Long ago, in a time before ubiquitous internet access, a package was hand-delivered to American doorsteps nationwide each autumn. Inside its shrink-wrapped packaging was the Sears catalog, a thousand or more shiny pages signaling the annual holiday gift hype cycle with a glossy bacchanalia.
 
To kids, only a few dozen pages mattered—the ones where wide-eyed, spiky-haired models gawked and pointed and smiled at VHS tapes recently escaped from the Disney vault and see-through diagrams of combustion engines. And video games. Untold riches of video games for systems old, new, and mysterious.
 
Sears and its catalog are all but gone, and nobody waits for a physical delivery to learn what’s coming this holiday season anymore. In fact, for video game fans in recent decades, the hype cycle has crept back into the summer.
 
And we stand on that very cusp right now.
 
Summers are full of big reveals for video game fans. It’s been that way for decades, starting as far back as 1995 with the first Electronic Entertainment Expo, where video game makers, retail buyers, and press gathered in person to make the case for their games and the industry as a whole.
 
Thanks to the internet and the rise of online publications, the show, better known as E3, became the prism through which some of the year’s biggest video game news traveled to fans in real time.
 
Like the Sears catalog, E3 is in the past now. But the fans, video game hype, and marketing cycle all still survive. Summer Game Fest is becoming the new focal point, a kickoff event that unfolds across several days of announcements and updates from all corners of the video game industry.
 
This year is no exception, as the festivities begin during the first week of June 2024. It’ll be a summer packed with trailers, release dates, announcements, world premieres, and more than a few surprises. It always is.
 
In the Epic Games Store’s guide to summer 2024 gaming events, we’ll tell you what’s happening, when it’s happening, how to watch, and what to expect.
 

Summer Game Fest 

June 7-9, 2024

Summer Game Fest, or SGF, is a celebration of video games and their creators, kicking off in 2024 with a live broadcast from the heart of Los Angeles at the YouTube Theater. Like E3, it serves as a platform-agnostic kickoff for video game events.
 
“SGF was another example of building something out of necessity, to fill a void left by others,” host Geoff Keighley told the Epic Games Store last year. “Where possible, we try to also highlight other best-in-class events, like Day of the Devs and a Wholesome Direct, that are happening during [The Game Awards] week too. And we love working with gamescom in Europe on Opening Night Live.”

Summer Game Fest 2023 was two hours of nonstop video game news, updates, and world premieres. It included news about games like Alan Wake 2, Remnant 2, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Immortals of Aveum, which our guide to the best early-game talents will help you with, among many others.
 
“I think Summer Game Fest has a chance to talk to the developers and showcase games and give a little bit more context around games,” Keighley continued. “We’re not giving out awards in the show. It really is just kind of a showcase of games.”

This year’s show will include more than 55 developers and publishers. That encompasses companies behind a wide variety of games including Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Borderlands 3: Director’s Cut, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, LEGO 2K Drive, Madden NFL 25, Saints Row, The Talos Principle 2, and many, many more.
 

Summer Game Fest times

Summer Game Fest 2024 includes several days of events. Here’s the quick schedule. We’ll discuss each event in detail, and show you how to watch them below.
 
Friday, June 7, 2024

• Summer Game Fest Showcase at 5 PM EDT / 2 PM PDT
• Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition immediately following the SGF Showcase

Saturday, June 8, 2024

• Wholesome Direct at 12 PM EDT / 9 AM PDT
• Latin American Games Showcase at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT
• Women-Led Games at 2:30 PM EDT / 11:30 AM PDT

Sunday, June 9, 2024

• Xbox Games Showcase at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT
• PC Gaming Show at 4 PM EDT / 1 PM PDT

You can watch them all live on Twitch and YouTube.
 

Day of the Devs

Friday, June 7, 2024, immediately following the Summer Game Fest Showcase

Day of the Devs is a celebration of independent games established in 2012 as a collaboration between two well-respected companies.
 
On the developer side is Double Fine Productions, creator of games like Costume Quest, which Epic Games Store contributor Juno Stump described as “delightful and atmospheric from start to finish,” as well as its sequel Costume Quest 2.

Double Fine’s partner is iam8bit, a self-described “creative production emporium” that regularly collaborates with game-makers to create vinyl video game soundtracks, art installations, and more. In recent years, iam8bit served as publisher for games like Escape Academy and its DLC, Escape From Anti-Escape Island and Escape From the Past, as well as Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for the Stale Gum.

