Since running its first iteration during last year’s The Game Awards, The Game Festival has continued to be a great way for developers to get early versions of their upcoming games into player’s hands. The Spring Edition ran as something of a replacement for GDC, and now Valve and Geoff Keighley are back again with a summer version. The Summer Edition will, to some extent, give players a taste of what might’ve been available at this summer’s E3. Obviously, it’s not an exact replacement, but it is something you can do for free, without even leaving the house. Give it a look below.
For the past few months I've thought a lot about new global and digital ways we could celebrate games the summer. Today the announcement of the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition is the first preview of what's coming together. The Festival will also expand to more platforms. pic.twitter.com/Cl2mDtRCi2
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) April 13, 2020
While details about which developers are making their games available is understandably light, we at least have a start date. The Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition kicks off on June 9 and runs for a full week. Before it was canceled due to COVID-19, those were the same dates E3 was scheduled to run. Of course, that makes sense, but it does make you wonder if Valve had something like this planned regardless if E3 happened or not.
Potentially the most interesting part of this announcement is Keighley saying “The Festival will also expand to more platforms”. Previously, The Game Festival has only been on PC via Steam. Opening it up to more platforms is a great move for the community. Obviously, it could mean extra work for developers trying to get a demo ready for multiple consoles, but the benefits could outweigh the time investment. It’s worth paying attention to how many companies decide to bring a demo something besides PC.
The Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition launches on June 9. You’ll have until June 14 to check out all the great games available for demo.
The post Valve and Geoff Keighley Announce The Game Festival: Summer Edition by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.