Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest showcase

Summer Game Fest Lineup

Cuffbust – From the solo developer behind the horror train hit, Choo Choo Charles, this new project featuring cute and chaotic prison break gameplay will be coming next year. The character designs are adorable, and the trailer promises wacky multiplayer action in a crazy environment.

Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 – There were a lot of rumors about this in the lead-up to the show, and it is now official. This showing even included Sid Meier coming out in person to announce the newest entry in one of gaming’s biggest franchises. Fans of the historical 4X turn-based grand strategy juggernaut will have to wait until 2025 when it releases on PC and consoles.

Street Fighter 6 Year 2 Characters Announced – This is a game that needs no introduction, and fans of the fighting game behemoth will be getting M. Bison this summer, followed by Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard (in the fall) and Mai Shiranui (this winter) as well as Elena from Street Fighter 3 in the spring of 2025.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero – The newest entry in the Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi series is coming this Fall. Everyone who loves the historic anime and the many games spawned from the world created by legendary mangaka, Akira Toriyama, will be excited to jump into the high-flying fighting game action they have come to expect from this series. They seem to be trying something different with the story mode in this entry, with the option of playing through the well trod storyline of the series while being given options of changing decisions to see how things will play out differently. The trailer also promises a release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC coming October 11.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves – The first new entry for SNK’s Fatal Fury in quite some time, this feels like a huge announcement for some while others will be introduced to this series for the first time. Those familiar with the King of Fighters series will find familiar ground in one of the great fighting game franchises of yesteryear. An early 2025 release date for PS4 and PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC means that players won’t have to wait long to check it out.

Monster Hunter Wilds – Another showing from the upcoming Monster Hunter sequel just goes to show how much CAPCOM is putting into this new entry. This time, we got even more info about the open-world action/adventure hunting experience we can expect next year. That included an appearance on stage from series producer, Ryozo Tsujimoto, who promised another look later this summer at Gamescom Opening Night Live.

Metaphor: ReFantazio – Atlus and Studio Zero have brought joy to millions with hits like Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, and now they look to be doing it again with this new IP that seems to be delivering more of the same great turn-based fantastical strategy gameplay – though now it is coming to high-fantasy setting unlike anything we’ve gotten from them before. The anime cinematics looks stellar, as always, and the new trailer gave more information on the job system that will be at the heart of this new experience from one of the best studios in the business. The October 11 release date isn’t new information, but still doesn’t fail to get me hyped.

Six New Titles From Blumhouse Games – The movie studio, Blumhouse, who has taken so many indie horror films and propelled them into massive hits is taking a crack at doing something similar in the gaming space. There had been rumors of Blumhouse’s involvement in this showcase for a while, but most people thought there would be a game – possibly from one of their existing IPs – that they would show the world at SGF. It turns out, they aren’t just making a single game, but helping to produce six different indie horror titles, the soonest of which is Fear The Spotlight from Cozy Game Pals. The other titles coming under this heading are Crisol Theater of Idols from Vermila Studios, Grave Seasons from Perfect Garbage, Sleep Awake from Eyes Out, The Simulation from PlayMeStudio, and Project C from Sam Barlow and Brandon Cronenberg.

Alan Wake 2: Night Springs – Remedy took the gaming world by storm last year with Alan Wake 2’s esoteric insanity and creepy atmosphere. Sam Lake came out to bring some big news to everyone. Now, the highly anticipated DLC is here with 3 separate hour long episodes that feature terrifying and quirky what-if scenarios played out in the Twilight Zone inspired in-universe show called Night Springs. If you are reading this, then it is out now for you to check out if you’ve played the base game. And if you haven’t, what are you doing? Go check it out now!

Slitterhead – Coming from ex-Silent Hill developers, this game has carried a bit of hype for a hardcore audience since it was first announced, and we finally got the chance to see a little more about it here. It may not be what you were expecting because the gameplay revealed showed some wild action mechanics such as making machine guns and swords out of human blood so you can do battle against horribly mutated monsters. The ability to jump from person to person looks like a sandbox of interesting possibilities, but much more action-focused than their previous works. Luckily, this trailer did come with a release date of November 8, 2024. So we’ll get to see what this game is really about before too long.

Dune: Awakening – This is a survival MMO from Funcom, and it continues to show off some great visuals – although this was all cinematic cutscenes. This was a very story-led trailer setting up the premise of trying to create a world without Paul Atreides. No specifics were available, so fans will have to keep a look out for more info in the future.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind – Digital Eclipse is a developer known for its stunning retro renditions of beloved franchises, and they seem to have done it again with this new Power Rangers arcade beat ’em up. The pixel art graphics are beautiful. The multiplayer arcade gameplay looks delightful and action-packed. And the animated cutscenes appear to be created with loving detail-oriented reverence – which is what we have come to expect from these guys. There is no release date available, so we may have to wait a while for this new experience, but it looks like it will be well worth it.

