The Summer Game Fest 2023, Geoff Keighley's enormous June extravaganza that showcases video games, including fresh announcements and updates for some top new games, is around the corner. The third edition of this digital showcase had a pretty successful run in 2022, and with a massive catalog of games ready to be unveiled, it could do better come round four.
2023’s exhibition will be held at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park on June 8 and is expected to last two hours, with live audiences being allowed for the first time. Immediately after, Double Fine's Day of the Devs event — dedicated to showing off new and exciting indie games in development — will begin.
Where and when to watch the Summer Game Fest 2023?
Fans can watch the mega show live on:
Some of the publishers and studios who will be present are Activision, Bandai Namco, Capcom, CD Projekt Red, Disney, EA Games, Epic Games, HoYoVerse, Niantic, PlayStation, Sega, Square Enix, Steam, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive, and Xbox.
Judging by activities at the Summer Game Fest 2022, there will be plenty of game trailers, a few premieres, and short interviews with developers. NetherRealm Studios, the developer of Mortal Kombat 1, has confirmed that the first gameplay for the upcoming brawler will be revealed, while Remedy Interactive will disclose raw gameplay for Alan Wake 2.
Also, the official Twitter handle of the event has promised that there will be updates from 40+ partners. Those interested in attending the function live can buy tickets here.
Viewership recap of the Summer Game Fest 2022
Last year’s show registered 3.2M Hours Watched, 1.5M Peak Viewers, and 1.3M Average Viewers. These were pretty solid numbers, but they were down from the Summer Game Fest 2021, which hit incredible numbers of 3.5M HW, 1.8M PV, and 1.4M AV, showing just how popular video games journalist Geoff Keighley’s creation had become by just its second iteration.
In terms of the main channel of the event on Twitch, 2022’s show did 508K HW and 164K PV. The inaugural edition from three years ago — called the Summer Game Fest: Special Wednesday Showcase — may not have done as well in terms of viewership, but it was crucial to getting off the ground an event that has become a staple of the video games calendar in a short period of time, especially during a time as harrowing as the COVID-19 lockdown era.
With no E3 for the second straight year, the Summer Game Fest 2023 will assume an even more important space in the video games calendar. The summer showcase season has more or less begun, and with Sony’s PlayStation Showcase 2023 becoming one of its most-viewed events ever, there will be pressure on Keighley & Co to deliver. Hopefully, they can do that and much more, especially with community casting open and available to streamers globally.