Summer Game Fest 2022 Was a Record Breaker, Will Return Next Year Too 

Thanks to the third edition of Summer Game Fest, June turned out to be phenomenal. With E3 facing cancellation for the second time in three years, Geoff Keighley’s popular showcase took the reins to put the spotlight on many highly-anticipated titles from the gaming sphere’s most iconic developers. 

Consequently, Summer Game Fest 2022 emerged as the biggest showing in the event’s history in terms of viewership and social media engagement.  

According to an infographic shared by Keighley on Twitter, this year’s Summer Game Fest saw over 27 million global live streams, a number that went up by 8% from 2021. On top of this, the showcase also attracted over 3.5 million concurrent global viewers, along with more than 6,000 co-streamers. 

Twitter conversations about the event also blossomed this year, as they have reportedly witnessed a 100% increase over 2021. Moreover, the usage of The Game Awards hashtag also rose by 69%. 

Seeing the showcase flourish this significantly, Keighley confirmed that the Summer Game Fest will return next year and will be scheduled for June once again.  

However, unlike this time around, the 2023 Summer Game Fest will be a hybrid of both virtual and in-person events. This means that 2023 would mark the first year where Keighley’s exhibition is held in the flesh. 

Interestingly, as vowed by the Entertainment Software Association, E3 is also set to return next year, which could put Summer Game Fest in direct competition with the grandfather of gaming shows. 

We’re excited about coming back in 2023 with both a digital and an in-person event. As much as we love these digital events, and as much as they reach people and we want that global reach, we also know that there’s a really strong desire for people to convene — to be able to connect in person and see each other and talk about what makes games great.

ESA President and CEO Stan Pierre-Louis 

While it’s likely that both the events will try to avoid a clash so as not to hamper their festivities, it’d be fun to see how the two juggernauts try to run circles around each other. 

About Summer Games Fest  

Summer Games Fest is a free, industry-wide all-digital celebration of video games that was kicked off in Summer 2020. It is hosted and organized by prominent video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Summer Game Fest 2022 took place on June 9 at 11 am PDT and features titles like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Street Fighter 6, The Callisto Protocol, Gotham Knights, and The Last of Us Part 1.