You can watch Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition on Twitch and YouTube.
 

Guerrilla Collective

June 6-7, 2024 

The two-day event kicks off with the Guerrilla Collective Online Showcase livestream on Thursday, June 6, at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT. Organizers are teasing announcements, reveals, trailers, and gameplay showcases. 

The next day, from 5 PM to 10 PM PDT at the Grammy Museum's Rooftop Terrace in Los Angeles, Guerrilla Collective will have an on-site showcase with games, developers, and complimentary food and drinks. 

Guerrilla Collective held its first of several events a few years ago, and previous games highlighted include Selfloss, the adventure game based on Icelandic and Slavik folklore, Spirit of the North 2, the lush exploration game where you play as a fox on a quest to restore lost guardians, and Aerial_Knight's We Never Yield, a parkour action game infused with a beat-focused soundtrack. 

You can watch the Guerrilla Collective Online Showcase on Twitch and YouTube.
 

Devolver Direct

Friday, June 7, 2024, at 8 PM EDT / 5 PM PDT

Devolver Digital’s irreverent showcase returns in 2024, themed as a 15th birthday party for Volvy, the indie game publisher’s mascot. Tune in for updates on existing games, release date announcements, and reveals. 

Devolver’s current slate of games includes: the spectacular, jazz-drum-infused Ape Out; Carrion, the infinitely creepy horror game where you play as the monster; KarmaZoo, a cooperative platformer that connects random players; Minit, an adventure game that you play 60 seconds at a time; and Sludge Life 2, “the grimiest first-person vandalism sim since the first Sludge Life.” 

You can watch the Devolver Direct on Twitch and YouTube. 
 

Future of Play Direct

Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 11 AM EDT / 8 AM PDT

The self-described “harmless video game showcase” is back, hosted once again by VTuber Melios. It’s a show from the folks behind Glitch, a “creator-led, cooperatively owned movement backing bold new forms of play and the people who define them.” 

Future of Play Direct will include news from Mighty Yell, developer of adventure game The Big Con, Texel Raptor, creator of theme park development sim Parkitect, and Mechanistry, which will have updates on its beaver-based, city-building game Timberborn, among others.

You can watch the Future of Play Direct on YouTube. 
 

Future Games Show Summer Showcase

Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 3 PM EDT / 12 PM PDT

GamesRadar’s show returns in 2024 with Roger Clark, who played Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, hosting. Future Games Show Spring Showcase, held earlier this year, included updates on games like Hauntii and Still Wakes the Deep. 

Check out our interview with Hauntii’s developers to learn more about the hand-drawn, twin-stick shooter about a ghost trying to escape eternity.

You can watch the Future Games Show Summer Showcase on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and X (Twitter).
 

Wholesome Direct 

Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 12 PM EDT / 9 AM PDT

Wholesome Direct is a showcase of indie games that, according to its curators, engender feelings of comfort, compassion, and coziness. 

Previous showcases have included games from the developers of Eastward as well as details on the open-world farming adventure Lightyear Frontier and Mail Time, which Epic Games Store contributor Sarah Thwaites describes as a “cottagecore dream.”

You can watch the Wholesome Direct on Twitch and YouTube.
 

Latin American Games Showcase

Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT

The Latin American Games Showcase is an effort to call attention to video games developed in the LATAM region of the world, which stretches from Mexico through Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and surrounding countries all the way down to the tip of South America.

Previous versions of the showcase have highlighted games like Halberd Studios’ pixel art, anime-inspired Metroidvania 9 Years of Shadows, the dog-rescuing roguelike bullet hell platformer FROGUE, and BEHEMUTT’s factory-building sim Nova Lands. 

You can watch the Latin American Games Showcase on Twitch and YouTube. 
 

Woman-Led Games

Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 2:30 PM EDT / 11:30 AM PDT

Woman-Led Games is a showcase of games from studios where women are the majority and in positions of power. “Women don’t need to ask for a seat at the table,” the official site says, “we’re creating the spaces we want to see.”

Earlier this year, a version of the showcase included games like SunnySide, RainyGames’ farming simulator set in the Japanese countryside; Critter Crops, Skyreach Studio’s isometric role-playing and management game that follows a girl banished for practicing magic; and Ova Magica, which its developers at Top Hat Studios describe as Stardew Valley meets Pokémon. 

You can watch the Woman-Led Games presentation on Twitch and YouTube. 
 

