What were your favorite announcements from the Summer Game Fest weekend?

Summer Game Fest 2024 happened this weekend, and there were a lot of announcements — including from Blizzard. Starting with that, we finally got the release dates for World of Warcraft: The War Within (August 26) — in a cool new trailer — and Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred (October 8) — in a horrifying new trailer. For the latter game, we also got a plethora of new information, including the official announcement of the (previously datamined) Spiritborn class, and, at last, the addition of collectible pets to the game — which, by the way, are live right now! Go to Kyovashad to grab your very good boy!

Some big new games were announced that made us really excited, like Civilization 7 and a new episode of Life is Strange called Double Exposure. Remasters of popular titles from the past were also revealed, including Age of Mythology: Retold, and a full remake for the beloved Perfect Dark. Established franchises like Fallout 76, Starfield, Alan Wake, and Doom got new content (or titles) showcased for them — much of the Blizzard Watch staff went bananas with the trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard in particular. And we also got more details (and breakdowns) for upcoming titles we’re excited about like Metaphor: ReFantazio. 

Speaking of new games now, several brand-new titles were announced that look interesting (and we’ve already put in our wishlists), like Neva — a very beautiful-looking title from the creators of GRIS — as well as the surreal-looking turn-based RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the whimsical South of Midnight with its giant talking catfish, and the stylish soulslike WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers. We also got exciting announcements on side events like Day of the Devs and Wholesome Games, including a few games that the staff is excited about — such as Wanderstop and Tom the Post Girl.

But for me, personally, the announcement that stole the show was the reveal trailer for Year 2 for Street Fighter 6. Somehow, M. Bison has returned. Elena is also joining the game — a character from Street Fighter 3 who went on to become the single most powerful character in Street Fighter 4 due to her Healing ability. But the big surprise that absolutely shattered all expansions in the fighting game community was the news that Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui from the Fatal Fury series are joining Street Fighter 6! It’s the first time that a mainline Street Fighter game has ever received guest characters — a historical moment. And this also hints of the old partnership between Capcom and SNK, which gave us marvelous titles like, well, Capcom vs. SNK 2 — often recognized as one of the best fighting games ever made.

And there was still so much more that I’m not mentioning here — seriously, this weekend was a real feast for gamers when it comes to announcements! So I turn to you: which announcements from the Summer Game Fest (and its adjacent events) were your favorites?