How Summer Game Fest is becoming the new E3
May 10, 2022It started with a wink.
The seemingly context-free, singular winking yellow smiley icon popped up on Geoff Keighley’s Twitter feed on March 31 at 2:31 p.m., landing like an avalanche of free publicity.
Despite no context, it was a clear response to news – which hit just six minutes earlier – that E3 2022 was canceled.
Keighley, host and creator of the well-regarded annual winter Game Awards and Summer Game Fest, was essentially confirming the return of his summer celebration of video games, with a nod and virtual wink.
About 20 minutes later, the official confirmation went out across the Twitter streams: Summer Game Fest–an industry-wide celebration of video games–was returning this June.
While E3’s 2022 cancellation came as a surprise to some, it didn’t to Keighley. So he was ready for the news to hit, armed with an emoji that would end up garnering more than 15,000 likes and nearly 2,000 retweets. (It also kicked off a conversation closing in on 1,000 responses).
“Look, we talk to all the same people and are aware of what’s going on with all the game companies and publishers,” Keighley said in a recent interview. “I had discussed the potential of what E3 was going to be this year with (E3 showrunners) ESA. It’s a difficult situation to come back post-pandemic and do a physical show.
To read the rest of this story, which first ran on May 11, 2022, visit the Epic Games Store.
