The Summer Showcases have come and gone and with that we in the gaming community have seen what is in store for the back half of 2023 and beyond. But that isn’t to say that this year’s showcases were perfect. I am still disgruntled that all these companies still refuse to attend events like E3 and are going to such lengths that the previously mentioned event got flat out canceled. Triple A developers are missing that consumer interaction to receive feedback and offer an experience to their fans, but I have complained about this in a prior post, so I’ll move on. For this article, I will go over the major showcases that took place over the course of the month and give them a grade. Let’s get started.

Sony’s State of Play

Sony went to bat first with their State of Play in late May. The show lasted for about an hour and after some time to reflect, Sony held a disappointing event. The biggest problem that I had, as well as many gamers and critics, is that the State of Play lacked major titles or projects from their first party developers. The high notes for the State of Play included The Plucky Squire, a platformer and adventure game; Immortals of Aveum, an adventure FPS but with magic instead of guns; Metal Gear III Snake Eater Remake, Final Fantasy XVI, and Alan Wake 2. Notice how none of these came from any Sony Interactive Entertainment developers; that is a major problem. We are approaching three years since the PS5’s release and the console still has a terrible library, which is a bad sign for the Playstation’s business model where having PS5 exclusives is key to attracting gamers. The showcase concluded with gameplay from the sole first party game from the State of Play, and that was from Marvel’s Spiderman 2, which to its credit did look good and fun. The other main problem from Sony’s event was the lack of gameplay shown; the majority of the games having only brief CGI or cinematics trailers, which would be acceptable if a game is just being revealed. However the showcase mostly involved these types of trailers. It also didn’t help that a large amount of these games are also going to be available on other platforms.

After some thought Sony really dropped the ball, they had an opportunity to reclaim the market after the Redfall disaster for Microsoft but failed. Other showcases later in the month would show off some of the games shown here such as Alan Wake 2 and Final Fantasy. With that said, I would grade the Sony State of Play with a D. Sony avoids a complete failure due to some of the positive games they showed in this event. Yet the way Playstation showed their games and the content the trailers held was a letdown.

Summer Game Fest

Organized by Geoff Keighley, the same person who runs the annual Games Awards, the Summer Game Fest is acknowledged as the official beginning of the showcase season by gaming media. The benefit of the Summer Game Fest is that it is neutral ground for developers so that anyone can show up, including triple A ones. This showcase in particular featured interviews and extended gameplay looks into big games that releasing later in the year. The games that received the royal treatment included Mortal Kombat 1, Alan Wake 2, Immortals of Aveum, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. There were also novelty announcements like TV trailers for Witcher Season 3 and the Twisted Metal adaptation, along with the Nicolas Cage DLC for Dead by Daylight. Other games that made an appearance included Path of Exile 2, Warhammer Space Marine 2, and Sandland. The rest of the showcase featured indie titles and smaller developer teams.

Overall, I’d say that the Summer Game Fest was an average showing for a modern games showcase. Some big names were shown off and even though I personally wasn’t interested in the majority of the games presented here, I can acknowledge their importance to others. The presentation of the showcase was standard and Geoff himself is an alright host. I give the Summer Game Fest a grade of C, an average showcase.

Future Games Show

Up next is the Future Games Show, organized by GamesRadar, a gaming news website. Hosted by Laura Bailey and Yuri Lowenthal, two lead voice actors from Marvel’s Spiderman 2 video game coming from Insomniac Games, the Future Games Show focused on titles from smaller developers. Makes sense as these new and small developers are indeed the future of the gaming industry. The Future Games Show showed off a variety of titles from different genres ranging from racing to soulsborne to farming sims to VR; there was a game for everyone at this showcase. For me the following games interested me: Resistor, a racing and derby RPG; En Garde, an action-adventure game featuring a female protagonist with the style of the Three Musketeers; The Bookwalker, an adventure game with a unique art style where the protag collects items from pieces of literature by traveling through them; and Warhaven, an action multiplayer game with the feel of an FPS but with medieval weapons and armor. There are some others such as Surviving Deponia, New Cycle, and Daymare 1994.

