E3 has been a gaming giant for more than twenty-five years. The event was once synonymous with video game news, becoming an almost sacred event for fans everywhere. It was an opportunity for developers to showcase their future lineup and for reporters and gamers to experience that lineup in person. But after COVID-19, the event was put on hold for the foreseeable future.
This would prove catastrophic. 2020 was supposed to be a monumental year for gaming. The next generation of consoles, including the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, was set to begin later that year. So industry veteran and creator of the Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, sought to create a new complimentary experience for the summer. Dubbed Summer Game Fest, this event would eventually grow to replace E3. As developers chose to take part in Game Fest rather than E3, the event was officially canceled earlier this year.
So why? Why do developers prefer Geoff Keighley’s grand experiment to E3? And with Summer Game Fest 2023 in full swing, how has the event compared to the almost 30 years of history under its belt? Here’s an overview of how Summer Game Fest has compared to and matched E3 in just three years.
Less Expensive
One of the best things about Summer Game Fest is how it’s far less expensive to attend than E3 ever was. For reporters, it costs hundreds of dollars in travel, hotels, and basic expenses like food. And for developers to get official booths, it would cost tens of thousands of dollars, and who knows how much more it costs them to host their own conference.
Now though, especially for reporters, it doesn’t take as much time, money, and effort to cover the event. For one, everyone gets to experience the conferences together online and in person, with no restrictions. Summer Game Fest 2023 Tickets cost around 10 or so dollars a seat. Everyone is able to cover the opening showcase without any trouble, and select reporters and influencers are invited to the in-person show floor. There is nowhere near the same level of difficulty in attending as E3.
Developers
Another thing that makes Game Fest stand out compared to E3 is the ease it allows developers. Rather than spending the aforementioned tens of thousands of dollars; instead, indie and triple-A developers get to hold their own conferences on their own terms. Companies such as PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo have all held their own version of a showcase and direct. It costs less, there’s no distinct limit when it comes to how long the event is, and best of all, it’s all under the Summer Game Fest banner.
But what makes Summer Game Fest even better is it allows for indie voices to shine. Indie games often got sidelined in favor of traditional triple-A experiences during E3. But now, whether it be in the Opening Game Fest Showcase or a conference held on the side like the upcoming Annapurna event, indie games are often hyped up in the same breath as triple-A games. This allows for a greater diversity of voices that E3 never really had, especially in recent years. However, there are several things that are holding Summer Game Fest from becoming a replacement for E3.
Game Announcements
One of the biggest problems that Game Fest has is one that has also plagued another Geoff Keighley project, the Game Awards. The variety of announcements is far too skewed in one direction or another. For example, Game Fest 2022 had far too many games themed around space or horror. For example, Fort Solis, Routine, and the Callisto Protocol were all shown off side by side, and they all looked very similar to each other.
Plus, there were far too many moments where the entire experience ground to a halt. There were ads galore, promotions for TV shows and movies that nobody wanted to see at a gaming event. There was even a moment when Dwayne Johnson came on stage just to talk about his energy drink brand and a movie that had nothing to do with video games at all.
Geoff Keighley has gotten better at balancing announcements over the years. For example, the recent 2023 Showcase had a good ratio of games that people actually wanted to hear about versus games that no one was interested in. But more work still needs to be done.
In-Person Presence
The other thing that Summer Game Fest and Geoff Keighley still need to work on is the in-person experience. Currently, the event only has Play Days. Play Days are the in-person experience for Game Fest, held on June 9th and June 10th, 2023. The problem is that this event is invite-only and only extends to select press and content creators. This format means that Summer Game Fest currently does not have the same level of in-person accessibility that E3 did. Even if E3 was expensive, anyone could still go there with enough savings and effort. And at the moment, that simply isn’t an option at Summer Game Fest.
Will Summer Game Fest Ever Replace E3?
Currently, Summer Game Fest has not yet lived up to previous E3s. How could it? E3 was a fixture for twenty-five years, and it took time for it to become the media giant that it is today. However, Summer Game Fest doesn’t need to replace E3. For the last half a decade, many companies have taken part in E3, not through traditional conferences but instead through digital showcases.
During COVID, this became how all companies showed off their lineup, making the entire process easier and more accessible for all parties involved. Summer Game Fest fully took advantage of that, and it is what separated it from the likes of E3. Now Geoff Keighley has to spend the next few years building up Summer Game Fest. Maybe it’ll take twenty-five years, like with E3. Or maybe he could nail the formula next year. Time will only tell. But as it is, Summer Game Fest is currently a substitute for E3, not a replacement. And at the moment, that’s all it needs to be.