Xbox Games Showcase

Sunday, June 9, 2024, at 1 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT

The Xbox Games Showcase is an annual celebration for all things Xbox, which means games headed both to Microsoft’s game console and PC. The slate of revels includes those from Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, and Xbox Game Studios as well as third-party studios.  

Microsoft’s gaming holdings are vast. Bethesda’s catalog alone includes Fallout 4, which is as great today as it was when it released in 2015, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which gives players reasons to return year after year, and The Elder Scrolls Online, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Be sure to read our interview with Matt Firor and Rich Lambert—veterans who have shepherded ESO for more than 17 years—to learn how it stumbled, adjusted, survived, and ultimately thrived. 

You can watch the Xbox Games Showcase on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube. 
 

PC Gaming Show

Sunday, June 9, 2024, at 4 PM EDT / 1 PM PDT

The PC Gaming Show is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2024 with a slate of more than 70 games. That includes an exclusive update on Killing Floor 3, the latest entry in developer Tripwire Interactive’s gory co-op FPS series. Killing Floor 2 could hold you over until its release with its native cross-play and cross-friend invites. The show will also include details about Stormgate’s next faction—and you can learn more about how Unreal Engine is empowering Stormgate’s creation from developer Frost Giant Studios CEO and Production Director Tim Campbell. 

The show will also have news about Takibi Games’ turn-based strategy game Mars Tactics as well as Citizen Sleeper 2, the sequel to Citizen Sleeper, a role-playing game that rewards helping others with a sense of hope to the rhythms of a great soundtrack. 

You can watch the PC Gaming Show on Twitch and YouTube. 
 

Ubisoft Forward

Monday, June 10, 2024

There will surely be plenty of news and announcements about Ubisoft’s portfolio of games, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is set in feudal Japan; Star Wars Outlaws, the first open-world Star Wars game; and current titles like the pirate-themed RPG Skull and Bones.

Tune into Ubisoft Forward on Twitch and YouTube.
 

Tribeca Games Gallery

June 12-16, 2024

The Tribeca Games Gallery is part of the Tribeca Festival, which takes place every year in New York. The festival’s roots are in film, but it has been incorporating gaming for more than a decade. This is the fourth year that video games have been part of the event’s official selections, each of which is eligible to win the Tribeca Games Award. 

“This year’s selections demonstrate how incredible storytelling through video games can forge deep connections between its audience and the characters in its stories,” Casey Baltes, vice president of Tribeca Games & Immersive, said in a statement announcing this year’s games lineup. “These titles showcase such vastly different voices, gameplay, and visual styles, and we’re excited for attendees to discover how each of these stories will transport them to new realms, offer unique perspectives, and evoke powerful emotions.”

Games available to play in person at Pier 57 include the upcoming Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure from developer Furniture & Mattress and Thank Goodness You're Here!, an “absurd comedy slapformer,” as its creators at Coal Supper describe it. 

On June 14 at 7:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM PDT, there’s also a presentation about remaking Final Fantasy VII with the remake’s director Naoki Hamaguchi and the original game’s director and producer, Yoshinori Kitase.
 

IGN Live

June 7-9, 2024, from 1 PM to 9 PM EDT / 10 AM to 6 PM PDT at Los Angeles’ Magic Box @ The Reef

IGN’s summer event will focus on video games but also include plenty of content about comics, movies, and TV. IGN Live’s official site, where you can purchase admission tickets, teases “exclusive reveals,” plus “new trailers and gameplay,” as well as playable demos and gaming lounges. 

Here are some of the gaming-focused highlights: 

Friday, June 7, 2024

• Director Eli Roth and actors Ariana Greenblatt and Florian Munteanu will discuss the upcoming Borderlands movie, which takes place in the universe of Gearbox Software games like Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3, and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

Saturday, June 8, 2024

• A panel to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tetris, which spawned decades of games like Tetris Effect: Connected.
• An interview with Takashi Iizuka, who heads Sega’s Sonic Team, developers of games like Sonic Superstars, Sonic Origins Plus, Sonic Frontiers, and Sonic Mania. 

Sunday, June 9, 2024

• Interviews with Head of Xbox Phil Spencer and others from the Xbox team following the Xbox showcase at SGF the same day.
• An interview with Stig Asmussen, a veteran game developer who’s worked on games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Jedi Survivor.

You can watch IGN Live throughout its three-day run on Twitch and YouTube.

And make sure to check out the Summer Game Fest landing page on the Epic Games Store and follow along on our news page for all the big reveals, interviews, and hands-ons.