The E3-shaped hole in the 2020 video game calendar has been filled by multiple digital events, live streams, and festivals Here’s our guide to every confirmed E3 2020 replacement taking place this summer.
In the absence of E3 2020, publishers, media groups, and, erm, entrepreneurs, have stepped in to ensure that there’s a steady stream of information on this year’s new video games and next-gen consoles.
However, keeping track of every event is increasingly difficult. Many publishers are showing games on multiple channels, as well as holding their own live streams. To help you make sense of it all, here’s our guide to every confirmed event.
We’ll keep this page updated over the summer, so why not treat your web browser to a new bookmark.
Updated: June 1, 2020 with new details from IGN, Sony, BitSummit, and New Game+ Expo
Replacement E3 2020 events
Summer Game Fest
Dates: May – August, 2020
Geoff Keighley and iam8bit wasted no time in pitching up the Summer Game Fest tent on the grave of E3 2020. The festival is a four-month-long series of live streams and announcements from publishers and platform holders including 2K, Activision, Bungie, PlayStation, and EA. The festival concludes with Gamescom Opening Night Live in August.
In addition to individual game reveals, other events are also being held under the Summer Game Fest banner. We’ll list these separately below.
Visit: Summer Game Fest
BitSummit Gaiden
Dates: June 27-28, 2020
BitSummit Gaiden will highlight more than 75 games from Japan and around the world on Discord and Twitch. Dev chats, Let’s Plays, and giveaways are promised, and streamable demos will be available via Utomik.
Visit: BitSummit
Guerrilla Collective Live
Dates: June 6- 8, 2020
The Guerrilla Collective Live is a three-day indie focused event from The MIX, who run one of the most reliably excellent ancillary E3 events. It’s produced with help from the Kinda Funny team and hosted by Greg Miller. Confirmed exhibitors include 11 Bit Studios, Thunderful, Paradox Interactive, Raw Fury, and Coffee Stain Studios. The event promises game announcements for every platform.
Watch here: Twitch
IGN Summer of Gaming
Dates: June 2020
IGN’s Summer of Gaming will feature announcements from a host of big-name publishers and indies. The main event is the IGN Expo, which runs on June 5, 8 and 9. It includes announcements from CD Projekt Red, Deep Silver, Devolver Digital, Sega, Ubisoft, Blizzard, and Xbox, to name a few. The PC Gaming Show is also part of IGN’s lineup.
Watch here: IGN
Future Games Show
Dates: June 6, 2020
GamesRadar is fronting the Future Games Show, an hour-long show which promises “exclusive trailers, announcements, and deep dives on existing AAA and indie games.” All that in one hour. Impressive.
Watch here: Twitch
Gamescom Opening Night Live
Dates: August 24, 2020
Gamescom Opening Night Live returns for its second year and is once again hosted by the ever-present Geoff Keighly. We’re not sure if there will be any games left to announce by August, but the event acts as a lead-in to this year’s digital-only Gamescom expo.
Watch here: Gamescom
GameSpot’s Play for All
Dates: June, 2020
Gamespot’s Play for All features a familiar lineup of companies with Bethesda, Larian Studios, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix all promising content. The event runs across all of CBS Interactive’s gaming channels, including GameSpot, Giant Bomb, and Metacritic. Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller and NoClip’s Danny O’Dwyer will also be on hand to flesh out over 100 hours of content.
Watch here: YouTube
Indie Live Expo 2020
Dates: June 6, 2020
Indie Live Expo 2020 will deliver an “information-based live stream for indie games, developers, and gamers.” Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida is among the industry figureheads delivering personal messages.
Watch here: Indie Live Expo
Kinda Funny Games Showcase
Dates: June, 2020
The Kinda Funny Games team are continuing their daily video games coverage throughout the summer. They are also producing the three-day Guerrilla Collective Live event in collaboration with The MIX, and will host another Kinda Funny Games Showcase in June.
Watch here: YouTube
The MIX
The MIX is one of our favourite indie game shows. The organisers always curate an eclectic collection of games, many of which become hits and GOTY contenders. This year, The MIX is behind Guerrilla Collective Live.
New Game+ Expo
Dates: June 23, 2020
NGPX is an online showcase of new and upcoming releases from a range of developers, including many from Japan. You can look forward to hearing from Atlus, Arc System Works, Aksys, SNK, NIS America, Spike Chunsoft, and Natsume.
Visit: NGPX
PC Gaming Show
Dates: June 6, 2020
The annual PC Gaming Show is sometimes overlong, but it usually contains a few gems that would be otherwise overlooked in the E3 hubbub. (Say hello, Maneater.) This year’s show is also included as part of Guerrilla Collective Live and the IGN Summer of Gaming schedule.
Watch here: Twitch
Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition
Dates: June 9 – 14, 2020
Valve’s Steam Game Festival highlights PC games due for release within the next year. Free limited-time demos and short playable experiences are planned, alongside some exclusive developer interviews. Naturally, every game can be added to your Steam wish list.
