What’s dead may never die. E3 may finally be gone for good but its spirit lives on in Summer Game Fest. Hosted by The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley, the event kicks off in June and promises teases, trailers, and world premieres for the biggest games of tomorrow and beyond. Here’s every gaming conference, showcase, and livestream happening in and around Keighley-palooza 2024.
Now in its fourth year, Summer Game Fest has become a third pillar, between Gamescom Opening Night Live and The Game Awards, in Keighley’s annual domination of video game hype. Based in LA but unassociated with the city’s convention center, the massive monstrosity where E3s of old were held, the event has continued drawing other publisher directs and smaller gaming showcases into its gravity well. The main Summer Game Fest show is held live at the YouTube Theater, but is also streamed across every social media platform you can think of.
Sony has decided to sneak its summer showcase in early with a May 30 State of Play. And although Nintendo is rumored to be preparing a big Direct for mid-June, the Mario maker still hasn’t announced any specific plans. Even without those two platforms, which ditched E3 itself long ago, early June is chock full of other gaming conferences focusing on everything from the work of small indie teams to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Below is a complete schedule of every not-E3 and Summer Game Fest-adjacent event happening next month.
Thursday, June 6
Guerilla Collective will take place at 1:00 p.m. ET and feature a rundown of a bunch of upcoming indie games. Now in its fifth year, the showcase will feature Hollow Blood, Combo Devils, and a bunch of other upcoming projects. It’s a great time to check out smaller games that don’t normally get the spotlight during larger video game industry marketing blitzes. Where to watch:
Friday, June 7
Access-Ability Summer Showcase begins at 11:00 a.m. ET. Whitethorn Games, PlayTonic, and Fiction Factory Games are among the studios that will be featured, with each game shown highlighting its accessibility options available for players. Laura Kate Dale will host alongside guests that include Arevya and SightlessKombat. Where to watch:
Summer Game Fest, the summer’s main showcase, follows later in the day at 5:00 p.m. ET. There will be dozens of creators, studios, and publishers showing off games. 2K Games is promising the reveal of the next entry in a beloved franchise, which certainly sounds like BioShock 4. Knowing host Geoff Keighley, a celebrity or two will also show up, along with a third of the show blocked off exclusively for Hideo Kojima to talk Death Stranding 2 or literally anything else he wants. Where to watch:
Day of the Devs will happen immediately after Summer Game Fest live. Hosted by DoubleFine and iam8bit, the showcase tends to be one of the best indie events of the year, giving developers a platform to talk about their incredible ideas and the games bringing them to life. It’s the perfect antidote to multiple hours of glitzy world premieres. Where to watch:
Devolver Direct wraps up the day at 8:00 p.m. ET. The publisher has traditionally delivered a screwball showcase attempting to lampoon video game press conferences while still marketing its products for your GameStop pre-ordering and Steam wishlisting pleasure. Action-RPG Paradise Never and rag-doll physics sim Humans Fall Flat 2 are among its upcoming releases. Maybe Dennaton Games will finally announced Hotline Miami 3. Where to watch:
Saturday, June 8
Future of Play Direct starts the day at 11:00 p.m. ET for a top-secret showcase hosted by AI v-tuber Melios the Android. The Toonami-inspired event will feature reveals from Trinket Studios (Battle Chef Brigade) and Studio Pixel Punk (Unsighted), as well as many other developers. Watch it on YouTube.
Wholesome Direct kicks off an hour later at 12:00 p.m. ET with a focus on games that are off the bloody AAA shooter path. It promises a “vibrant lineup of artistic, uplifting, and emotionally resonant games from developers of all sizes from around the world.” There will be 70 games featured, with past ones including GOTY hits like Venba, Unpacking, and Chicory: A Colorful Tale. Where to watch:
Latin America Games Showcase rolls out at 1:00 p.m. ET. The event “strives to increase the visibility of the video games being developed in the LATAM Region and Latin Americans in the World” and runs about an hour. Where to watch:
Women-led Games Summer Games Fest follows at 2.30 p.m. ET. With dozens of participants, the showcase aims to “highlight all the amazing things women do in games and support their efforts in order to create a more equitable games industry.” Where to watch:
Future Games Show wraps up the dat at 3:00 p.m. ET. Gamesradar’s annual summer event will be hosted by Red Dead Redemption 2‘s Arthur (Roger Clark) and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Tifa (Britt Baron). Where to watch:
Sunday, June 9
Xbox Games Showcase is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET. The only platform holder still anchoring the not-E3 festivities, Microsoft will have a lot to prove after mass layoffs earlier this year, including the closure of beloved Hi-Fi Rush and Evil Within studio,Tango Gameworks. Xbox Game Studios has been on an acquisition spree and cooking for years with still not a whole lot to show for it. Now that Blizzard is a part of the company, maybe we can expect more details on Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred expansion expected to launch later this year. A new medieval Doom and Gears of War 6 (now just Gears) are also rumored to be making an appearance, but fans will also be eager to find out what’s going on with the new Fable, Perfect Dark, and State of Decay 3. Where to watch:
Black Ops 6 Direct will take place directly afterwards. Mirroring the presentation Bethesda led last year for Starfield, this will seemingly be a deep dive on the upcoming sequel and what players can expect from its Gulf War-era story campaign, multiplayer mechanics, and whether the Modern Warfare 3 skins they’ve spent hundreds on will carry over. The game is already confirmed to be coming to Game Pass, though it remains to be seen if players will need to pay extra for “early access.” Where to watch:
PC Gaming Show rounds out the afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET. The annual PC Gamer event has been great in years past at showcasing PC-centric games, from strategy games and sims to deck-builders and roguelikes, that didn’t historically get much attention during E3. There will be dozens of games shown alongside interviews with the developers behind them. I hope we hear more about Citizen Sleeper 2. Where to watch:
Monday, June 10
Ubisoft Forward is set to close out the not-E3 and Summer Game Fest carnival. It still hasn’t confirmed a time but past events have usually taken place around 12:00 p.m. ET. The French publisher will have a lot to show this year between the much-hyped open-world game in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars Outlaws, and its latest historical stealth RPG, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. We’ll probably also hear updates on the slew of ongoing games in the Ubisoft portfolio, like The Division 2, Rainbow Six Siege, and For Honor. Maybe there’ll be a couple of surprises too. Who’s ready for a new Rayman? Watch it on Twitch and YouTube.