Geoff Keighley loves a spectacle. You could see it in the neon-soaked stage of the YouTube Theater. People keep calling it the new E3, but honestly? It’s something else entirely now.
Summer Game Fest 2024 wasn't just a stream of trailers. It was a massive, high-stakes gamble on the future of how we find new games. Some folks walked away disappointed because there was no "one more thing" like a new Elden Ring expansion or GTA VI. But if you were looking for that, you sort of missed the point of the whole show.
💡 You might also like: Risk of Rain 2 Obliterate: Is It Actually Worth Giving Up a God Run?
The industry is in a weird spot.
Layoffs are everywhere. Budgets are ballooning. Yet, Keighley managed to pull together over 55 partners for this thing. We saw everything from a brick-built post-apocalypse to a tactical FPS set in the 90s. It was a lot to take in over two hours.
The Big Names That Actually Showed Up
You’ve probably seen the headlines about LEGO Horizon Adventures. It’s a weird mashup, right? PlayStation taking one of their most serious, self-important franchises and turning it into a goofy co-op romp for the Nintendo Switch. Yeah, you read that correctly. It’s coming to Switch. That alone was a massive "wait, what?" moment for anyone watching the stream live.
Then there was the Civilization VII teaser.
It didn't show gameplay. People got a bit salty about that on Twitter. But Firaxis doesn't usually miss, and the promise of a 2025 release across consoles and PC is enough to keep strategy fans vibrating for a while.
Let's talk about the heavy hitters:
- Doom: The Dark Ages: A prequel that looks like someone shoved Doom into a medieval meat grinder. You have a shield. You have a flail. It’s glorious.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6: Set in the 90s during the Gulf War. They used "Firestarter" by The Prodigy in the trailer, which basically told us exactly what kind of chaotic energy Treyarch is chasing this time.
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard: BioWare finally showed off the game formerly known as Dreadwolf. It’s got a very specific, stylized look that has the fan base split down the middle.
Why Summer Game Fest 2024 Felt Different
A lot of the "E3 era" was about corporate suits in ties pretending to be gamers. Keighley’s show is different because it feels like a giant commercial, sure, but it’s a commercial run by a guy who actually knows these developers personally.
Sam Lake from Remedy showed up to announce that Alan Wake 2: Night Springs was dropping... well, right then. That kind of "available now" moment is what keeps people glued to these streams.
But it wasn't all big budgets.
The mid-tier and indie stuff actually carried a lot of the weight. Cuffbust looks like absolute madness. It’s a prison escape game where you play as these weird "Jailiens." It’s coming from the guy who made Choo-Choo Charles, so you know it's going to be unhinged.
Then you had Neva, the new project from the creators of Gris. If you didn't get a little misty-eyed watching that wolf cub, I don't know what to tell you. It’s beautiful in a way that most AAA games just can't touch.
The VR Elephant in the Room
One of the most controversial reveals at Summer Game Fest 2024 was Batman: Arkham Shadow. People have been begging for a new Arkham game for years. We finally got one!
🔗 Read more: Why My Singing Monsters Bowgart Is Still the MVP of Your Plant Island
The catch? It’s a Meta Quest 3 exclusive.
You could almost hear the collective groan from everyone who doesn't want to strap a headset to their face. But Camouflaj (the developers) have a solid track record with Iron Man VR. It might actually be good, even if it’s not the Arkham Knight sequel everyone imagined in their heads.
What Most People Are Missing
The narrative online was that the show was "too long" or "too many ads."
Maybe.
But look at the numbers. Reports from mid-2025 indicated that Summer Game Fest 2024 and its associated events pulled in record-breaking viewership, nearly doubling the previous year's reach with over 50 million livestreams. People are watching. The demand for a "central hub" for gaming news hasn't gone away just because E3 died.
The "big" publishers are doing their own thing now—Xbox had a massive showcase right after, and Ubisoft followed suit. SGF is basically the glue that holds all these disparate events together. Without it, you’d just have a dozen random streams scattered across a week with no connective tissue.
Actionable Insights for the Rest of the Year
If you're trying to keep up with everything that was announced, don't try to track it all at once. You'll go crazy. Instead, focus on these specific steps to stay ahead of the curve:
💡 You might also like: Logo Quiz Red Logo: Why Everyone Gets These Simple Brand Challenges Wrong
- Check the Demos: A ton of the indie games shown, like Phantom Blade Zero and Wanderstop, often have limited-time demos on Steam shortly after these events. Go look for them.
- Game Pass is King: Black Ops 6 and several other titles from the showcase are Day One Game Pass releases. If you're on the fence about buying a $70 game, the subscription is basically the only way to stay sane.
- Watch the "Day of the Devs": This is the curated indie section that usually follows the main SGF show. It’s where the actual "art" is. If the main show feels too much like a series of explosions, this is your palate cleanser.
- Update Your Wishlist: The Steam algorithm relies heavily on wishlists. Even if you don't plan on buying Civilization VII on day one, wishlisting it helps the devs and ensures you get the notification when the gameplay reveal hits in August.
Summer Game Fest 2024 proved that the "Summer of Gaming" is no longer a single week in Los Angeles. It’s a rolling thunder of announcements that starts in June and doesn't really stop until the holiday season. Keighley is the ringleader, but the games—from the massive shooters to the tiny climbing simulators—are the real stars.