Summer 2023 showcase schedule: Every gaming publisher livestream and Summer Game Fest event

Baldur's Gate 3 — Key art for Baldur's Gate 3 featuring some of the game's authored Origin Characters. In the background, dragons emerge from a portal.
(Image credit: Larian)

We're E3-less again this year but, believe it or not, videogame marketing hasn't ground to a halt, so all of us consumers will still have plenty of new trailers to munch on. The summer showcase season is nearly upon us and, yes, I'm very open to a name for this week in June that rolls off the tongue better than that does. Whatever we wind up calling "not-E3" this year (seriously, my ears are open) there is going to be a fast and stacked set of gaming showcases during the second week of June.

Several publishers are doing their own showcases as they have been for the last few years. Our own PC Gaming Show and our sister site's Future Games Show are both back too. And yup, the Summer Game Fest is back as well, attempting to fill the non-denominational power void that E3 has left in its absence. Pull up your calendar app and start scheduling your watch parties with your pals because June is nearly here.

Videogame summer announcements 2023

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Videogame summer showcases schedule
ShowcasePDTPDTBSTAEST
State of PlayMay 24 (Wed)1 pm9 pm6 am (May 25)
Guerrilla CollectiveJune 7 (Wed)9 am5 pm2 am (June 8)
Summer Game FestJune 8 (Thurs)12 pm8 pm5 am (June 9)
Day of the DevsJune 8 (Thurs)After SGFAfter SGFAfter SGF
Devolver DigitalJune 8 (Thurs)3 pm11 pm8 am (June 9)
Access-AbilityJune 9 (Fri)8 am4 pm1 am (June 10)
Wholesome DirectJune 10 (Sat)9 am5 pm2 am (June 11)
Future Games ShowJune 10 (Sat)10 am6 pm3 am (June 11)
Xbox & StarfieldJune 11 (Sun)10 am6 pm3 am (June 12)
PC Gaming ShowJune 11 (Sun)1 pm9 pm6 am (June12)
Ubisoft ForwardJune 12 (Mon)10 am6 pm3 am (June 13)
Capcom ShowcaseJune 12 (Mon)3 pm11 pm8 am (June 13)
Black Voices in GamingJune 13 (Tues)3 pm11 pm8 am (June 14)

When is E3 2023? 

In case you'd not heard, E3 is canceled again in 2023 meaning there's no official expo this year. Luckily, though, publisher and curator showcases have all mostly localized around one weekend in June so we'll still be getting a very tight burst of announcements this summer. Read on below to find out what we're expecting to see at all of the confirmed shows scheduled for this season. 

Full list of showcases

(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

State of Play

Livestream: Wednesday, May 24 @ 1 pm Pacific, 9 pm UK on YouTube

What happened: Getting out ahead of its peer programming this summer, PlayStation's event was a sequel-heavy showcase bringing over an hour of first-and-third-party games. Headline announcements included a reveal of the long-rumored Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, first gameplay showings for Assassin's Creed: Mirage, Spider-Man 2, and Dragon's Dogma 2, and the extraction shooter revival of Bungie's Marathon series. For the full rundown, check our list of every PC announcement from PlayStation's 2023 State of Play.

Guerrilla Collective 

Livestream: Wednesday, June 7 @ 9 am Pacific, 5 pm UK on YouTube and Twitch

What happened: The Guerrilla Collective indie games showcase brought a metric ton of trailers for games in all shapes and sizes. Between all the new reveals and release date announcements, we saw open-world feudal Japan survival in Sengoku Dynasty, a cozy take on Breath of the Wild exploration in Europa, and a heap of fast-paced FPS options like Deadlink and Blood West.

Summer Game Fest 

Livestream: Thursday, June 8 @ noon Pacific, 8 pm UK on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and TikTok

What happened: As expected, Keighley brought a heap of previews for his Summer Game Fest show-and-tell. We got our first look at gameplay in the new continuity of Mortal Kombat 1, some unedited playtime footage of Alan Wake 2, and the reveal of the legendary namesake city of Baldur's Gate 3—now with its own robocops! Hooray! And to top things off, we got a surprise trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second installment of the FF7 Remake saga. There were plenty of other games in the lineup, so be sure to visit our full rundown of every reveal at Summer Game Fest 2023.

Day of the Devs 

Livestream: June 8 immediately following Summer Game Fest

What happened: The Day of the Devs indie showcase might have been light on release dates, but there was no shortage of delightful previews. New reveals like the Pokemon-esque volleyball RPG Beastieball made instant additions to our wishlists, while already-anticipated games like Hyper Light Breaker delivered some fresh gameplay footage. Visit our 5 favorite Day of the Devs previews for more highlights.

