Summer Game Fest 2023 will premiere days before E3's return

Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest will return on June 8, 2023. That alone would be noteworthy, but the now annual showcase of upcoming video games will premiere ahead of E3's return running from June 13-June 16, 2023. 

When E3 was canceled in 2020 and opted to go virtual in 2021 due to the pandemic, Keighley formed Summer Game Fest to pick up the slack. In many ways, it quickly supplanted E3's presence as a place to reveal and present brand new or hotly anticipated titles, such as Elden Ring. And it's caught on with audiences, as last year's Summer Games Fest drew in millions of viewers. 

Unlike previous Summer Game Fests, 2023's will also be in-person. Previously, viewers could only watch the event through livestreams, which gives this upcoming event some novelty as it enters its fourth year.

"We’re thrilled to invite thousands of fans to experience the SGF show in-person for the first time in 2023," wrote Keighley in a press statement. "In keeping with tradition, we’ll have tons of exciting announcements....and will once again highlight other publisher digital events, demos, and more surprises to be announced in the coming months.”

This past July, the ESA (which runs E3) announced a partnership with ReedPop to bring the event back in full force for 2023. At the time, ReedPop said it would revitalize E3 with "titanic AAA reveals, earth-shaking world premieres, and exclusive access to the future of video games."

Following E3 announcing its return for 2023, Keighley told The Verge wasn't quick to label the returning event as a competitor to his own, and said it was too early to make a call.

“E3 said they’re coming back," he stated. "Which, I don’t know what that means, right? [...] I think we got to define what E3 is before we can say if it’s competitive or not.”