With E3 2022 now confirmed to be cancelled, it’s down to Geoff Keighley and his Summer Game Fest brand to bring the gaming industry together for its traditional summer showcase.
If you’ve been plugged into the gamer community for the last few years, this will sound very familiar. Back in the pre-pandemic days, the ESA’s E3 conference was an absolute staple in the calendar of annual events, of course. But there hasn’t been a physical E3 since 2019.
In the absence of E3 in 2022, journalist and presenter Geoff Keighley will once again host his own online live-stream event, where gaming companies from around the world will gather virtually to tease their upcoming products.
So, when is Summer Game Fest 2022 and what else do you need to know about this summer’s biggest video game showcase event? Keep on reading to learn all about it.
When is Summer Game Fest 2022?
Summer Game Fest 2022 will take place on Thursday 9th June 2022, with the main showcase kicking off at 7pm BST for viewers here in the UK.
The event has been described as “a live, cross-industry showcase of announcements and games”, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.
Summer Game Fest 2022 schedule
Although the main Summer Game Fest event is just one big live-stream, there are other events to be aware of that week. This is what you’ve got to look forward to, with the UK times listed too:
- Summer Game Fest – Thursday 9th June, 7pm BST
- Netflix Geeked Week: Gaming – Friday 10th June, 6pm BST
- Tribeca Games Spotlight – Friday 10th June, 8pm BST
- Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase – Sunday 12th June, 6pm BST
How to watch Summer Game Fest 2022
You will be able to watch Summer Game Fest 2022 on the official YouTube channel of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley’s other big annual event, by clicking the link in this sentence. Just click into the channel at 7pm on 9th June and you should see the option to check out the live feed.
Who is hosting Summer Game Fest 2022?
Summer Game Fest 2022 will be hosted once again by Geoff Keighley, the journalist and presenter who was previously best known as the host of The Game Awards.
Since debuting the Summer Game Fest brand in 2020, with E3 yet to make a physical post-pandemic comeback, Keighley has effectively become the go-to guy for big summer blowouts in the gaming industry.
Summer Game Fest 2022 predictions: Which companies and games will appear?
The official Summer Game Fest lineup has not been confirmed yet, so we don’t yet know which companies will be touting their wares at this year’s showcase. However, we can make some educated guesses.
Warner Bros Games has Gotham Knights, Hogwarts Legacy and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in the pipeline, so it would be very surprising if none of those games featured here.
Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima seems to be firm friends with Keighley, too, so perhaps he’ll use this opportunity to reveal the heavily rumoured Death Stranding 2, or whatever else he might have in the works.
Sony has not announced its own State of Play showcase as of yet, so it does feel plausible that we could see God of War: Ragnarok, Stray, Spider-Man 2, Wolverine and other upcoming PlayStation games during Summer Game Fest. Perhaps PSVR 2 could feature, as well.
Likewise, Nintendo hasn’t confirmed any upcoming Nintendo Direct events in the near future, which does at least leave a tiny possibility that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 could appear here. With that game being delayed recently, though, it does feel like a long shot. Another long shot would be the next Nintendo console, the Switch Pro or whatever it ends up being called, which is yet to be revealed.
EA always has plenty of games to shout about, as well, and given the recent announcement about FIFA 23 being the last FIFA-branded game that EA will work on before switching over to EA Sports FC, this could be a good opportunity for EA to reaffirm its messaging on that.
Activision is always keen to make a splash, too, and this would be a very nice platform on which to properly reveal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and/or the next evolution of CoD Warzone. That’s not to mention all the Blizzard games, including Destiny 2 and Diablo Immortal, which might benefit from an extra push.
It’s worth noting that 2K has collaborated with Keighley before, as well, so perhaps Summer Game Fest will be the right place to showcase the next steps for Borderlands, be that another full sequel or another spinoff like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Given that it launches that week, we wouldn’t be surprised to see The Quarry in attendance either.
Of course, the Xbox and Bethesda showcase has already been confirmed to take place a few days after the main Summer Game Fest, so you can expect the Starfield and Redfall developers to wait until then before dropping any big reveals.
And finally, one prediction we’d really love to come true: could From Software use Summer Game Fest as the forum in which to announce its follow-up to Elden Ring, be that a DLC or a sequel or another new IP? Only time will tell, but we really hope so! We’ll just have to tune into Summer Game Fest on 9th June to find out.
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