Every year, the gaming industry holds its breath for a single week in June. Not because of any one announcement, or any one developer, but because of the sheer density of what Summer Game Fest has become: a week-long cascade of new game announcements, world premieres, and surprises that sets the tone for gaming's second half. The 2026 edition, promised by host Geoff Keighley to be "the biggest live show yet," arrives at a moment when the stakes feel genuinely unprecedented. GTA 6 is weeks from launch. New Xbox hardware is inbound. Final Fantasy VII fans are holding their breath. And somewhere across all the summer showcases lined up this week, there are video game reveals nobody has guessed yet.
Here is everything you need to know about Summer Game Fest 2026 before the curtain goes up.
Summer Game Fest is the gaming industry's annual showcase week, hosted by journalist and Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley. It brings together top studios, indie developers, and game developers from across the industry, delivering exclusive announcements and first looks at upcoming games. It functions as the industry's de facto replacement for E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo that finally collapsed after decades of dominance in the wake of the pandemic. Where E3 was a physical trade show that required publishers to book booth space and fly journalists to Los Angeles, SGF is a digital-first premium online showcase that is free to watch globally, with a live in-person component at the Dolby Theatre for those willing to make the trip.
Keighley launched Summer Game Fest in 2020 specifically because E3 was on its deathbed. What began as an emergency solution for an industry with nowhere to announce its games has become, in just a few years, the most-watched gaming event of the summer. It is now the home of world premieres, hot new trailers, and the kind of new game announcements that dominate gaming conversations for weeks. Last year's showcase unveiled Resident Evil Requiem, which went on to become one of the biggest games of early 2026, alongside Atomic Heart 2 and major updates from the biggest franchises. Independent studios also had their moment, with several smaller titles earning the loudest reactions of the night. The bar for 2026 has been set accordingly high.
The main Summer Game Fest showcase kicks off on Friday, June 5, 2026, at 2:00 PM PT / 5:00 PM ET. The event will run for approximately two hours and streams live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Geoff Keighley and co-host Lucy James, with special guests expected throughout.
It is completely free to watch. The show delivers hot new trailers, first gameplay looks, exclusive trailers, and deep dives into upcoming titles, streaming live on The Game Awards' official channels on YouTube (at 4K 60fps, which makes a meaningful difference for gameplay reveal trailers) and Twitch. Co-streamers including streamer miladyconfetti will also be broadcasting live alongside the main feed. For those who want to attend in person, tickets to the Dolby Theatre sold out weeks ago. Resale seats are currently listed on Ticketmaster in the $300 range.
Los Angeles (PT): 2:00 PM
New York (ET): 5:00 PM
London (BST): 10:00 PM
Central Europe (CEST): 11:00 PM
India (IST): June 6 at 2:30 AM
Japan (JST): June 6 at 6:00 AM
Australia (AET): June 6 at 7:00 AM
The main showcase on June 5 is only the beginning. The full Summer Game Fest schedule runs from June 1 through June 8, with 18 events spread across the week, several of which have already taken place ahead of the main show. The PlayStation State of Play aired June 2, delivering one of the week's biggest surprises with the reveal of God of War Laufey. The Latin American Games Showcase, Black Voices in Gaming, and the Women Led Games Showcase also aired earlier in the week. Here is everything still to come:
Summer Game Fest Main Showcase, June 5 at 2:00 PM PT
Day of the Devs, June 5 at 4:00 PM PT
Southeast Asian Games Showcase, June 6 at 8:00 AM PT
Wholesome Direct, June 6 at 9:00 AM PT
Story Rich Showcase, June 6 at 10:00 AM PT
Green Games Showcase, June 6 at 11:00 AM PT
Gayming Pride Parade, June 6 at 12:00 PM PT
Frosty Games Fest, June 6 at 3:00 PM PT
Xbox Game Showcase, June 7 at 10:00 AM PT
Gears of War E-Day Direct, June 7, immediately following Xbox showcase
Future Games Show, June 7
PC Gaming Show, June 7
India Games Showcase, June 8
Day of the Devs, running immediately after the main SGF showcase on June 5, is one of the week's most reliably enjoyable events. Operated as a non-profit, it spotlights upcoming indie games from independent studios worldwide and has historically surfaced some of the most creative video game titles of any given year. The Green Games Showcase and Frosty Games Fest on June 6 offer a closer look at upcoming titles from indie developers across a wide range of genres and themes. The Xbox Game Showcase on June 7 is the other unmissable event of the week. This year it is followed immediately by a dedicated Gears of War E-Day Direct, where Microsoft is expected to go deeper into the gears franchise with new details on story, gameplay, and accessible design choices for the full Xbox family of players.
While Keighley and participating publishers have stayed characteristically quiet about the specifics, a combination of official confirmations, credible leaks, and industry context paints a fairly clear picture of what the show will contain. Fans can expect release date reveals, game updates, and new details on the most anticipated upcoming games of the year.
Confirmed appearances include Star Wars: Zero Company, with first gameplay looks from developer Bit Reactor, Fortnite's new season premiere, CLUTCH (the debut game from Maverick Games, founded by former Forza Horizon director Mike Brown), and Blood Message. Something related to Guild Wars is also confirmed, though the exact nature of the announcement remains unknown.
The most anticipated unconfirmed reveal is Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3. Teases have been building for months, Rebirth recently launched on Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2, and reliable leaker NateTheHate has explicitly predicted the game will appear. The historical precedent is also compelling: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was revealed at Summer Game Fest the year before it launched. If it shows, it will be the huge news of the weekend and likely come with release dates attached.
Persona 6 is the other name on everyone's lips. A steady stream of leaks has made its reveal feel imminent, though whether it surfaces at SGF or a separate Atlus event is unclear. On the Xbox side, State of Decay 3, Halo: Campaign Evolved (a remake of the original game), Clockwork Revolution, and an update on the long-delayed Fable are all widely expected. Gears of War: E-Day is the hugely anticipated origin story of the Gears of War saga, tracing the start of Emergence Day, and it is set to get a dedicated direct immediately after the Xbox showcase. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, the Amy Hennig-directed action-adventure that has been conspicuously absent for months, is another upcoming title many expect to finally resurface.
It is worth understanding where Summer Game Fest sits in the broader context of this year's summer showcases. It is not the only major event of the week, and that is by design. The PlayStation State of Play already aired June 2. The Xbox Game Showcase follows on June 7, covering the full Xbox family of titles. Dozens of smaller, focused showcases for indie games from Latin America, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and beyond run across the full June 5-8 window. Summer Game Fest is the anchor of the week, drawing the biggest audience and the announcements that set the agenda, but the entire week functions as an ecosystem. The future games shown across all these events represent the full breadth of what the video game industry is building right now. If you only catch the main June 5 showcase, you will see the headlines. If you watch the full week, you will discover upcoming titles that spark hope and remind you exactly why this hobby is worth protecting.
The stream goes live at 2:00 PM PT on June 5. Clear your Friday afternoon.
You can follow Summer Game Fest updates on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube via the official @SummerGameFest account. Host Geoff Keighley also posts news and behind-the-scenes content at @geoffkeighley. For the full confirmed event schedule, visit summergamefest.com.
Olivia Blake · Editor
Editor
