Summer is one of the most exciting times to be a gamer, as it’s when most video game developers and publishers tease what’s coming next. For years, this was all centered around E3, but since that show went away during the COVID-19 pandemic, publishers have switched things up and held a variety of reveal-focused live-stream events throughout the entire season. This year has been no different, especially with E3 2023 is canceled.
On May 24, Sony kicked things off with a PlayStation Showcase that revealed games like a Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake and that Bungie is reviving the Marathon series. In June, though, the number of showcases ramped up. Now, things are winding down with new Tokyo Game Show-related events, as well as a second Nintendo Direct. It can be a lot to keep track of, but we’re here to help. This is every important, announcement-filled video game live stream that has taken place throughout summer 2023.
PlayStation Showcase: May 24
The PlayStation Showcase kicked things off this year on May 24. The livestream was packed with new game announcements, including Haven Studios’ Fairgame$, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Bungie’s Marathon, Firewalk Studios’ Concord, Arrowhead Studios’ Helldivers 2, and Square Enix’s Foamstars.
Meta Quest Gaming Showcase: June 1
The first major announcement-filled livestream of June was the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, where we got a look at a lot of games coming to the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, and the newly announced Meta Quest 3. The biggest reveals of this event included Samba de Amigo, Bulletstorm VR, and Asgard’s Wrath 2.
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak: Final Digital Event: June 7
On June 7, Capcom revealed a lot of new information on the Bonus Update for Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. This was also the final digital showcase dedicated to Monster Hunter Rise and its expansion, so Capcom also held a developer roundtable where they discussed the game and expansion’s developments.
Guerrilla Collective Showcase: June 7
Those who enjoy indie games tuned into the Guerrilla Collective Showcase on June 7. This will likely turn out to be one of the best summer showcases for indie games, as a wide variety of developers and publishers will show off what they have in the works via new announcements and trailers. Highlights included Europa, Demonschool, Sticky Business, and Gori: Cuddly Carnage.
Summer Game Fest: June 8
Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest showcase returned yet again on June 8, and it was a surprisingly packed showcase. We got new looks at known games like Mortal Kombat 1, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Alan Wake 2. That said, it also featured some surprising new announcements, like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Sonic Superstars, and John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando.
Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition: June 8
Just as Summer Game Fest returned on June 8, the Days of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition that directly follows it is also coming back. This showcase put the spotlight on upcoming indie games. Specifically, it featured Beastieball, Hyper Light Breaker, Simpler Times, Viewfinder, Hauntii, Cart Life, Helskate, Henry Halfhead, Cocoon, Ete, Summerhill, Eternights, Retro Gadgets, Mars First Logistics, and Saltsea Chronicles.
Devolver Direct: The Return of Volvy: June 8
Devolver Digital loves to inject a little bit of insanity into the video game reveal season every year, and 2023 is no different. On June 8, it aired Devolver Direct: The Return of Volvy. This year’s show was centered around Volvy, a totally real gaming mascot that Devolver claimed has been present for over 30 years and has appeared in games like Hotline Miami and Cult of the Lamb. If you know anything about Devolver’s shows, you know things with Volvy get weird. If you’re just concerned about games, Devolver showed off Baby Steps, Human Fall Flat 2, The Talos Principle II, and Wizard with a Gun.
Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2023: June 9
On June 9, YouTube creator LauraKBuzz held the Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2023. It included 15 games that are accessible to disabled players. Some of the games featured include Mythwrecked, Skye Tales, Space Boat, and Stories of Blossom.
Tribeca Games Spotlight: June 9
The Tribeca Festival once again held a game showcase to highlight its selections this year. This showcase gave us new looks at seven games: A Highland Song, Chants of Sennaar, Despelote, Goodbye Volcano High, Nightscape, Stray Gods, and The Expanse: A Telltale Series when it was streamed on Tribeca’s YouTube Channel on June 9.
Wholesome Direct: June 10
Cozy games that trade in intense combat and dark themes for more lighthearted aesthetics are a growing trend in the game industry, and they even have a dedicated gaming showcase. During a June 10 live stream, Wholesome Games showed footage and announcements from 70-plus indie games, including Mineko’s Night Market and Beastieball. There was also the surprise release of Smushi Come Home.
Future Games Show: June 10
GamesRader+ held another Future Games Show on June 10. It featured more than 40 new trailers for games coming out across all major gaming platforms. Some highlights from the show included new trailers for Highwater, Lords of the Fallen, and Life By You, as well as the announcements of The Precinct and VR Wallace and Gromit game The Grand Getaway.
OTK Games Expo: June 10
Streamer-run media company OTK held its second annual OTK Games Exp on June 10. This event was hosted by content creators Asmongold, Emiru, Esfand, Mizkif, and Sodapoppin and it featured new trailers for games like Atomic Picnic, Gangs of Sherwood, and Alien Hominid Invasion. OTK also used the event to reveal its new publishing label Mad Mushroom.
Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct Double Feature: June 11
On June 11, Microsoft held two showcases back-to-back. First was the Xbox Games Showcase, which featured a killer lineup of titles, including Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Fable, South of Midnight, Star Wars Outlaws, and more. Immediately after that came the Starfield Direct, where Bethesda Game Studios’ provided a meaty deep dive into its sci-fi RPG ahead of its September release.
PC Gaming Show: June 11
On June 11, PC Gamer held yet another PC Gaming Show. The primary purpose of this showcase was to highlight upcoming indie and AA games intended to release on PC over the coming months. It featured the reveals of titles like Last Train Home, Stampede: Racing Royale, and Islands of Insight, alongside new trailers for games like Frostpunk 2.
Ubisoft Forward: June 12
On June 12, Ubisoft held a Ubisoft Forward Live event. It didn’t reveal any brand-new games at this show. Instead, it used the showcase to give extended gameplay showcases for titles like Prince of Persia: The Last Crown, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Capcom Showcase: June 12
On June 12, the third annual Capcom Showcase was held. The Street Fighter 6 publisher used the show to give us new looks at titles like Exoprimal and Dragon’s Dogma 2, replay the trailers for things like Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and even give us a gameplay debut and delay announcement for Pragmata.
Xbox Games Showcase Extended: June 13
Following up Microsoft’s two June 11 presentations was Xbox Games Showcase Extended on June 13. This live stream was slower-paced and provided deeper dives into some of the games shown off during the June 11 live stream, like Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, and 33 Immortals. It also contained some smaller-scale announcements, like DLC for High On Life and a major update for Hi-Fi Rush.
Guerrilla Collective Presents Dames 4 Games and Black Voices in Gaming: June 13
Guerrilla Collective followed up its previous showcase with more programming on June 13. It began with the Dames 4 Games showcase, which highlighted women who work in the video game industry and the games that they make, like Wrestle Story, Sanya, and Dead Pets Unleashed. After that came the Black Voices in Gaming show, which did something similar for game developers from the Black community while promoting games like Breeze in the Clouds, RollerGirl, and Coreupt.
UploadVR Showcase: June 14
Following up the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase was the more indie-focused Upload VR Showcase which highlighted some of the smaller and more experimental VR titles on the horizon. That includes games like Barbaria, MADiSON VR, B99 Overclocked, Mindset, and more.
Grasshopper Direct: June 14
Grasshopper Manufacture, the Japanese studio founded by eclectic developer Suda51, held a showcase of its own on June 14. The showcase featured “exciting new announcements from Goichi “SUDA51” Suda and the rest of the Grasshopper Manufacture team.” Namely, we saw more of the remaster of Shadows of the Damned that was announced alongside this event.
RGG Summit Summer 2023: June 15
RGG Summit Summer 2023 took place on June 15, and Sega developer RGG Studios gave us new looks at the games it is working on. That included Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which got a November 8 release date at Summer Game Fest, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which got a new trailer and an early 2024 release window at the Xbox Game Showcase.
Nintendo Direct: June 21
Another Nintendo Direct took place on June 21, giving us a deep dive into Nintendo’s surprisingly packed fall lineup. Mario is set to dominate the Switch’s lineup this fall, as a Super Mario RPG remake, WarioWare: Move It!, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder were all announced. Titles like Pikmin 4 and Detective Pikachu Returns also flesh out the Nintendo Switch’s 2023 exclusives lineup.
Sonic Central 2023: June 23
Sega held a Sonic Central livestream on June 23. There, it revealed more details about Sonic Frontiers‘ next update and Sonic Superstars in addition to highlighting a bunch of brand partnerships featuring the blue hedgehog.
Behind the Sims: June 27
EA and Maxis held another Behind the Sims live stream on June 27. During that time, the developers revealed more information about The Sims 4 Horse Ranch Expansion Pack, updates for The Sims Mobile and The Sims Freeplay, and Project Rene, the next entry in the long-running series. Project Rene, in particular, is shaping up to be a gorgeous-looking title that’s playable across PC, consoles, and mobile.
Annapurna Interactive Showcase: June 29
Boutique indie game publisher Annapurna Interactive announced it would hold another showcase during the Summer Game Fest kickoff live stream. The Annapurna Interactive Showcase then took place on June 29 and featured a bunch of intriguing announcements. Cocoon, Thirsty Suitors, and the Xbox version of Stray all got release dates, while games like Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, To a T, Ghost Bike, and Lushfoil Photography Sim all got announced.
Limited Run Games Showcase: July 12
Limited Run Games held its third annual showcase on July 12. During this live stream, the physical games publisher and distributor revealed not just the next games it’s releasing physical copies of, but some new games and remasters as well. For example, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is a new platform inspired by the terrible The Legend of Zelda Phillips CD-i games. On the remaster side of things, Ocean Software’s Jurassic Park games are coming to modern platforms alongside remastered collections for series like Tomba and Gex.
Indie Live Expo Summer Spotlight: July 31
On July 31, Indie Live Expo held its first Summer Spotlight showcase. It featured reveals and new trailers for lots of indie games, including The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily, Chicken Police: Into the Hive, and more.
