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Honestly, the games industry is in a very worrisome state right now. Gamers who are on social media and the internet see it frequently from press outlets, company statements, and employees’ posts, where it is a rough time making video games. There are layoffs, full development team shut downs, and projects that are shelved, canned completely, or dropped by publishers. In this show by Geoff Keighley, there were a few select games that I was interested in, but then I kept seeing very similar titles or genres over and over again… and I didn’t seriously enjoy that. It was a two-hour show, but honestly speaking, there were loads of titles that made me lose all interest in it, as there wasn’t anything unique or special about what I saw, or it wasn’t my style of gaming. I’m gonna break down the games into three sections: the titles I am excited for, titles I am needing to see more on, and games that are not for me. After that, I’ll give my full thoughts on the show.
Titles I’m Excited About
Honestly, when I was first watching the showcase, it felt pretty lacking and there weren’t that many games that I was interested in. The show definitely dragged on for me in multiple places which made the whole event underwhelming, but I had a few games I was sold on immediately. Well, going through the list of game announcements and reveals, I found about 8 titles throughout the entire two-hour show that I need to get as soon as I can.
I have reviewed many indies on the site in the past. I seriously love playing indie games, and there were actually quite a lot of them in the show this time, which I liked. Updates came for three previously announced indies that I just have to play when they come out. Mixtape got a brand new trailer today, and I have been sold on this game for a long time now. I am just waiting for its inevitable release date, which we still don’t know. Marvel Cosmic Invasion got a new trailer introducing both Rocket and She-Hulk as playable characters in the lineup. I loved Shredder’s Revenge, and this studio is on track to push it off the pedestal for me in terms of beat-em-up games. The third indie game previously announced was MIO: Memories in Orbit. I have been checking this game out since its reveal, and we got news that a demo dropped for it and I am definitely going to check it out since I am hopeful that this game will be coming out sooner rather than later.
Besides Marvel Cosmic Invasion from Tribute Games, they showed up with a second title they are working on. I still have to finish playing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World game, but now they have Scott Pilgrim EX coming to all platforms in 2026, and it looks so good that it makes me want to play the first one before this comes out! A second indie game reveal that shocked me was Lego Voyagers from Light Brick Games and Annapurna. Lego Builder’s Journey was a game I played a couple of years ago and loved from this team, so this hopefully will be just as good or even better. It is a co-op game that offers a friends pass, so only one person has to buy it. This is awesome in my book, and I feel like all games that are co-op only should do this. The third reveal for an indie that shocked me was Out of Words. It is a co-op-only game published by Epic Games coming next year, and it looks very much in the style of Hazelight Studios, which I think is cool to see.
Besides indie games, there were two massive AAA games that I seriously enjoyed seeing more information on and cannot wait to play. The first was Onimusha: Way of the Sword, coming in 2026. I am not a souls-like person or someone who seriously wants to pull my hair out when playing games, but after playing Onimusha 1 HD earlier this year and enjoying the game, I am excited to play more of this franchise as this title looks so good and so fun to play, even though it probably will be a challenge!
The second title was Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which got its release date for September 25! Sega also showcased that other IPs will be in the game, including Hatsune Miku, Joker from Persona 5, and Ichiban from Yakuza. Aside from this, they revealed the first DLC pack coming to the game as Minecraft! There will be more (yes, one of the characters apparently leaked. I am not going to spoil it here as that is not something we do), but they appear to be from big IPs in entertainment and Pop Culture, which I am actually interested in, and what else they will reveal.
Titles I Need More Info On / Franchises I Want To Try
Besides the games I am definitely sold on, there were a bunch that I am either interested in, or titles that come from franchises that exist, that I need to catch up with. Firstly, there are a few sequels and new games in established IPs that I want to check out in the future, but I need to play the prior games first before diving in. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach was here at the show, coming to the PS5 in a couple of weeks, but I need to play 1 before buying/playing 2. Similarly, that is the case for Mafia: The Old Country, coming in August. I own them all, but I want to check out the others before the newest entry. Lastly, there have already been two different Jurassic World Evolution titles, and now there is a third one coming out. I don’t understand what is different about the third one to make it unique enough, as I haven’t played the other two, but I want to try at least one of them out eventually.
There were a few games that I am almost sold on from first impressions alone, but I need to see a little bit more before I can call it a day-one title. Acts of Blood is coming to PC in 2026 reminded me a lot of SIFU with its Kung-Fu hand-to-hand combat, but it also has guns in it, so I am wondering if it is more than just a Kung-Fu game. There is a demo on Steam that I’m gonna check out soon. End of Abyss was giving me Little Nightmare vibes from the first trailer, and I am absolutely going to keep my eye on more details for this game, which is coming next year from Epic Games. Lastly comes Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, which looks great, but I need to see a bit more about the story of the game before I can dive into this one from Bandai Namco, launching September 19th this year.
There were a few games that just didn’t click this time for me, but are titles I am definitely gonna follow for updates to see if I get interested in these later on, as they stood out to me, but didn’t make me go “I need this title now”. Blighted from DrinkBox Studios is coming in 2026, Mina the Hollower from Yacht Club Games is coming October 31st, Wu-tang Rise of the Deceiver from Brass Lion Entertainment is coming soon, and Lego Party! coming this year from Fictions, Fractured Blooms from Serenity Forge, Infinitesimals from Epic Games Publishing coming next year, and lastly Felt That: Boxing coming sometime in the future.
I have had a few early access titles in the past really kind of burned me and made me not super excited about future early access titles. That isn’t to say I won’t get these titles, I am just extremely cautious about diving into them nowadays. Into the Unwell is coming to PC Early Access in the future, and I have already put the game onto my wishlist, but I need more information before I pull the trigger on this wonderful looking title that gave me old school cartoon vibes with a dark premise and setting.
