How well did our Summer Game Fest predictions hold up?
Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest and Microsoft's Xbox + Bethesda showcase have come and gone. With no other major publishers hosting their own major summer preview events in the month of June, we now have a decent look at what the rest of 2022's major game releases will look like.
We also have a chance to revisit our predictions from before the show, and evaluate if our video game showcase radar is working well, or needs to go into the shop for maintenance. Both Summer Game Fest and Xbox + Bethesda Showcase were surprisingly muted affairs, leaving other broadcasts like Day of the Devs, Guerilla Games Collective, and the PC Gaming Show to show off standout games.
There's always value in looking back and admitting what you got wrong. It's also delicious to gloat about what you got right.
Our top-level predictions focused on the regular drumbeat of high-profile teasers and announcements, the trend of remakes, reboots, and remasters, a new wave of Hollywood crossover titles, and reveals from newer studios founded by triple-A game veterans.
Surprisingly, it was our prediction that we'd know more about big, unannounced games that held up the worst. In 2021, Summer Game Fest showed off the first footage of Elden Ring, along with a release date. In 2022, the same blockbuster timeslot was dedicated to The Last of Us Part I, which leaked an hour before showtime.
Xbox and Bethesda also played it cool on the big franchises resting under their tentpoles, but to be fair, showing off Starfield and Redfall footage made up for a lot of lost ground.
Why so few large titles? Some may have had their big reveals punted due to COVID-19 delays, while other publishers might see the lack of an E3 as an opportunity to host their own standalone
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