Outside of some cringe lines occasionally appearing throughout the presentation, the hosts did a good job of portraying excitement and giving each title the attention they deserve. The Future Games Show had a variety of cinematic and gameplay trailers for both games releasing this year and beyond, which is how all showcases should be. Despite the lack of big title games, the Future Games Show did deliver some exciting titles and put on a decent show. I give the Future Games Show a B.

Microsoft Showcase

The second of the major video game publishers, Microsoft, came next. Of all of the showcases that were planned for this month, the Microsoft and Bethesda Showcase was the event I was looking forward to the most. And boy Microsoft did not disappoint. Kicking off their event with in-engine footage for the Fable reboot, South of Midnight’s unique art style, and a brand new Star Wars game! And that was only the beginning! Add gameplay from Payday 3 and Avowed, new announcements from Atlus about the Persona 3 remake and a brand-new game called Metaphor, and inXile’s newest title Clockwork Revolution, and a gamer like me truly feasted. Now that isn’t to say the Microsoft Showcase was perfect, the middle of the show dragged by featuring DLC for Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online, along with Overwatch 2. I had hoped that a remake for Fallout 3 or New Vegas was in the works, but the Atlantic City DLC seemed to have put those hopes to rest for another year. And personally Overwatch 2 should have been dropped from the showcase entirely due to the bad press that game has been gathering as of late. The showcase ended with gameplay from the year’s most anticipated video game, Starfield. From the footage shown, the game appeared to be more polished than it appeared a year ago. My excitement for Starfield is beyond words as I have been waiting for this game since it was first announced back in 2018.

Despite the lacking middle with DLC from lackluster MMO titles and Overwatch 2, the Microsoft Showcase was a home run. Microsoft and their studios met my expectations and delivered, which is all that I ask for from one of the gaming industry’s Big 3. Not only did Microsoft’s prospect look good for the rest of this year, but also for 2024 and beyond. After a slow start to this generation and a terrible outcome from the Xbox One, Microsoft seems poised to take the lead in the developer arms race. I give the Microsoft and Bethesda Showcase an A.

PC Gaming Show

Much like the Future Games Show, the PC Gaming Show focused on small developers and indie titles. However, the main difference for this event is that all the games would be available for PC gamers. I have two problems with this showcase. First is the AI theme that the organizers used for the event, the so-called plot behind the show is that the host fired all the staff minus one camera guy and replaced the crew with AI assistance. This hits close to home with the real life fear of AI replacing many creative roles in the work place, and as someone who wishes to hold a career in creative writing, I wasn’t fond of this approach. The second problem is that the PC Gaming Show dragged on for about two hours, which is both overwhelming and dull considering many of the titles have been shown in earlier showcases. That isn’t to say they didn’t show off any good games. Like the Future Games Show, the variety of games shown offered something for each gamer. For me the games that appealed to me included Black Skylands, Welcome to Nivalis, Jumplight Odyssey, Citizen Sleeper 2, Last Train Home, and Sand.

The PC Gaming Show had several flaws and contained some games that were revealed at other showcases. With the flaws stated, the PC Gaming Show can be described as lackluster, and it didn’t help that it had to follow up against Microsoft’s show on the same day. With that in mind I give the PC Gaming Show a C. With much of that weighing on the presentation and length of the show.

Ubisoft Forward

Heading into the Ubisoft Forward originally, I predicted a complete failure and a comedy show to come forth from gaming’s fastest failing company, but after the reveal of Star Wars Outlaws, the struggling publisher got a ray of hope. Let’s start with the good, which isn’t that much. First, Star Wars Outlaws concluded the show with a large amount of gameplay that didn’t look perfect but held some promise. With the game coming out next year, Ubisoft has some time to polish the game to make it better. The other title that seemed interesting is XDefiant, an action FPS like Call of Duty, with the market focused on battle royales, tactical shooters, and character shooters, XDefiant has an opportunity to fill a niche. But this is where the good for Ubisoft ends. The rest of the Ubisoft Forward was filled with the opposite of what gamers want. The show opened with a sad and cringe filled dance performance to help advertise Just Dance 2024 and the fact that it is an official Olympic eSport. Next came the Avatar game Frontiers of Pandora, which appeared to have graphical problems. More gimmicks followed, including a poorly animated Netflix show, a new mobile game for the Division, and a musical performance for Skull and Bones, a game where fans demanded updated gameplay and details after its pitiful last showing. I actually laughed when Skull and Bones’ turn ended without gameplay. Along with more copy and paste Assassin’s Creed content and boring DLC, Ubisoft seems determined to bury their heads in the sand and ignore what gamers want or even change their approach.

