The best announcements from Summer Game Fest 2024

E3 used to be video games Christmas, when all the game studios, publishers and platformer holders would descend on Los Angeles over a week to bring the biggest hype to all the games to look forward to. That included new console announcements, world premiere trailers to onstage shenanigans that might even throw in a misplaced Hollywood celeb.

Those days have sadly gone, the aftermath of the pandemic having put the final nail in the coffin of a show that had long become a shadow of its former self. And yet the need for the games industry to gather still remains, which is why Summer Game Fest sprang along with its live stage show at the YouTube Theatre, while other platforms, from established brands like Xbox and Ubisoft, as well as new themed organisations like Wholesome Direct and Future Games Show also wanting to catch gamers’ attention with their own curated streams in the same window.

Not quite everyone has played ball though. PlayStation had its own State of Play the week before while Nintendo has still yet to confirm its own summer Direct. With just too many streams happening back-to-back, and the odd game popping up in another stream, it’s also just a bit overwhelming that you might find it hard to care.

To save you a good many hours, we’ve put together the most exciting trailers and announcements that came from the past week of Summer Game Fest 2024, from the big blockbusters to the indie darlings.

Lego Horizon Adventures

It turns out that Astro Bot isn’t the only PlayStation icon that’s going to give all-ages joy this year. The post-apocalyptic mech-dino-hunting series has been given the Lego treatment in a colourful co-op adventure with Ashly Burch also back to voice a much chirpier Aloy. Perhaps the biggest surprise (though maybe not given its family-friendly couch co-op nature) is that this is also coming to Switch.

Release: Holiday 2024

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

As the crown jewel of the Activision acquisition, it’s perhaps no surprise that Microsoft wanted to lead its Xbox summer showcase with the new Call of Duty, which will also want to make the disappointment of last year’s Modern Warfare III a distant memory. While the last Black Ops was set in the 80s, this new instalment from Treyarch and Raven Software takes place in the 90s at the end of the Cold War but in the thick of the Gulf War, soundtracked with The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’, and news footage of George H.W. Bush without a whiff of irony. Putting the dodgy politics to one side, the globe-trotting campaign looks like it has all the thrills of a spy thriller with explosive setpieces and cracking shooting. An in-depth Black Ops 6 Direct with details on the campaign, multiplayer and Zombies mode can also be found in the link below.

Release: 24 October

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

Eight long years since its last instalment, the legendary game developer Sid Meier is finally ready to announce the next chapter of the long-running 4X strategy series. This teaser admittedly doesn’t give too much away, only that a full gameplay reveal will take place in August. Still, given attempts from other imitators coming for the genre’s throne, all it takes is a new Civ to show the new upstarts how it’s done.

Release: 2025

Street Fighter 6: Season 2

After the conclusion of a triumphant first year, the greatest fighting game in the world is ready to keep its place on the throne as Capcom introduces the next wave of fighters to join Street Fighter 6’s roster. And oh boy, is it a doozy, with the first ever appearance of two guest characters from the Fatal Fury series, Terry and Mai, while you can also expect the return of Elena, a character first introduced in Street Fighter III, its third iteration 3rd Strike also currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. But it’s the return of series big bad, M Bison, that’s most exciting. Not least since Capcom then dropped a proper gameplay trailer for him, also revealing he’ll be joining SF6 later this month.

Release: 26 June (first character release for Season 2 content)

Doom: The Dark Ages

The modern versions of Doom have been nothing short of masterful in ultra-violent shooting carnage, while also doing surprisingly well in establishing the legend of the Doom Slayer. And so it’s perhaps only a matter of time that id Software decided to delve into that legend even more with this single-player prequel, dropping the original Doom Slayer into a medieval world on the frontline against the forces of Hell. It might be a divisive change of direction for the series, but when one of your new tools is a shield that can also be used as a chainsaw boomerang or for parrying, it’s a kind of mad inventiveness that might just pay off.

Release: 2025

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

BioWare has been teasing the follow-up to 2014’s Dragon Age Inquisition for successive years now with nary more than previs and concepts and a title that has now changed in its latest reveal. The good news is that this time there’s actually a meaty look of how the game actually looks, doubling down on its action-based approach to fantasy combat. It’s also less concerned about indulging in lore and exposition than getting you in the thick of it, as this extended gameplay trailer has your group of heroes in a race against time to stop Solas tearing apart the Veil, which also sees demons infiltrating the city.

Release: Autumn 2024

Batman: Arkham Shadow

A bit of a double-edged announcement: on one hand, getting to become the caped crusader once more is compelling, especially following the flop of Suicide Squad. But Arkham Shadow is also sadly only available for VR, and at that a Meta Quest exclusive. Nonetheless, this is a more exciting prospect than the previous VR Batman game that was essentially a tech demo, since this is actually a full-length game set roughly two years after the events of Batman: Arkham Origins, where you’ll not only be going up against the mysterious Rat King and his followers, but also discover the origins of iconic characters like Scarecrow and Harley Quinn.

Release: Autumn 2024

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

The next game in the beloved Life is Strange series is a surprise as it reunites fans with Max Caulfield, the protagonist from the original game, embroiled in a new murder mystery with a new supernatural power. After finding her new close friend Safi dead in the snow, she finds herself opening up a parallel timeline where Safi is still alive, but still in danger. With the ability to switch between these two realities, it’s up to you to discover the killer and save your best friend.

