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It’s a Summer Game Fest World

Trailers! You want em, we got em!

Jason Dean

Jun 10, 2024 — 6 min read

The biggest week for video game marketing is here! We dive into the biggest announcements from Summer Game Fest and some of the other press conferences held this past weekend. We plan to take a deeper dive later this week, so check back or become a premium subscriber to find it in your email. Until then, here are the highlights from this past weekend’s events.

The biggest announcements from a low-key Summer Game Fest

Creator and host of Summer Game Fest Geoff Keighley asked fans to manage their expectations early last week, as the annual marketing event focused on smaller game developers than years past. Still there were plenty of game trailers for those who watched. Here are a few of the top moments.

Alan Wake 2 gets an expansion and a physical release

After nearly a year, the game gets a physical release later this year.

Lego Horizon Adventures announced

Coming later this year.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions

The game based on the sport from the popular series gets a release date of Sept. 3.

Carin

A reveal for a beautiful-looking game about climbing a mountain.

Blumhouse announces six new games

The studio known for its indie horror movies takes a stab at games.

Other announcements include a Civilization 7 teaser, a new Dragon Ball game, Phantom Blade 0 and more. Check back later this week as we take a deep dive into more of the trailers from the week.

Other news from Summer Game Fest:

Keighley mentioned the large number of studio closures and recent layoffs in the gaming industry.
There is a new Among Us animated series in the works.
An independent publisher rented a billboard to recognize closed studios and those laid off over the past year.
Among Us developer Innersloth starts a new indie game fund.
Having your trailer featured in Summer Game Fest costs at least $250,000.

Microsoft meets their big expectations

After a tough year for Xbox, their press conference Sunday felt extremely important. Could they wow customers with a new lineup of games? By all accounts, they did. Here are some of the highlights:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

The latest game in the CoD series drops later this year and focuses on the Gulf War.

A new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

The game is scheduled to release later this year.

Doom: The Dark Ages

A new Doom game is slated for 2025.

Perfect Dark

Fable

The long-awaited new game in the series still leaves us waiting, with no release date.

Gears of War E-Day

A new Gears of War game is coming. Eventually.

Minor hardware revisions coming this year

A disc-less Series X and bigger hard drives for the other models should arrive before the holidays.

Many Microsoft titles will also see expansions and DLC coming this year. The list includes Starfield, Fallout 76, World of Warcraft, Sea of Thieves, Elder Scrolls Online and Diablo IV. You can check out everything announced here. Some other notes:

Discussing the Tango Studio closure, Xbox head Phil Spencer said "I have to run a sustainable business," adding "sometimes I have to make hard decisions that, frankly, are not decisions I love." Spencer last year completed a $68.7 billion deal to purchase Activation Blizzard.
Spencer also says you can expect to see more Microsoft-owned games on other systems, like the PlayStation 5.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will require a constant internet connection and takes over 300 GB of hard drive space.

More shows, more trailers!

A number of other press conferences took place, including Devolver Digital, Day of the Devs and Wholesome Direct. Here are a few highlights from those events:

Tenjutsu

A new game from the designer of Dead Cells where you play as a former yakuza trying to take down crime syndicates.

Karma: The Dark World

Described as a first-person cinematic psychological thriller set in a dystopian world.

Phoenix Springs

A modern point-and-click adventure with a unique art style where you try to solve a mystery.

Littlelands

A game that looks like the offspring of Animal Crossing and EarthBound.

Side quests (more stories worth reading)

🧱 40 years ago, a little game from Russia called Tetris became a global hit.

🩸 Related: Tetris partnered with The Red Cross to encourage blood donations by offering a free t-shirt. Give blood and get yours today!

😞 What went wrong with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League? Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier interviewed two dozen people who worked on the game to find out.

📊 An extensive look at the rise and fall of E3.

🏪 Ikea will pay players to work in its virtual Roblox store.

🐉 The next Dragon Age game changed its name from Dreadwolf to The Veilguard.

😢 The games industry has already seen almost as many layoffs in 2024 as all of 2023.

🎮 Why gaming consoles are holding back interactive storytelling.

🍌 Over 220,000 concurrent individuals played the free clicker game Banana, hunting for rare in-game items worth up to $1,800

😢 The developer of Just Cause, Avalanche Studios, is closing two studios and laying off 50 employees. Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour is laying off 95.

🐲 Like a Dragon: Yakuza is a new live-action show based on the games coming to Amazon Prime October 24.

💰 A one-of-a-kind Counter-Strike skin sold for $1 million.

🚗 It’s easier to die in Fortnite’s free cars than its paid ones, says Epic.

📱 Mobile games made up 49% of total revenue generated globally in 2023, a total of $90.4 billion.

🔬 Board game design Uwe Rosenberg is teaming up with scientists to develop a quantum tech-themed board game.