Despite the ESA canceling E3 in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, this summer is shaping up quite nicely when it comes to gaming. Publishers, developers, and platform holders have flocked to cobble together digital alternatives that, as it stands, offer a generous schedule of events and showcases peppering the summer months ahead. There’s plenty to cover too with the next-gen consoles just around the corner as well as the usual spread of upcoming games, so there’s no lack of announcements, news, and reveals to flesh out these events.
With that in mind, and to simplify the process of navigating all the disparate E3 replacement events, we’ve gathered them all together for easy reference so you won’t miss any of this summer’s crucial gaming moments.
Summer Game Fest
First up, we have The Game Awards host and mouthpiece for hire Geoff Keighley’s summer-long Summer Game Fest. This series of digital showcases spans four-months to offer a range of reveals, news, playable demos, and more. Keighley has already drafted in an impressive roster of developers and publishers, including the likes of Bethesda, CD Projekt Red, Xbox, and Sony.
Going by what we’ve seen so far in the form of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remaster’s reveal as well as the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, the quality of the Summer Game Fest should be up there with what we’d usually see at E3.
The events run from May until August, culminating with Geoff Keighley’s traditional berth at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live. Summer Game Fest’s schedule is continuously updated over on the festival’s website, so check there for the most up to date information.
You can catch all the action on the official Summer Game Fest YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter accounts.
IGN – Summer of Gaming
June 10th, 11th, 12th, and 15th
Gaming press outlet IGN has taken it upon itself to conjure up its own digital event to showcase broadcasts, news, and impressions on games and the next-gen consoles throughout the summer. Like the Summer Game Fest, IGN has successfully teamed up with big-name industry actors such as EA, Google, and Square Enix, to name but a few.
Details are a little sparse at the moment, but IGN says things will kick off in earnest from June. From what we’ve seen so far, IGN appears to be piggybacking off the events from the Summer Game Fest and publishers, but we imagine it will have its own dedicated broadcasts as well.
Tune in on IGN’s Facebook, Twitch, Mixer, and YouTube channel.
GameSpot – Play For All
June 1st “for several weeks”
Much like IGN, GameSpot is running its own multi-week event this summer with previews, news, interviews, and the like. In a twist on the format, GameSpot is using Play For All to partner up with Direct Relief to aid those worse affected by the coronavirus pandemic. EA, Deep Silver, 2K Games, Stadia, and Bandai Namco are among those already penciled in to participate.
Similarly to IGN, Play For All kick starts from June on GameSpot’s social accounts on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Guerrilla Collective, The PC Gaming Show, And The Future Games Show
June 6th – June 8th
Turning to independent developers, the Guerilla Collective is a similar digital festival running from June 6th to June 8th, right around the usual E3 window. Humble Publishing, Larian Studios, Paradox Interactive, and more are expected to take part.
As it stands, Guerilla Collective Live will broadcast on June 6th, at 10 am PT/1 pm ET, followed by the PC Gaming Show the same day at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET, and The Future Games Show at 2:30 pm PT/5 pm ET.
On June 7th, the festival will host a press event (we don’t know much about this one right now), followed by an entire day of demos and interviews on June 8th.
Guerilla Collective will broadcast the event on its Twitch channel.
Limited Run Games’ #LRG3
June 8th
Physical game archivists and retailer, Limited Run Games, is hosting its own event on June 8th at 3 pm ET on their Twitch channel. Viewers can expect a colorful showcase if the description is anything to go by. LRG is selling it as ‘our third totally-live, totally-bitchin press conference for the biggest announcements in the future of physical video games.’
EA Play Live 2020
June 11th
Vaguely sticking to on-the-ground Play Live formula run alongside E3 in recent years, EA is shifting its summer showcase to an all-digital event. Expect reveals, gameplay, trite jokes, and over the to production when it broadcasts on June 11th at 4 pm PT/7 pm ET.
Watch on EA.com.
Ubisoft Forward
June 12th
Ubisoft is putting its usual June E3 slot to one side this year and shifting to an E3-style press conference on July 12th at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET. Ubisoft says to expect exclusive game news, reveals, and more. With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, Gods & Monsters, and Rainbow Six Quarantine all slated for release by the start of 2021, we should expect to hear a lot about these alongside a few surprises.
Watch the event on Ubisoft’s YouTube channel or on Ubisoft.com.
Gamescom’s Opening Night Live
August 24th
Run as a grand finale to the Summer Game Fest, Gamescom’s Opening Night Live is going digital this year with Geoff Keighley once again taking the helm. As with previous editions, expect big announcements, games from AAA developers and publishers, and trailers in droves.
This one takes place on August 24th at 11 am PT/2 pm ET, and you can tune in on the Summer Game Fest’s social accounts on Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube.
Xbox
TBC
Microsoft has announced a monthly edition of Inside Xbox for the months ahead with a particular focus on the next-gen Xbox Series X. We don’t have many details right now, other than a confirmed first-party studio next-gen game event for July. No firm date on that one yet, though.
PlayStation
TBC
Although Sony has yet to confirm as much, a PlayStation 5 reveal event is bound to happen sometime this summer. Rumors and Insiders suggest early to mid-June, but this remains very much in the domain of speculation at this point.
When it does happen, expect a proper look at the PlayStation 5 console and what it looks like, as well as a first peek at the opening slate of PlayStation 5 launch titles.