Summer Game Fest is nearly here, so prepare for nonstop game announcements

Summer is approaching, and that means it’s game showcase season as we wind up to Summer Game Fest on June 6. Even after E3 was (permanently) canceled, summer has remained the time to announce new video games — and the summer showcases now spread the first week of June, and seem to start earlier every year. This year, the earliest showcase is May 21.

Some of you are looking at your calendars realizing that is right now. And yes, the first showcases start today. And anyone who wants to keep up with all of the announcements this week will probably need some help, so we’re here with a full schedule of events (as best as we can put together), along with YouTube links to help you keep track of the gaming showcases in the next few weeks.

May 21

SIX ONE INDIE SHOWCASE, 9am pacific (12pm eastern)

Six One Indie will feature 61 independent games over the course of an hour and a half highlighting small developers as well as following up with a Steam event to allow demos over the next few months.

Warhammer Skulls Showcase, 9am pacific (12pm eastern)

If Grimdark is more your style, Warhammer Skulls will be celebrating the videogames of the Warhammer series, both old and new with updates to Space Marine 2, Total War Warhammer 3 and upcoming release such as Boltgun 2 and Warhammer Survivor, enough content to make you scream WAAAGH!

May 27

ActuGaming French Direct, 9am pacific (12pm eastern)

Focusing on French-developed and French-speaking games, AG French Direct will offer nearly 50 games across all genres with trailers and game play footage from The Game Bakers (CAIRN) and Dear Villagers (Dive or Die).

May 28

Thinky Direct, 10am pacific (1pm eastern)

For the second year in a row, Thinky Games will be showcasing puzzle games, from world premieres to updates of classic problem solvers.

Indie Quest, 5pm pacific (8pm eastern)

A spotlight of over 30 independent JRPG games.

June 1

Midsummer Nights Screams, 11am pacific (2pm eastern)

The Horror Game Awards will be presenting over 100 games in over 2 hours, entirely in the horror genre. Personally I’m hoping a release date for the upcoming Hellraiser game will be included.

June 2

PlayStation State of Play, 2pm pacific (5pm eastern)

Sony’s showcase will be loaded with first party games as well as those from its partners, but the only thing guaranteed so far is Insomniac Games’s Marvel’s Wolverine and Twitch chat flooding with the phrase ” Sony won.”

June 4

Latin American Games Showcase, 2pm pacific (5pm eastern)

This collection of developers highlighting the works of Latin America will feature 15 games, nine of which will be world exclusives.

Women-led Games, 4pm pacific (7pm eastern)

Expect world premieres and announcements from female game developers.

June 5

Summer Game Fest, 2pm pacific (5pm eastern)

If not the main event, the anchor program of all of the announcement shows. Expect Geoff Keighley and guests to announce and discuss the major game releases for the coming year. Hopefully we also get a Muppet or two as well.

Day of the Devs, immediately after Summer Game Fest

Tim Shafer of Double Fine returns with his annual afterparty celebrating indie games who cant make it to the big show.

June 6

Wholesome Direct, 9am pacific (12pm eastern)

If you’re drawn to games that feel like sipping hot chocolate while wearing a comfy blanket, then these 50 cozy games will be your cup of sleepytime tea.

Story-Rich Showcase, 10am pacific (1pm eastern)

Fellow Traveler (publisher of Citizen Sleeper) will have their first ever showcase focusing on narrative games, with developers such as Duck Detective’s Happy Broccoli Games.

Future Games Show Summer Showcase, 12pm pacific (3pm eastern)

Expect premieres, extended looks at games announced during Summer Game Fest, as well as an extended gameplay reveal of the scifi RPG Exodus.

Gayming Pride Parade, 12pm pacific (3pm eastern)

The premier showcase spotlighting  LGBTQ+ creators and games will feature Neon Death Drop, Cute Patoots, and Spill the Beans

June 7

Xbox Games Showcase + Gears of War E-Day Direct, 10am pacific (1pm eastern)

The showcase of all things Microsoft and its partners (including Activision, Blizzard, Obsidian, and Bethesda) will immediately be followed by a look at the upcoming Gears of War E-Day. Expect to find me in the chat going “Fallout 5 when?”

PC Gamer PC Gaming Show, immediately after the Gears of War Direct that’s immediately after the Xbox showcase

Join Day9, Frankie Ward, Mica Burton, and ELZ as they have their annual showcase focusing entirely on upcoming PC games and upcoming PC hardware.

There are just too many showcases

Don’t panic thinking you’re going to miss any of these showcases, because even if you can’t watch them live, they’ll all be on YouTube to watch later. (And there are so many of them that you may want to space things out.) And there may be more showcases to come:  Devolver Digital hasn’t announced an, but it’s often scheduled after Day of the Devs. Other developers will also be posting trailers and announcements during these days, even if they aren’t tied to any showcase. It’s just not possible to watch everything as it happens, but thankfully you can go back and watch anything you’re interested in on YouTube later.

If you’re in the Blizzard Watch Discord, we have a channel dedicated to non Blizzard titles that is usually flooded during the busy summer gaming season with readers and staff going “I want to play that!” so join us to keep up with chatter on the upcoming flood of announcements.