Summer Game Fest starts on June 9th – and it's coming to IMAX

This is the third year running for the show that’s not E3

Summer Game Festhave announced the show will be back for the third time on June 9th to beam Geoff Keighley straight into your peepholes. Proceedings kick off at 11am PST/2pm EST/7pm BST/8pm CEST and are streamed live from Los Angeles across YouTube, Twitch and other platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Even though live digital events are convenient to watch wherever you might be sat – rocking chair in the attic, natch – I’m up for seeing this kind of thing with an audience around me, tucking into popcorn and smuggled-in sweets. After the past few years it’s enjoyable to be back in public experiencing things in a group of strangers again. There aren’t many summer blockbusters anymore either, so why not stage broadcasts of gaming shows if the cinemas are unoccupied?

Last year’s Summer Game Fest showed off footage ofElden Ringfor the first time, which has kind of been a big deal since it launched, and announcedTiny Tina’s Wonderlands. The festival has shuffled into E3’s slot in June in recent years. Of course, this year there’sno E3 at allanymore because the digital event was cancelled in March. The lack of E3 doesn’t trouble me too much, I’m fine with Summer Game Fest’s drawn-out schedule, but nostalgia means I’d still rather see E3 return in some form next June.