Release: 29 October

Blumhouse Games

Having already made a name for itself in Hollywood horror from Paranormal Activity to Insidious and Get Out, not to mention the big screen adaptation of Five Nights at Freddies, Blumhouse look set to become the Annapurna Interactive for indie horror. Blumhouse Games doesn’t just have one but six games and indie developers it’s already partnering with, and this trailer shows a genuine breadth of ways to crawl under your skin, whether that’s a first-person horror or even whatever lurks within a seemingly cutesy cosy farming sim. Most intriguing is that it’s also signed the next game, codenamed Project C, a collaboration between awards-winning developer Sam Barlow (Her Story, Immortality) and Brandon Cronenberg!

Release: 15 September (Fear the Spotlight)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind

Sure, people crave new games but nostalgia goes a long way too. Going full 90s, this Power Rangers games is an unabashed pixel art side-scrolling arcade brawler in a similar vein to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. It looks outstanding, filled with colours, loads of character sprites on screen to beat up, and you better turn the volume up when that classic theme song comes on. Go, go, Power Rangers!

Release: Late 2024

Perfect Dark

Three years after it was announced with a CG teaser, with reports of a troubled development cycle with The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics, it’s a relief to finally see an in-game trailer of Perfect Dark, looking leaps and bounds from the N64 original and the somewhat disappointing 360 launch game. While still a first-person shooter, we finally get to see how Joanna Dark looks, not to mention a few of her high-tech gadgets, including one that allows you to create ‘deepfake’ voices to trick security systems or create distractions.

Release: TBA

Fable

Another year, another teaser for the Playground Games’ reboot of Fable. Nonetheless, it continues to exude intrinsically British comedy vibes – having had the talents of Stephen Fry and Richard Ayoade in the past, this latest trailer is headlined by a new character called Humphrey, played by none other than Matt King (AKA Peep Show’s Super Hans). It continues to look promising, once again emphasising that everything being shown is in-engine as it also cuts to gameplay scenes, while finally confirming a release window (well, a whole year) is some source of comfort. As long as it doesn’t get cancelled at the last minute like Fable Legends.

Release: 2025

Mixtape

From the award-winning developer of The Artful Escape comes a coming-of-age adventure with an 80s soundtrack to die for (DEVO, Roxy Music, Lush, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division? – pump it into our veins!). Set on the last night of high school as three friends make their way to their last high school party, it’s a kind of friendship greatest hits as they recall the memories that defined them in dreamlike vignettes and an inspired Spiderversey animation style. Skate, party, avoid the law, make out, sneak out, hang out.

Release: 2025

Cairn

If last year’s indie game Jusant conveyed the calm of climbing, then Cairn seems to want to really focus on the other end of the extreme. Featuring realistic simulation, climbing requires you to you posture, effort and balance at every hold so that you do not fall. Judging by the character you play as, it also seems to be capturing the isolation and painful physical exertion. Expect lots of heavy breathing, grunts and yes, cries, with every attempt to scale further and further up to the summit.

Release: 2025

Wanderstop

The last few years has seen the rise of cosy games, seemingly calm and conflict-free games for you to escape to and just live your best life. But what if there is something dark about that kind of premise? In Wanderstop, you play as a fallen fighter named Alta who, despite managing a tea shop, doesn’t actually want to be there. Given it’s being made by the developer behind subversive indie games like The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, there’s definitely something here that isn’t quite how it seems.

Release: TBA

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

While it was already announced last month, it was during Ubisoft Forward where the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed Shadows set in feudal Japan finally got a deep look at its gameplay. This extended 13-minute walkthrough shows the two different styles of play on offer as you’re given the choice of two protagonists, Naoe the shinobi, staying true to the series’ stealthy roots, and Yasuke, based on a historical character and one of Japan’s first foreign-born samurai. But besides getting stabby, you’ll of course be able to explore a rich recreation of 16th century Japan, drinking sake, participating in calligraphy, and petting an Ina-shibu.

Release: 12 November

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

If the last Flight Simulator came at just the right time to provide an escape in the virtual skies when most of us were locked down, then this ambitious update is all about opening simmers up to take the next level and pursue the aviation careers of their dreams. Beyond simply operating aircraft, you can take up a wide variety of careers from chartering VIP jets to air rescue, or air advertising, aerial firefighting, and plenty more. And why even stick to planes when you can also control helicopters or even hot air balloons? The sky really is the limit.

Release: 19 November

Atomfall

It was only a matter of time that someone made a UK Fallout (not including the upcoming Fallout London mod) and who better than British developer Rebellion, of Sniper Elite and Zombie Army fame? This reveal also feels refreshing to the usual arid wastelands, as whatever nuclear disaster that has occurred in Atomfall hasn’t destroyed the country’s beautiful rolling countryside. But all is far from normal, and unlike Bethesda’s series, expect this to lean into intrinsically British sci-fi like Day of the Triffids and Doctor Who but also the quintessentials like red phone boxes and the pub.

Release: 2025

Gears of War: E-Day

Having officially dropped the second part of the name last time, the Gears series is back to being officially called Gears of War again. That could be because this new instalment is also going back, a prequel that brings back a younger Marcus Fenix facing the Locust during ‘Emergence Day’, 14 years before the events of the first game. As the one more thing for a pretty successful Xbox showcase, there’s no date for this but there’s no denying this completely in-engine trailer built with Unreal 5 looks the business.

Release: TBA

Everything else

With just so many streams happening during Summer Game Fest, it’s simply too much to go for more honourable mentions. But if you want to watch them in full for yourself then simply follow the links below:

– Summer Game Fest Live, Day of the Devs and Devolver Direct

– Wholesome Direct Indie Showcase

– Xbox Games Showcase, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct

– Future Games Show: Summer Games Showcase

– The PC Gaming Show– Ubisoft Forward