Steam Game Festival was originally scheduled to kick-off on June 9th, but Valve Corporation has announced a delay for the digital event. As of this writing, no rationale has been provided for the postponement. Throughout the video game industry, a number of digital events and releases have been delayed in observance of the worldwide protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Limited Run Games’ “LRG3” event was intended to take place on June 8th, but was similarly delayed, with no reason given. Unlike that event, however, a new date has been provided for the start of Steam Game Festival, which will now start on June 16th, and last through June 22nd.
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With several in-person events cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a number of digital events have attempted to fill the gap. This is actually the second Steam Game Festival in just the last few months, so users should have some idea what to expect. The event will feature videos and short demos, as well as appearances by developers for chats. Steam has confirmed that the games that will be on display will see release within the next year. If the event is anything like the one held in March, users can expect to see a heavy focus on indie games. Valve has not made any announcements regarding exactly which games will be shown during the digital event, however.
It will be interesting to see how gamers respond to all of the various digital events scheduled to take place over the next few weeks. Steam Game Festival joins IGN’s Summer of Gaming, New Game+ Festival, LRG3, and several other options. While the digital nature of the presentations should make it easier for companies to directly speak to consumers, there is a danger of oversaturation, and gamers might hold off on participating in these types of events, as a result. Steam Game Festival does have a number of advantages over those other shows, however, as users already seem to enjoy the format.
At this time, little additional information has been provided about the event. Fortunately, Steam users won’t have much longer to wait to find out more about Steam Game Festival!
Are you excited for Steam Game Festival? What do you hope to see the publisher offer in a physical format next? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!