With E3 canceled yet again, it's time for Summer Game Fest to take center stage for another year. Starting back in 2020, Summer Game Fest marks the second major annual gaming event organized and hosted by industry veteran Geoff Keighley. Much like E3, Summer Game Fest takes place over the course of several summer days, with various virtual showcases and conferences sprinkled throughout. And as has been the case since the beginning, Summer Game Fest will kick things off with its own livestream showcase, where some familiar faces could make an appearance.
Set to air in just a few days time on Thursday, June 8 2023, Summer Game Fest's kick-off event will reportedly last for around two hours, which implies a pretty stacked showcase. While over 40 publishers are set to make an appearance during the event, there's one developer that almost always makes some sort of appearance alongside Geoff Keighley, and that's Hideo Kojima.
Kojima Productions Could Have a Reveal or Two Ready for Summer Game Fest
Geoff Keighley and Hideo Kojima have a very well-known professional relationship, and friendship. For years Keighley has sung Kojima's praises, and for years Kojima has worked closely with Keighley to announce and reveal his upcoming games in events that Keighley has organized. When Hideo Kojima was banned from attending the Game Awards by Konami, Keighley addressed the situation publicly at the event, supporting his friend and condemning the publisher. Since then, Kojima has appeared in just about every Keighley-led event of the last eight years, including the relatively new Summer Game Fest.
Though the first 2020 Summer Game Fest was a bit more of a low-key event, and as such didn't have too many reveals, Hideo Kojima appeared in the event's second year. During Summer Game Fest 2021, Kojima took to the stage to announce the long-rumored Death Stranding Director's Cut for PS5. Kojima didn't appear at Summer Game Fest 2022's opening ceremony, but he did appear during Xbox's games showcase, where he announced a partnership with the publisher. Though the two showcases are technically separate, Xbox does tend to fit its event within Summer Game Fest's schedule.
Kojima Productions has a number of different projects in the works, and one of these could appear at Summer Game Fest 2023. Kojima's biggest project underway right now is undoubtedly Death Stranding 2, a direct sequel to the PlayStation 4 exclusive that's since been ported to just about every other platform. With Death Stranding 2 allegedly being a PS5 exclusive on launch, it would have made sense for the game to appear during PlayStation's recent showcase, but it didn't, and now the next best place for it could be Summer Game Fest's opening event.
Kojima Productions also has its Xbox project currently in the works. Though no official details have been confirmed so far, it's been long rumored that the game will be called Overdose, and will put an emphasis on psychological horror. While it would make slightly more sense to have any kind of announcement occur during Xbox's upcoming June 11 showcase, it's more than possible for the game to show up first at Summer Game Fest, appearing as a brief teaser and encouraging fans to tune into the Xbox Showcase for more details. The only thing going against the likelihood of a Kojima appearance at Summer Game Fest is Kojima Productions' name not appearing on the official list of Game Fest partners, though a surprise appearance is still definitely on the cards.