Cairn – This was another reveal from an in-person appearance as the creators of indie darlings, Furi and Haven, came out to announce an intense and stylish look at their new game. The gameplay is centered on mountain climbing. The visual aesthetics combine gritty realism with a vibrant stylized art desing that really makes the character pop in a world of stone and sheer cliff faces.

Wanderstop – Annapurna Interactive have teamed up with Ivy Road, led by Davey Wreden – who is known for creating The Stanley Parable – and Karla Zimonja – cocreator of Gone Home and Tacoma – and Daniel “C418” Rosenfield – the composer behind the iconic music of Minecraft. This game shows off a cute and cozy art style and features a narrative of a ex-fighter named Alta who now manages an adorable little tea shop in a magical forest. However, darker undertones in her past are referenced, and you are invited to wonder if she is as content in her new life as she seems. Knowing the people behind this, I would be surprised if the game went in a direction that you predict. There was no news on a release date, but it is coming to PS5 and PC at some point.

Sonic X Shadow Generations – This announcement got a huge reception from the live audience, as you would imagine. The Year Of Shadow continues to roll on with this new remaster of Sonic Generations featuring an extra does of Shadow the Hedgehog. It is coming to all consoles October 25.

Valorant Coming To Consoles – Riot Games struck gold with their tactical team-based shooter, and now it is going to be available on Xbox Series X and PS5 later this year. The trailer showed a lot of the gameplay we’ve come to expect from Valorant, and it was all captured on console and controller. There will be a limited beta available June 14.

Hyper Light Breaker – Heart Machine came out with Hyper Light Drifter in 2016, and their long awaited 3D sequel is almost here. We got a lengthy look at what to expect this late summer when the Early Access comes to Steam.

Delta Force: Hawk Ops – This is the latest installment in the classic Delta Force franchise. This new shooter will include multiplayer PvP and an extraction mode. Not only that, but this new entry will include a full remaster of the original Delta Force: Black Hawk Down game (based on the movie by Ridley Scott).

Neva – This latest look at the new game from Nomada Studios, the developer behind indie hit Gris, gave us an idea of the emotional adventure we can expect to go on as we experience the story of young woman named Alba. She is bound to a curious wolf cub following a traumatic encounter with dark forces, and together they embark on a perilous journey through a once-beautiful world as it slowly decays around them. The visual art style on display is fantastic, and the emotion behind the characters and story shine through even the brief glimpse we get here.

Black Myth: Wukong – This game is coming out August 20, and this wasn’t much more than a reminder that it is right around the corner. The graphical fidelity continues to be jaw dropping, but there wasn’t much here we haven’t seen before.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess – We saw more of CAPCOM’s newest fantasy-stategy-action title, which showed pschodelic monsters and fantastical combat. The character and creature designs are easily a highlight, and this trailer even came with a release date. July 19 is going to be here before we know it. I did not expect it to be coming so soon, but I can’t wait to check it out for myself as I haven’t really been able to get a decent read on it until now.

Phantom Blade 0 – The show was capped off with a new look at the upcoming character action game by S-Game. It looks even more Sekiro-like than ever, and the character animations in combat look so smooth that I don’t know how they are pulling it off. There is still no sign of a release date coming from these guys, but there is a world tour demo starting off at Summer Game Fest before going ChinaJoy in Shanghai, Gamescom in Cologne, and capping off with Tokyo Game Show in September.

This showcase felt a bit bloated at times, and honestly could’ve been a bit shorter. But, it did its job of showing off what is to come and what to look forward to. I appreciate that Geoff Keighley actually did mention the layoffs and studio closures that have blighted the industry recently. It was far from a scathing indictment of the industry bigwigs who put their financial growth ahead of the developers that generate their wealth, but this was never going to be the platform for that anyway. I think what he said was about as much as you can expect. He also started off the show by highlighting that 8 of the top 10 most popular games of the year so far have been indie titles. This year has been carried by games like that, and the rest of the year will continue in a similar vien. That was born out throughout this showcase, and is indicative of a healthy diversity in the industry – in my opinion. Not everything needs to be, or should be, a big tent-pole blockbuster. Those are alot the games we saw this year, and it looks like next year, we’ll have more marque names to look forward to. However, until then, I hope this little breakdown helped you pick out some favorites from this show and introduced you to something you will genuinely enjoy for the rest of the year.

Thank you so much sharing your video game enthusiasm with the Gamer Log. This is the time of year for everybody to share their passion and enjoy getting hyped up for what we can expect moving forward. It is so appreciated that you allowed the Gamer Log to join you in that excitement. There is more to come this weekend, so we look forward to breaking down the rest of Summer Game Fest for you.