Visit: Steam
Publisher Press Conferences
2K
Dates: May 19 / TBC
The Mafia Trilogy has already been announced and two-thirds released. 2K is also participating with IGN Summer of Gaming, Summer Game Fest, and Gamespot’s Play For All.
Activision
Dates: TBC
On a recent earnings call, Activision promised “several remastered and reimagined experiences” for release in 2020. We can also expect news on the next Call of Duty and a brand new Crash Bandicoot game. Keep an eye on the Summer Game Fest for more details.
Bandai Namco
Dates: TBC
Bandai Namco is showing new products via IGN’s Summer of Gaming and Summer Game Fest.
Bethesda At Home
Dates: Ongoing
Bethesda is broadcasting Bethesda At Home live streams weekly throughout the season. Additional announcements will also be released via Summer Game Fest.
Watch here: Twitch
Capcom
Dates: TBC
At the time of writing, we have no news on Capcom’s plans. Watch this space.
Devolver Direct
Dates: June, 2020
We’re hopeful that Nina Struthers will once again front Devolver Digital’s annual presser. A recent tweet from the company said: “Devolver Direct 2020 is happening but we’re not sure when due to THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES. Should be a good one though.” Devolver’s output also forms part of IGN’s summer offering.
Watch here: Twitch
EA Play Live
Dates: June 18, 2020
Will FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21 feature a “behind closed doors” mode? Discover that – and much more – at EA Play Live. It’s rumoured that we’ll get our first look at the next Dragon Age game and Anthem‘s big revamp.
Watch here: EA Play
Epic Games
Dates: Ongoing
Epic Games has already confirmed that Fortnite is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X at launch. The company also unveiled Unreal Engine 5 with an impressive real-time PS5 demo. More announcements will come via Summer Game Fest and IGN throughout the summer.
Watch here: Twitch
CD Projekt Red (Night City Wire)
Dates: June 11, 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red will broadcast a Night City Wire live stream on June 11. Expect new gameplay footage from one of the year’s most anticipated games.
Watch here: Twitch
Paradox Insider
Dates: June 6, 2020
Paradox Insider will be broadcast as part of Guerrilla Collective Live. Look forward to more information on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.
Watch here: Twitch
PlayStation State of Play
Dates: Ongoing
Sony’s first PlayStation State of Play streams of the season focused on the upcoming PS4 releases The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima. We expect more editions over the summer, continuing this week with our first look at games running on PlayStation 5. Tune in on Thursday, June 4, at 1:00 pm PT.
Watch here: YouTube
Nintendo
Dates: TBC
It’s rumoured that the Nintendo Direct for planned June has been delayed due to the impact of Covid-19. Nonetheless, we should get regular updates from the House of Mario over the summer. Paper Mario: The Oragami King was recently announced out of nowhere, and a collection HD remasters on Switch is rumoured to celebrate Super Mario’s 35th Anniversary.
Sega
Dates: TBC
Sega of America and Sega of Europe are confirmed to be participating in IGN’s and Gamespot’s events.
Square Enix
Dates: TBC
Square Enix has reportedly abandoned plans for replacement E3 press conference. Instead, the company is focussing on individual game reveals via Summer Game Fest, IGN’s Summer of Gaming, and Gamespot’s Play For All.
Stadia
Although there’s no confirmation of a summer Stadia Connect broadcast, we wouldn’t spill our porridge if Google tries to give its game streaming platform a bit of a relaunch. The Stadia Pro giveaway in April was a good start.
Tennocon 2020
Dates: July 11, 2020
Digital Extreme’s dedicated Warframe conference is going all-digital and included as part of the Summer Game Fest programme. Paid conference packs are available, each including in-game cosmetics or physical gear. A portion of all ticket proceeds will support Autism Ontario London and The Alzheimer Society London.
Visit: Tennocon
Ubisoft Forward
Dates: July 12, 2020
Expect Ubisoft’s summer presentation to have a familiar feel with more details expected on Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Gods & Monsters, Rainbow Six: Quarantine, and Watch Dogs: Legion. We might even see Skull & Bones again. A brand new game is also promised.
Watch here: YouTube
Xbox 20/20 (Inside Xbox)
Dates: Monthly from May
Although the first look at Xbox Series X ‘gameplay’ went over like a lead balloon, there’s still plenty to get excited about. July’s Xbox 20/20 promises more on titles in development at Xbox Game Studios such as Halo: Infinite, Hellblade 2, and – dare we speculate – a new Fable? Xbox content is also included as part of Summer Game Fest, IGN’s Summer of Gaming, and GameSpot’s Play for All.
Watch here: Mixer
WB Games
Dates: TBC
Will WB Games ever reveal the Batman game they’ve been teasing? We hope to see that, and more from Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. WB Games is participating in Summer Game Fest.
As you can see, it’s a busy summer with multiple events all vying for attention of gamers. We’ll endeavour to keep this page as up to date as possible, but let us know via Facebook or Twitter if we’ve missed something.
E3 is dead. Long live E3. We didn’t think we’d miss it.
