Fest saw a mix of indie and AAA titles, so anything is possible. The Day of the Devs 2020 showcase saw trailers for Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Smite crossover, and more.
Summer Game Fest 2020 acted as a replacement for E3, but it looks like the two will run in tandem this year. The Entertainment Software Association announced in February that E3 2021 will be a digital online experience, unlike its previous conferences. Even more surprising is the fact that just yesterday, E3 confirmed that this year’s conference is free. That still feels like an April Fool’s joke. The pandemic has definitely changed gaming industry events, possibly forever.
