After a PlayStation showcase earlier within the week, the annual online game promo circuit for the summer time started in earnest with that two-hour showcase by the title of Summer Game Fest, which had teases, sequels, and wholly new video games galore.
Par for the course for SGF and host Geoff Keighley, each of which have endeavored to step up throughout this decade because the as soon as and superb commerce present king E3 has regularly died off. However this yr’s carried an odd air about it, even earlier than a Splitgate 2 developer walked onstage with a “Make FPS Great Again Hat” (actually) earlier than smacktalking “the identical Name of Responsibility” and revealing his shooter’s battle royale mode.
A number of that weirdness is as a result of the video games trade goes by way of it proper now. It’s been over every week since EA killed its Black Panther game and developer Cliffhanger, and trade layoffs have solely continued since. Time stops for nobody, and since 2023, there’ve been reductions by the handfuls or a whole bunch, generally on a day by day, even hourly foundation. What we thought was simply “survive til ’25” in 2023 or 2024 is now simply “survive” as games and their studios die within the blink of a watch. Mixed with what seems like a weirdly muted Nintendo Switch 2 launch and the US authorities going by way of another round of bullshit, in fact this commerce present feels funky.
Different elements to this unusual feeling are owed totally to Summer time Sport Fest. By no means is it extra clear when the trade is chasing tendencies than an occasion like this, which had loads of souls and roguelikes and shooters of the house, aggressive, and extraction selection. The 2 genres’ recognition appeared to put on on viewers and remind us how we simply tire of issues we as soon as favored. In comparison with PlayStation’s showcase earlier within the week, SGF additionally felt much less constant in what it needed to provide: Resident Evil Requiem and Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver had been agreeable highs, different trailers appeared to indicate as much as be well mannered or didn’t actually land.
Extra problematically, 5 years in, Summer time Sport Fest nonetheless feels prefer it has no actual id of its personal past an extension of the annual yr’s finish Sport Awards. These ceremonies and accompanying recreation reveals have a considerably completely different power because of musical performances, superstar appearances and often pleasant Muppet gags. With out these, SGF feels much less “enjoyable,” for lack of a greater phrase. It needs to be E3, however the massive pressers we tuned in for may generally be unhealthy as figureheads for recreation publishers had been excessive off their very own provide or overindulged in nonsense they appeared to suppose was humorous. This will’t be that, each as a result of publishers have their indvidual, extra common showcases, and it doesn’t wish to be perceived as disrespectful to the medium and its viewers completely happy to obtain recognition however not the criticism that comes with it.
Beforehand, Keighley has caught flack for failing to correctly acknowledge the trade’s struggles, or doing so in a careless method. This yr’s Summer time Sport Fest opened with him highlighting 2025’s present crop of best-selling video games, a few of which got here from groups a lot smaller than your common triple-A studio. Expedition 33’s been the largest and worst offender of this “honor”; because the RPG’s reveal and launch, it’s been lauded as a triumph for a developer with a headcount within the small dozens. However its seven-minute credits present that’s not the true story: sure, Sandfall has 33 or 34 employees, but it surely additionally had third-party animators, QA contractors, and localizers (and extra!) that helped make for a implausible debut title.
Keighley’s stressing of these small groups—one man made a brawler with simply the assistance of nine of his friends!—turns what was seemingly a well-intentioned acknowledgment of into further gasoline for the fiery divide between indie and triple-A builders at a foul time for each. The narrative round recreation growth (and who makes them) is unhealthy sufficient because of ongoing layoffs and elevated participant harassment, and this may seemingly exacerbate issues. It’s a second that greatest represents the double-edged sword of Summer time Sport Fest’s prominence and this specific trade figurehead: ultimately, amid all of the flash and celebration this window into the trade gives, somebody sours issues by placing their foot of their mouth.
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