And VGG is back.
It's that time again. The days are heating up, the pollen is flowing directly into my sinuses, the marketing train is running faster than ever, and E3 is back baby!
...
What's that? E3's dead this year and might be dead for good? The pandemic drastically changed this whole marketing machine? Geoff Keighley and friends have taken its place, finding ways to keep things varied and exciting all summer?
Well, okay then!
Since COVID hit more than two years ago, we've seen these first few weeks of June – normally a games industry jamboree – shift and morph in unexpected ways.
With the initial outbreak, 2020 saw most folks scatter to the winds, spreading their digital events all throughout the year instead of condensing it all into one chaotic month of showcases. Pretty great for those no longer having to scramble to put these reveals together. Pretty boring for those of us who loved the absolute whirlwind experience.
Things stabilized a bit in 2021, with most people adjusting to the pandemic lifestyle and generally having a better handle on creating hybrid in person/online presentations. We were inching back to normalcy and back to the beloved season of chaos.
It felt like E3 would be back in full force by 2022, but the group behind the former trade show, the Electronic Software Association (ESA), squashed that idea just a few months into the year. The ESA pulled the plug in March, showing that their focus had entirely shifted from a trade/press event to a money-making public event.
But that doesn't mean the party's over. Far from it. One of the best things that has come out of the pandemic digital showcase life is a concentrated push to give the spotlight to smaller creators. Initiatives like the Guerrilla Collective, Wholesome Direct, Future of Play, and so much more have launched, grown, and become highly anticipated in their own right.
As you'll note in our handy-dandy (not) E3 2022 schedule below, there are still over 17 30-minute to multi-hour showcase events in the next week alone. When it comes to the BIG publishers, Xbox is the only one showing up in the week of chaos itself. PlayStation kicked off a little early with a State of Play on June 2, which was met with mixed reactions, offering no major exclusive news, and Nintendo is... nowhere to be seen, prompting summoning circles all over the internet for a fated Nintendo Direct.
But Keighley is here with the Summer Game Fest, Devolver is here to advance the deepest lore seen in the entire press conference circuit, and indies are filling in the gaps. And we're not complaining. Through the last few years of E3-esque showcase weeks, it was rarely the BIG BOYS that captured our attention during these events. The indies' shotgun approaches caught our eyes and kept us coming back for more. Every indie event that flew by brought anywhere between 30-75 games spotlighted, and a decent chunk of them made our most anticipated lists when all was said and done.
Hell. VGG's inaugural Game of the Year winner, Chicory - A Colorful Tale made an iron-gripped impression on us when it was showcased in one of the first Wholesome Directs in 2020.
All of this to say... Not E3 2022 is here. And covering these events has always been one of our favorite things to do, so you can bet we'll be right here with you through this month with all the latest. Articles, streams, hands-on impressions. We'll have it all for you.
So stick around, watch live streams every day from June 9 to June 13, and check out daily articles right here as we go along!
We'll also be debuting a few long-awaited reviews this month, so keep an eye out! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter (and editor-in-chief Nate) for all the updates about our coverage.
Here's where to watch all of the summer gaming showcase events that make up (not) E3 2022! We'll keep this updated as things are added, so bookmark this page to keep tabs on everything.
Schedule
June 9 at 8 AM PDT | |
June 9 at 11 AM PDT | |
June 9 at 1 PM PDT (after Summer Game Fest) | |
June 9 at 3 PM PDT | |
June 10 at 9 AM PDT | |
June 10 at 10 AM PDT | |
June 10 at 12 PM PDT | |
June 10 at 1 PM PDT | |
June 11 at 8 AM PDT | |
June 11 at 9:30 AM PDT | |
June 11 at 10:30 AM PDT | |
June 11 at 12 PM PDT | |
June 12 at 10 AM PDT | |
June 12 at 12:30 PDT | |
June 13 at 1 PM PDT | |
June 13 at 3 PM PDT | |
June 14 at 10 AM PDT |
*denotes co-stream on Twitch on our page! Come watch with us!