Devolver Delayed Showcase | 2023-2024 Edition: August 7
The Return of Volvy isn’t the only gaming live stream Devolver Digital held this summer. In its typical tongue-in-cheek fashion, Devolver held a brief showcase on August 7 to reveal that three games had been delayed into 2024. The three titles in question are The Plucky Squire, Skate Story, and Pepper Grinder.
Pokémon Presents: August 8
On August 8, another Pokémon Presents live stream took place ahead of this year’s World Championships. The Pokémon Company highlighted a lot of upcoming animated web shows and also gave us significantly deeper looks at Detective Pikachu Returns and the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero expansions.
THQ Nordic Digital Showcase: August 11
The third annual THQ Nordic Digital Showcase took place on August 11. The Embracer Group-owned game publisher highlighted several of its upcoming games, including new ones based on South Park and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The full list of games shown includes South Park: Snow Day!, Titan Quest II, a remake of Gothic, Outcast – A New Beginning, Space for Sale, Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy, Alone in the Dark, Tempest Rising, Last Train Home, Way of the Hunter’s Tikamoon Plains DLC, Wreckreation, and TMNT: The Last Ronin.
Destiny 2 Showcase: August 22
On August 22, Bungie finally held the Destiny showcase promised during the PlayStation Showcase in May. This showcase was primarily focused on revealing more about Destiny 2’s Season of the Witch, the upcoming The Final Shape expansion, and its live service plans for the game. We learned more about how The Final Shape will celebrate and cap off the story Bungie’s told across two Destiny games for the past decade and also learned that Seasons will be replaced by an Episode structure after The Final Shape launches on February 27, 2024.
Gamescom Opening Night Live: August 22
Geoff Keighley’s annual Gamescom showcase returned on August 22. Like Summer Game Fest, Gamescom Opening Night Live is a place where developers of all shapes and sizes from different corners of the industry showed off their upcoming games ahead of this large European gaming trade show. We got new looks at games like Starfield, Alan Wake 2, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage, release dates for games like Tekken 8 and Sonic Superstars, and the reveals of titles like Little Nightmares III and Expeditions during the show.
Into the Infinite: August 23
Tencent threw its hat in the summer gaming showcase ring with Into the Infinite: A Level Infinite Showcase on August 23. This showcase focused on highlighting games coming from the company’s Level Infinite publishing label and featured titles like Assassin’s Creed Jade, Delta Force: Hawk Ops, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, and more.
Future Games Show @ Gamescom: August 23
Keighley isn’t the only one who held two showcases this summer. GamesRadar+ put on another Future Games Show on August 23. The showcase mainly featured neat-looking indie and AA games like Pacific Drive, Stop Dead, Streets of Rogue 2, Eternights, RoboCop: Rogue City, AK-xolotl, and Tormented Souls 2.
Panic Games Showcase: August 29
Indie developer Panic — best known for publishing Untitled Goose Game and releasing the quirky Playdate handheld — held a showcase of its own on August 29. The showcase featured Nour: Play With Your Food, Arco, Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Time Flies, and Despelote. Publishing partnerships with Okomotive and House House were also revealed.
The Mini Indie Showcase: August 30
Six One Indie held another indie game-focused video game showcase on August 30. The showcase gave us a new look at 33 lesser-known indie games that are coming out soon, like Horla, An Ankou, Extra Coin, Wrestle Story, BioGun, and Squirrel with a Gun.
Space Marine 2 & Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Gameplay Showcase: August 30
European game publisher Focus Entertainment got in on the showcase fun as well on August 30. Everything shown at this event is right there in the title. We got extended looks at gameplay from Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, which are the publisher’s most notable games on the horizon.
Nintendo Direct: September 14
Nintendo is holding two Nintendo Direct presentations this summer, with the second set to take place at 7 a.m. PT on September 14. As for what will be shown, Nintendo simply says that the Direct will feature “roughly 40 minutes of information focused on Nintendo Switch games releasing this winter.”
RGG Summit Fall 2023: September 19
At the end of its summer summit, RGG Studio confirmed that it would hold another presentation later on in September. We’ll once again likely learn more details about Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth there, as we’re now closer to the release of both titles. The summit will air on Sega’s Twitch and YouTube channels at 8 p.m. PT on September 19.
Xbox Digital Broadcast: September 21
As part of Tokyo Game Show 2023, Microsoft will hold an Xbox Digital Broadcast at 2 a.m. PT on September 21. An Xbox Wire post about the show says the people tuning in will see “progress updates from Xbox and Bethesda Softworks and see a creatively diverse collection of games from creators predominantly located in Japan and across Asia,” in addition to some new Xbox Game Pass titles.
TGS 2023 Capcom Online Special Program: September 21
To end the summer season of game showcases, we’re getting another showcase from Capcom to line up with Tokyo Game Show 2023. This livestream will take place at 7 a.m. PT on September 21 and feature games like Street Fighter 6, Exoprimal, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, and Monster Hunter Now, plus the VR mode for Resident Evil 4’s remake.