The Ubisoft Forward was lucky to have Star Wars Outlaws content in time for this event otherwise this showcase would have been a complete failure. I give the Ubisoft Forward a D, but just barely.

Capcom Showcase

Capcom’s showcase occurred on the same day as Ubisoft’s and was just as bad. Where the Ubisoft Forward was bad because the content that was shown was terrible and held little promise; the Capcom Showcase was bad because they didn’t really show anything. Now normally this would be unacceptable, but Capcom can get a pass from me. The reason why I am being gracious to Capcom is that they already blew their load this year. With the Resident Evil 4 remake getting released in the spring and Street Fighter 6 being released a week before the showcase, Capcom didn’t have much to show off. So, did they have? Well there was the Megaman X mobile game, remasters and ports for a trilogy of Ace Attorney games, and a link to their website for their 40^th Anniversary. They did show off Exoprimal, one of the least interesting games I have ever seen, and some experimental projects in Path of the Goddess and Pragmata. The saving grace for Capcom during this event was footage from Dragon’s Dogma 2, but it was the same trailer from an earlier event, so nothing new was shown.

The Capcom Showcase lasted only 45 minutes, but didn’t have anything to show, it was if Capcom held the showcase to remain relevant in the public eye, which is at least better than not showing up. I give the Capcom Showcase an F, but this failure of a showcase will receive an Asterix from me because Capcom truly didn’t have anything to show, and their two mainline games had already released. Just don’t do this again next year.

Nintendo Direct

Just when it seemed like Nintendo would skip out on this month’s festivities, they managed to sneak in with a last minute Direct during the writing of this article. In summary if you are a Mario fan, then you will feast from this Direct. You have a remake or remaster for Super Mario RPG, a 2D side scroller Mario Bros title called Wonder, news of a Princess Peach game in the works, and a port of Luigi’s Mansion 2 to the Switch. The other star of the Direct was Pikmin 4, the newest entry in the franchise, along with ports of the first two games. This, along with announcements of the complete Batman Arkham games and Metal Gear Masters Collection, shows that Nintendo is continuing their course of porting older titles to make the Switch a center for gaming, which is a good and solid plan. Even though I am not planning on playing all these titles, it is good to know they are a possibility. Did I mention that there is going to be a new Detective Pikachu game?

Even though none of the new announcements appeared interesting to me, I do recognize that for other gamers, these new games are big news. Although the Direct had tons of filler content and DLC, there was plenty to generate hype for Nintendo fans. There just always seems to be a revolving door of games coming out from the Japanese juggernaut. I give the Nintendo Direct a B.

Final Thoughts

The loss of E3 is tragic, and with the convention’s cancelation carrying over into 2024 and 2025, it appears this will be the new normal. This is unfortunate because this gives the publishers too much power. But I’ll leave that up to debate for another article. Despite the showing, we still had two no shows for this year’s Summer of Gaming. That being Electronic Arts and Take – Two Interactive, the company that owns Rockstar and 2K. Granted EA probably would have thrown a microtransaction filled sports game in our face, but many had hoped for Rockstar to announce GTA 6. Square Enix also didn’t have a showcase this year, but their games were scattered throughout the various events, including Final Fantasy 16 and the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake. In my view, Microsoft came away as the winner of the midyear gaming race, with Nintendo close behind. Let us hope that the games shown here become hits and do not let us down like Redfall did.