After E3 2023 was canceled, the biggest competitor speaks out. Game journalist Geoff Keighley reminisces about previous events, explains why E3 had to fail, and cheekily promotes his Summer Game Fest.
Who is Geoff Keighley?
- Geoff Keighley is a Canadian video game journalist who produced shows and content for various companies early on.
- In recent years, he often appears as a host, including at the Game Awards and the Opening Night Live of the gamescom.
- With the Summer Game Fest, Keighley has launched his own gaming fair, where publishers and developers can showcase their games as an alternative to E3.
This is what Keighley says now: After the announcement that E3 2023 was canceled, Keighley speaks out on Twitter. The reason for E3 was that there was no longer enough interest for the event to meet its demands.
Keighley recalls that he was already there at the first E3 15 years ago but noticed back in 2019 that E3 had no future: “[E3] did not evolve as it needed to in order to compete in a global, digital world.” (via Twitter)
The E3 meant a lot to Keighley, as he asserts, even saluting in another tweet. Therefore, he built what would be “the next thing,” his Summer Game Fest. Keighley reminds that it is scheduled to take place on June 8th.
One of the major announcements in 2022 was a game from former Blizzard employees:
The Summer Game Fest 2023 takes place
What is the Summer Game Fest? The Summer Game Fest, or SGF for short, first took place in 2020 as an alternative to the canceled E3. The E3 could not take place at that time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keighley planned his event directly as a digital fair, where thousands of people would not have to meet and spread infection. Over the years, the Summer Game Fest grew into a real alternative.
When E3 2022 was canceled again, it hardly bothered anyone at that time. The Summer Game Fest was already an established event that could take its place.
When does the Summer Game Fest take place? On June 8th, the Summer Game Fest 2023 takes place, for the first time as a live event, like the E3 used to be. It will be broadcasted from the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
Which participants will be there is still uncertain. However, last year well-known developers such as Activision, Bandai Namco, Epic Games, Xbox, and EA were present. However, the games presented were quite monotonous:
