E3 was originally scheduled to take place in June and was one of the first major conventions to be canceled when the corona virus spread around the world. Gamescom and various PAX events followed. As the past few weeks have shown, companies without E3 can still announce games and generate hype. However, one of the best parts of the gaming conventions is the ability to play the titles revealed by developers. You need a physical exhibition space to do that, right?
Not correct.
In a blog post on Tuesday, Microsoft announced the Summer Game Fest, an event with a nebulous name that’s more exciting than it sounds. Between July 21st and 27th, Xbox One owners can play demos for Xbox One games that range from “75 to 100”.
Eight of them were revealed on Tuesday: Destroy All Humans !, Haven, Hellpoint, Skatebird, The Vale, Raji: An Ancient Epic, Welcome to Elk and Cris Tales. Glenn Gregory, Marketing Manager at Xbox, said in the blog post that the remaining games will be named closer to July 21.
Gregory noticed that the demos you play are different from the demos you normally encounter. Normal demos are sections from completed games, while the sections you play are still in progress. “Something [demos] are meant for games that won’t come out for some time, “he said. He also encouraged readers to tell developers of these upcoming games what they liked or disliked about the games they tried.
June should be one of the biggest game months of the year due to the E3. But despite the cancellation of Congress, we still got a lot of news last month. Above all, Sony has finally launched the PlayStation 5 (although not yet priced) and a number of new games, including Horizon Forbidden West. After The Last of Us Part 2 launched and immediately became a polarizing game, we got a glimpse of Cyberpunk 2077, probably the largest game yet to be released in 2020.
The next few months promise more announcements, revelations and previews as both Sony and Microsoft are expanding the hype machines for their respective next-generation consoles. Microsoft’s next big batsman? The master chief himself.