Problem with Summer game festival, like all of Keighley’s shows, is that they live and die by the content shown – and this one was particularly weak. While we fully expect Microsoft to build momentum at the end of this weekend, with its trio of publishers all crammed into a single showcase, it’s becoming increasingly clear that AAA gaming is stuck in an endless winter. With development cycles longer than they’ve ever been and the impact of the pandemic still very much looming, the medium seems to be light on the heaviest of them right now.
That’s not to say there isn’t something to play, it clearly is: LEGO Horizon Adventures exceeded all our expectations and looks like a really fun alternative to Aloy’s escapades; Metaphor: ReFantazio looks set to be another must-play RPG from Atlus, the team behind the Persona titles; Slitterhead has all the explosiveness and unbridled creativity of Japan Studio’s cult classic and; Black Myth: Wukong is indeed coming out, after years of anticipation.
But looking at the reactions to the show, it’s clear that most fans felt it didn’t sizzle—if anything, it barely sizzled. And that’s because, with respect, as with Sony Current status lately, gamers in Europe haven’t been staying up until midnight to find out that Amazon’s MMO New World is being ported to PS5; in Asia, they aren’t getting up early to learn that the console port of Valorant is getting a closed console beta. They want to see Naughty Dog; they want to see Sucker Punch. Heck, they want to see Keighley leering at Hideo Kojima, chatting away for tens of minutes at a time.
Of course, Summer Game Fest has other problems besides dramatically extended development cycles. As an independent show, it needs to justify its own existence, so its overly long two-hour running time seems to exist purely so that Keighley can squeeze in enough advertising. As stated, they cost an exorbitant amount of money to run, but aside from physical ticket sales, they are the only source of revenue that exists to fund the whole thing.
Keighley also defies expectations and E3 it’s still recent enough for fans to remember the glory years. As we noted recently, it’s been less than a decade since Sony showed The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Shenmue 3 back to back; it’s even less since the epic press conference that featured the God of War reboot, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and much more. The industry is just in a different place these days, but the comparisons still remain. It’s not fair, but Geoff is the one who tried to fill the hole left by the convention, so he was always going to attract the criticism that comes with it.
This was without a doubt the weakest Summer Game Fest to date, and a lot of that stems from not having enough major and noteworthy content to show off. For our money, LEGO Horizon Adventures topped the show, and that was the first title on display. It’s not really Keighley’s fault that he hasn’t been able to lock down any blockbusters this year, but at the same time it perhaps begs the question: do we even have need an indie summer show at all?
The media is actually in Los Angeles now gaming a number of different games as part of the Summer Game Fest adjacent to the game days. And there will still be demos from Xbox and Ubisoft in the coming days, which means plenty more games to come. Still is some value in this season’s lineup of gaming announcements, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that gamers’ expectations are no longer aligned with what the industry can actually deliver. And that means something will have to give at some point.
How would you take the temperature at this year’s Summer Game Fest? Do you think it was hot or did it leave you cold? As always, let us know in the comments section below.