Summary
The main shows forSummer Game Fest 2024have come and gone, and the in-person proceedings reminiscent of E3 have also largely wrapped up. Gamers have been left with the latest slate of trailers, previews, and interviews for a variety of upcoming titles, and even Xbox has regained some lost confidence after a strong showcase. More streams and presentations are expected to follow throughout the summer, with the absent Nintendo promising to surface later in June, butSummer Game Fest’s opening salvo has set the tone for the rest of 2024’s release schedule, as it typically does.
It could have done a better job of that, though, as many viewers noticed an underwhelming vibe spread across the past couple of weeks’ proceedings. From thelow-key PlayStation State of Playthat preceded Summer Game Fest proper, to the post-weekend Ubisoft Forward that didn’t have many new announcements, the excitement usually associated with this time of year was arguably absent. Some of this melancholy is likely owed to the lukewarm response to Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest opening night centerpiece, but there is a simple change that future shows could make to avoid that.
Having become the two largest neutral-ground showcases in the game industry, the Geoff Keighley-led Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards are naturally two of the most packed shows every year as well. The Game Awards in particular have developed a reputation for being the second “E3 season” of the year, owing to how they split their runtime between awards and trailers. While these shows struggle to match the hype of more focused presentations likeNintendo Directs and State of Plays, their sheer volume of announcements ensures that every viewer should enjoy some of the trailers present.
There’s Still Room For Summer Game Fest To Improve
At least, that’s the theory behind them. In practice, reception to most of Geoff Keighley’s shows tends to be middling at best, with many reporting boredom and exhaustion settling in as each show continues. There are a few reasons for this, though the recent Summer Game Fest 2024 Showcase had a unique issue that brought it especially low. As Geoff Keighley himself warned before the show, there would not be any major reveals or even a traditional “just one more thing” announcement as its conclusion.Horror game fans got the Blumhouse revealin spite of these constraints, but it’s clear that future shows need fail-safes to keep worst-case scenarios at bay.
Summer Game Fest Is Just Too Long
That highlights a different, and more universal, issue plaguing Geoff Keighley’s shows. For the past several years, each one has lasted anywhere from an hour and a half to three-and-a-half hours, which looks absurd next to most online game presentations clocking in between twenty and eighty minutes. It would be difficult to put any kind of cap onThe Game Awards due to the need to include nominations, speeches, trailers, commercial breaks, and musical performances, but Summer Game Fest is a different story. Whittling SGF down to around an hour would likely be a massive improvement.
The Impact Of A Shorter Summer Game Fest
A Summer Game Fest kickoff lasting one hour or a little longer could have a knock-on effect that drastically betters the event. Fewer games would be shown, allowingSummer Game Fest to focus on titlesthat will draw more interest from the audience, and reduce the number of games that feel like filler. It would take some work to narrow down what the best familiar IPs and surprises are, especially with games paying to be on-stage, but it would be worth it in the end.Summer Game Festwill have to play smart and take risks to put on a better show, but if it succeeds, it can boast of having accomplished something E3 never dared to try.