Devolver Direct 

Livestream: Thursday, June 8 @ 3 pm Pacific, 11 pm UK on Twitch

What happened: Devolver returned with its annual showcase antics, this year in the flavor of a fictional AI-driven game dev. The showcase featured four games, with sequels to fan-favorites in Human Fall Flat 2 and The Talos Principle 2, a gameplay preview for gunslinging sorcerer survival game Wizard With A Gun, and a reveal of Baby Steps: a fully physics-based, literal walking simulator from who else but QWOP creator Bennett Foddy, featuring a 35-year-old failson and "dynamic onesie soilage system." Magical.

Access-Ability Summer Showcase

Livestream: Friday, June 9 @ 8 am Pacific, 4 pm UK on Twitch and YouTube

What happened: The Access-Ability Summer Showcase highlighted upcoming releases and recent games from disabled game devs and games prioritizing accessibility. Developers shared features and options for current games like Sniper Elite 5 and Princess Farmer along with updates from the developers of Pine Hearts, Botany Manor, and more.

Wholesome Direct 

Livestream: Saturday, June 10 @ 9 am Pacific, 5 pm UK on YouTube and Twitch

What to expect: As ever, the Wholesome Games showcase was packed, so we narrowed it down to the eight cozy games to wishlist including frog farm sim Kamaeru, city-building matchmaking sim Lakeburg Legacies, and the sidescrolling puzzle adventure Everdeep Aurora.

Future Games Show 

Livestream: Saturday, June 10 @ 10 am Pacific, 6 pm UK on YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter

What to expect: The Future Games Show summer showcase was stacked with neat stuff which we pulled our 11 favorite Future Games trailers from. Keep an eye on space hauling sim Star Trucker, puzzle adventure thriller Reveil, the hilariously fun physics swordplay game En Garde! and a ton of others.

Xbox and Starfield showcase 

Livestream: Sunday, June 11 @ 10 am Pacific, 6 pm UK on YouTube and Twitch

What to expect: Xbox has a double-header planned for June with a normal showcase of its games in progress followed immediately by the promised Starfied-focused showcase. During the full Xbox event we're hoping to get updates on big games like Obsidian's new RPG Avowed, the next Fable game, Everwild by Rare, Perfect Dark, and more. During the Starfield segment immediately following that we've been promised "tons of gameplay." We've mostly been coasting with the info from the first Starfield gameplay preview from last summer. This time we're hoping to see more of its 1000 planets and perhaps some non-combat gameplay too. 

PC Gaming Show 

Livestream: Sunday, June 11 @ 1 pm Pacific, 9 pm UK on YouTube and Twitch

What to expect: Our own PC Gaming Show is returning this summer with two hours and 55 game trailers all dedicated to PC players. You can expect to see Baldur's Gate 3, Frostpunk 2, Dune: Awakening, a brand-new game from Klei, and quite a few games that will be revealed for the first time.

Ubisoft Forward 

Livestream: Monday, June 12 @ TBA on YouTube

What to expect: Ubisoft may be in a weird place with games floundering in supposed development like the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake and Skull & Bones, but there are things to be excited about. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is still kicking around and there are several new Assassin's Creed games it announced last year.

Capcom Showcase

Livestream: Monday, June 12 @ 3 pm Pacific, 11 pm UK on YouTube and Twitch

What to expect: Capcom's showcase is planned to be a shorter 36 minute event, it says. It's confirmed that it will be showing more of Dragon's Dogma 2, which we saw last month at the PlayStation event, Exoprimal, and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Okay, but what about some more Monster Hunter though?

Black Voices in Gaming

Livestream: Tuesday, June 13 @ 3 pm Pacific, 11 pm UK on YouTube and Twitch

What to expect: Black Voices in Gaming is another showcase partnered with the Guerrilla Collective, this one organized by Black game developers and focused on "culturally relevant games centered on Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC) lived experience." Confirmed for this year's show so far are Hyper Light Breaker, Coreupt, Rollergirl, and Breeze In The Clouds.

Lauren Morton
Associate Editor

Lauren started writing for PC Gamer as a freelancer in 2017 while chasing the Dark Souls fashion police and accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as the self-appointed chief cozy games enjoyer. She originally started her career in game development and is still fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long books, longer RPGs, has strong feelings about farmlife sims, and can't stop playing co-op crafting games.