Summer Game Fest will focus on existing games, so don't hype yourself up for 'games that are years and years out,' says Geoff Keighley

Geoff Keighley on Twitch for a Q&A session ahead of the 2024 Summer Game Fest.

(Image credit: The Game Awards)

In the wake of E3's demise, Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest has emerged as its self-appointed heir. SGF livestreams in years past have brought big reveals like 2021's Elden Ring gameplay, and we should expect more of that kind of thing this year, according to Keighley: That is, trailers and announcements related to games we already know about, rather than earth-shattering reveals of unannounced games.

Keighley recently hopped onto a Twitch Q&A session for some "expectation setting" for this year's presentation. According to Keighley, while the 2-hour showcase will have plenty of trailers to show, it'll mostly consist of "existing games that have new updates for fans"—new content for released games, or trailers for games that have already been announced.

"This is not a show that has a lot of like, 'coming in 2026' or '2027' or teasers for games that are years and years out," Keighley said.

We do already know some of what we'll see at SGF on Friday—I am, as always, looking forward to more Monster Hunter Wilds previews—and Keighley said that "there will be, definitely, new announcements," even if they're not blockbuster reveals. Maybe if the stars align, we'll be lucky enough for a back-to-back Nic Cage appearance. Anything can happen if you dare to dream.

Keighley was pretty candid in saying that if you're looking for the huge surprise announcements, you're more likely to find those at the other tentpole of the Keighleyverse: The Game Awards at the end of the year, when—unlike in the summer—the major publishers don't always have their own events for big reveals. As a result, Keighley said the Game Awards "has a lot of usually big surprises," while SGF is "largely focused on announced stuff."

Luckily, if you're worried that you'll be left hungry for game previews, there are plenty of other showcases running throughout the week. Check out our SGF 2024 schedule for the full preview event lineup, including our own PC Gaming Show, airing at 1pm PDT on Sunday, June 9.

Lincoln spent his formative years in World of Warcraft, and hopes to someday recover from the experience. Having earned a Creative Writing degree by convincing professors to accept his papers about Dwarf Fortress, he leverages that expertise in his most important work: judging a video game’s lore purely on the quality of its proper nouns. With writing at Waypoint and Fanbyte, Lincoln started freelancing for PC Gamer in Fall of 2021, and will take any excuse to insist that games are storytelling toolkits—whether we’re shaping those stories for ourselves, or sharing them with others. Or to gush about Monster Hunter.