Steam have announced the dates for the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition.
Steam ran the first Steam Game Festival in Spring 2020, allowing players to play timed exclusive demos for upcoming games. Now, the “Summer Edition” promises that and more.
“The Steam Game Festival is an event that shines a spotlight on games set to be released within the next year,” the Steam page explains.
“From June 9th – 14th, check out upcoming releases, try them out with time-limited demos or short playable experiences, connect with the developers behind the games, and add games to your wishlist for a reminder when they release!” Developers have until April 24th to register their interest.
The date of the event perfectly mirrors what would have been E3 2020, before it was cancelled (including digital events) due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Even prior to that, E3 2020 had gotten off to a rocky start. Sony announced on January 13th they would be skipping E3 for the second time. Geoff Keighley also announced he would be skipping E3 2020 for the first time in 25 years.
When asked on Twitter what fueled his decision not to participate, Keighley replied, “A ton of factors, I just don’t really feel comfortable participating given what I know about the show as of today.”
Keighly also drew attention to Steam’s efforts via a tweet. “For the past few months I’ve thought a lot about new global and digital ways we could celebrate games the summer. Today the announcement of the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition is the first preview of what’s coming together. The Festival will also expand to more platforms.”
Steam’s tweet also promises “live developer events”. Whether this means Keighly will be involved in interviews or some form of presentation is unknown, though we have reached out to him for comment.
Numerous companies (including Microsoft, Devolver Digital, and Ubisoft, but not Bethesda) announced they would be hosting their own digital events around the time E3 2020 would have happened. In addition, IGN have announced they will be hosting a “Summer of Gaming” event in June 2020
The Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition runs from June 9th to June 14th.
