summer games festival Presenter Geoff Keighley has spoken about the apparent “death of E3”, saying he doesn’t think it was the creation of Summer Game Fest that doomed the colossal annual gaming event, but rather that E3’s relevance and turnout issues were the problem.
Since just before the coronavirus pandemic, E3 has been struggling. Publishers and developers have moved to more one-on-one online showcases of their upcoming games at large in-person group events and E3’s multiple cancellations due to the pandemic put it in a tight spot.
In fact, this year’s E3 has been cancelled, and it’s increasingly looking like it’s never coming back. Instead, we have PlayStation, Ubisoft, Xbox and more presenting their own showcases, with Keighley’s Summer Game Fest joining its annual Gamescom Opening Night Live and The Game Awards lineup of events. also.
To that end, VGC recently asked Keighley if he agrees with the internet sentiment that his event helped kill E3.
“I think E3 committed suicide in a way. I understand why people say [SGF killed E3]but I think, if anything, we built Summer Game Fest, and I built Summer Game Fest because I saw the wheels fall off the E3 wagon,” Keighley explains.
“As someone who loves that time of year… for two decades E3 has been a part of my life since I was 15 years old. [From] the first E3 in 1995, I went to all the shows. I loved it and it defined my summer.
The first Summer Game Fest was in 2020 after Keighley’s split from E3, with annual events ever since. By contrast, E3 returned for an online-only show in 2021, with the last two years of the event also being cancelled.
While Keighley focuses on these large virtual showcase events, Summer Game Fest is now hosting more low-key hands-on events around this time for press and creators, something E3 hasn’t been able to do for quite some time.
“It was very exciting for me, and it was heartbreaking to see it start to fall apart. I think they had a relevance problem, and then they also had a participation problem in the last few years,” Keighley continues.
“So yeah, I think the question is, if we didn’t do Summer Game Fest, what would happen? I think things would have really fragmented this summer.”
The Summer Game Fest live event is on Thursday June 8 in Los Angeles, with many other shows like Xbox and Ubisoft showcases also under the SGF umbrella, as they continue to do their thing.
If you’re excited for reveal month, our list of the biggest upcoming games is sure to give you an idea of what to expect, and this list is bound to grow in the coming week. You can also check out the best free PC games while you wait.
Image Credit: SGF on YouTube
