Summer Game Fest has revealed the plans it has in store for 2026 well in advance of the event. Live Kickoff Summer Game Fest will be broadcast live as usual, with the kickoff show moving to the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles from its former location, the YouTube Theatre.
This year marks the sixth anniversary of Summer Game Fest, which started at the height of the COVID pandemic as a digital alternative to traditional game shows, when most in-person shows were canceled or postponed due to the dangers of gathering groups of people. The scheduling of the show has shifted a bit from year to year, but regardless of the exact date, the program has marked one of the most exciting times to become a player every year since its inception.
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Summer Game Fest reveals schedule and plans
The Summer Game Fest Live Kickoff show will take place on June 5th starting at 5:00 PM ET. This part of the show will be hosted by Geoff Keighley and will have a range of exciting trailers to share with fans, including world premieres and brand new game reveals. Players will be able to watch the show on almost all live streaming platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Twitch and Steam. Those who would like to attend the show in person will be given the option to purchase tickets for the show, which begins sometime in the spring, but no further details on the price or exact date when they will go on sale have been given.
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Unlike The Game Awards, which is also hosted by Geoff Keighley, Summer Game Fest also offers a range of hands-on and personal experiences for media, influencers and industry professionals. The first of these is SGF Play Days, which is produced by iam8bit and will be held in downtown Los Angeles. The invite-only event will reportedly include “immersive exhibitions” and experiences hosted by “the game industry's leading publishers and developers.” Game Business Live will be held on June 8, which is also the last day of the event.
The reveals that will be made at any Summer Game Fest event are generally kept under wraps until the show airs, but fans should be able to expect a lot of fun based on what's happened in the previous year. The 2025 Summer Game Fest included major moments such as the reveal of the release date ARC Raiderswhich has since become a huge hit. Reveal trailers have also been released for a number of game sequels such as Code vein 2, Mortal Shell 2, Atomic Heart 2and one of the biggest plays of the entire show, Resident Evil Requiem. Players can also expect some random games and DLC to be suddenly made available during the Live Kickoff Show because in 2025 Lies P: Foreplay The DLC was released immediately after the trailer at Summer Game Fest.
Not every developer chooses to show off their biggest discoveries at Summer Game Fest, but after the 2025 show, there might be more reasons to do so. According to a statement from Geoff Keighley himself after the end of last year's show, the program has seen incredible year-on-year growth. Summer Game Fest saw 50 million live streams in 2025 and a peak viewership of over 3 million concurrent viewers, an 89% increase, and the most watched Summer Game Fest show to date. With so many viewers watching the show, it's entirely possible that some developers will decide to premiere their upcoming titles on the show in June, but viewers will have to tune in to find out.
