Summer Games Fest 2023 Wishlist

Well, E3 is dead. Many of us hoped it wouldn't be the case, but sadly it is. Dancing on the grave of what was once gaming's most well-known convention is Geoff Keighley, the brain behind The Game Awards and Summer Games Fest.

As the latter looks to be the "new E3" in a way, we've got our expectations set pretty high for Keighley's showcase this year. Arguably the biggest stream from Keighley himself comes to us on the 8th of June which is being touted as a "live, cross-industry showcase." Already, there are a few major debuts set to arrive at the Summer Games Fest showcase and beyond, but alongside compiling a list of what we will see next week, we're also going to throw out a few ideas into the universe in the hopes that they can make for some awesome surprises at Summer Games Fest.

Things We're Expecting

Rather than go straight into the wacky predictions, we're kicking things off with the major things we know we'll be seeing at Summer Games Fest 2023. Arguably the biggest title on that list is Starfield. It might seem a bit weird to begin with something that'll actually be shown off on the 11th of June rather than at the big Summer Games Fest stream on the 8th, but it's still listed as part of the Summer Games Fest event, and so it's featured here. Last year was the last time we saw anything substantial of Starfield, and while there were some impressive ideas thrown around then, we want to see more. Much more. Extended gameplay would be nice, with a look at the planets we'll be visiting, stories we'll be a part of and characters we'll meet along the way. There's no real way to put into words how much Bethesda has hyped up Starfield, and in September we'll be playing it. After the year Xbox has had so far, we're really hoping that the sci-fi adventure can show us something that'll give us a bit of hope.

The next game we already know about is Mortal Kombat 1, which, as with pretty much everything on this list, we're expecting to see on the main stage on the 8th of June. Shortly after NetherRealm gave us the first trailer for this fighting game we knew we'd be getting a gameplay reveal at Summer Games Fest. This is another biggie, and especially after the positive reception of Street Fighter 6 there's a good chunk of pressure on Mortal Kombat 1 to perform. Considering that Mortal Kombat 11 was such a huge hit, though, and it gave us new popular mechanics like Fatal Blows and our own character loadouts to build, more of the same with some extra flair sounds like all we need for Mortal Kombat 1 to succeed.

In terms of playable titles, fans of the not-so-distant dystopian future will be glad to know that Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is coming to Summer Games Fest Play Days. Considering the expansion was revealed last December, and we've not seen much since then, being able to get our hands on it is quite the jump. Here's hoping we're not stuck with a launch similar to that of the base game.

Lies of P is also coming to Summer Games Fest. The soulslike game that asks what if Pinocchio looked like Timothée Chalamet and went on a killing spree has been an interesting one for fans of the genre. There have been multiple looks at gameplay from Lies of P and we're expecting to see its release in August this year. At the very least we'd expect some sort of final release date for Lies of P, alongside a trailer giving us an extra dose of hype for it.

Horror fans best buckle up as Alan Wake 2 is going to be revealing gameplay at Summer Games Fest as well. There's a lot riding on this sequel, but from the trailer we got at the PlayStation Showcase, Remedy's latest title looks promising to say the least. With it set to come out this October as well, we can probably expect a pretty substantial look at what we're going to be playing later this year.

For something a bit lighter than Alan Wake 2, we also know that Palworld is confirmed to make an appearance. At first, you'll be drawn in by the cutesy creatures of Palworld, but soon you'll see that the premise here is Pokémon with guns. It'll be interesting to see more of Palworld to find out if it's just a gimmick turned into a game or if there's some meat on its bones.

That about covers what we know for sure will be there, but in terms of things we certainly wouldn't be surprised to see, we're also largely expecting the following to show up in some capacity:

• Immortals of Aveum


• F1 23


• Baldur's Gate III


• Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon


• Park Beyond

What We Hope to See

Already, from what we know of and what we can expect to see, Summer Games Fest looks stacked. But hey, why not theorise a little on what surprises might come our way? Considering over 40 companies are partnering up with the event, there's bound to be some talking points outside of what has already been announced.

WB, for example, has a lot to potentially show off. We could get another look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, in the hopes that it can redeem itself from the abysmal display that was the State of Play presentation earlier in the year. Also, there's that Wonder Woman game in development at Monolith we've not heard about for some time. We've seen practically nothing from that, so this isn't really an expectation, but it would be a genuine and exciting surprise to see what they're cooking over at Monolith.

Gearbox is also announced as a partner for the Summer Games Fest this year. This wouldn't have us theorising much if there hadn't been a recent tweet from the Borderlands account that teases something coming soon. Borderlands 3 released in 2019, so perhaps it is time for another entry in the looter shooter franchise, or even we could see more on the Borderlands movie, especially as the Summer Games Fest is said to be a multimedia showcase.

Speaking of multimedia, Netflix is also making an appearance. This could be to show off its latest gaming plans but we're also hoping to see a bit more from The Witcher Season 3 and perhaps a few other trailers to get us hyped for what the streaming titan has on offer.

Another far out hope is for Sega to show us some more of its upcoming remakes. We found out about Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio earlier this year, and while they might not be ready to release soon, it'd be good to see more from them. Sega also said it has a lot planned for this financial year in terms of remasters and remakes, so perhaps we'll get some other surprises on the 8th.

As Dragon's Dogma 2 got its big trailer, we're not expecting anything major on the RPG, but if Capcom does want to go wild, we could maybe hope to see a lot more of the highly anticipated sequel. There's no release date set yet for it, but perhaps we could see another trailer with a release window or something similar.

If we're really reaching out to the universe and asking for our wildest dreams to come true, we could also hope for something like a Dragon Age: Dreadwolf trailer, to remind us that game is still worth caring about, or a confirmation of a Resident Evil 5 Remake as it's highly likely Capcom will continue its successful pattern of remaking the titles in its horror franchise. Beyond that, there have been more and more rumours of a new Metro game in the works, and with it being 4 years since Metro: Exodus, perhaps it is time to head back into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

There are even murmurs among the editing staff here of a Red Dead Redemption 2 remaster, Grand Theft Auto VI reveal, and a shadow drop of Hollow Knight: Silksong. These are definitely pipe dreams, but that's half the fun when these shows come around. We get to speculate and create our own fantasy of the best announcements we can think of.

Apart from those wild guesses, though, it seems Summer Games Fest is stacked already. Of course, on top of the things coming in this showcase, we're getting an Xbox Games Showcase and a Ubisoft Forward Presentation on top. Expect to see more on them in the coming days.