RGG Studio, those known for the Yakuza franchise, revealed Stranger than Heaven which is coming soon and it gave me old school Yakuza vibes that peaked my interest, but I definitely need to see more before I am sold. I want to see more about the story and gameplay mostly since the art style is beautiful back in the 1900s in Japan, and I love the look they are going for.
One of the ones that actually kind of hurt me a bit, was a revival that I didn’t expect, nor would I have ever thought to expect. Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is a brand new game in the Nickelodeon universe where you play as many different characters from their brands like Spongebob, Fairly Odd Parents, and many more. I have a fond memory of playing this franchise growing up and while I am cautiously optimistic for this new one, it feels like I am missing some of the magic I once had for this IP. I am looking to see more info, but immediately I am slightly torn on it, but not willing to shove it away without it trying to win me over! It is coming in Fall 2025 for the Xbox Series, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Titles That I Don’t Really Care For
(*Note: Doesn’t Mean Said Game Is Bad, Just Not For Me*)
Well… one of the games I don’t care for was because it is made exclusively for the Meta Quest 3/3S. That of course is Deadpool VR. I really like the Deadpool universe and how edgy it is, but it isn’t enough for me to go out and buy a headset I am not gonna use very much. Cool for fans of the VR ecosystem, but sucks for the rest of us that don’t have a new Deadpool game on consoles or PC (at least as of this writing). Disney was also there with a Fortnite collab with Star Wars. The collab content means you can fly in space on some of the ships and it really does look cool, but I don’t enjoy Fortnite so, yeah.
I saw around 4-5 different souls-like/tough as nails titles that I usually never can get into. Lies of P Overture DLC dropped today for people, and that was a nice thing for those that like the game. I have heard great things about the game, it’s just not my kind of game. On top of this, Mortal Shell 2 was announced for PC and consoles coming in 2026, Code Vein 2 coming next year for consoles and PC, and Wuchang Fallen Feathers got a release date for July 23. I think they are cool looking games, but I know that I probably won’t play them.
First Person games and me don’t mix extremely well for some reason, unless it is a puzzle or adventure game with little to no combat. There were absolutely loads of them here, and a lot of them we have seen multiple times before. Don’t get me wrong, there were some new ones like Atomic Heart 2 getting revealed to be in active development, a MMO called The Cube in active development set in that universe, ILL coming soon to consoles and PC (from the Atomic Heart developer’s brand new publishing label…), and more; however, there was even more than that for FPS games with loads of updates shown.
We did get loads of updates and new trailers for FPS games that we have seen a lot about already. Mouse P.I. For Hire is still coming out in 2025 for all platforms and while I love the black and white old school cartoon art style, it is an FPS game that I have to pass on unfortunately. Dying Light The Beast got its release date for August 22nd, Wildgate is a multiplayer FPS coming in July, Splitgate 2 got another showing even though it already launched a couple weeks ago…, and others that just made it drag on a bit for me as I kept seeing similar shooters.
We got many online based games and while some of the co-op ones looked like fun, see above for those, there were also many that I was zoning out on or didn’t really grab me in any way. Arc Raiders has been shown loads of times before and it is now coming out on October 30th. Unfortunately it is another extraction shooter that I don’t personally have an interest in as it didn’t grab me, and hasn’t ever grabbed me yet. Killer Inn is a 24-player online murder mystery game coming to PC in the future. Lastly in this group comes another multiplayer online game, Last Flag. The premise of capture the flag mechanics in a game is really cool and pretty unique I will give it that, but playing and having it be an online based team game kind of kills my excitement which is a shame.
The Dune Awakening MMO game comes out in a few short days on PC. Chrono Odyssey is coming soon on PC and is, you guessed it, a MMO online game. It does have an online playtest coming June 20-22 but no date for the full release yet. Mecha Break got yet another showing here with a release date of July 1st, and yep… it is a free to play online multiplayer game.
Alright, well there was a few times where Capcom came on to talk about Resident Evil and the franchise. The first time, it was to talk about RE being on sale without any new information about the games besides a discounted price. Then, they came back a second time and they said that more information will be coming sometime in the future and they needed more time before fully revealing the next title. Well… they just needed a few more minutes as the Summer Games Fest show ended with the massive reveal of Resident Evil 9 Requiem. I am not really a RE or horror game fan, but I am glad that those fans don’t have to wait too long as the title launches on February 27th, 2026 on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. This, even though I am not a massive fan of the franchise, was a terrific final one more thing to end the show off with as it is going to be an amazing title next year.
Final Thoughts
Loads of First Person Shooters, Souls-Like, Free-to-Play titles, Multiplayer and online only games, poor pacing (for me), lack of juggernaught massive reveals (besides the ending one), and very little talk about where the games industry really is in this day and age seriously made this showing mediocre in my book. He didn’t need to beat a dead horse, but he could have talked a bit about it because of his influence and connections in the industry, but he chose not to for some reason… Not every game needs to be for every person all the time. I cannot possibly play, nor can anyone else for that matter, play every game ever released. However, at least spread out the variety of genre of games that are showcased. I’m not gonna discuss it, but I checked out the Day of the Devs that aired right after this Summer Games Fest, and honestly that had more diversity in games and variety of titles in a fraction of the time. If Summer Games Fest was an hour and had all this in it, it would probably have felt different to me. It dragged on in too many places to call this a good show, even if there were some nice reveals sprinkled in. I really have no choice but to give this Summer Games Fest (excluding Day of Devs), a 5/10 score.
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