There’s been an explosion of game reveals and announcements over the course of this year’s Summer Game Fest period (AKA the former E3 week). If you’re brave enough to try and stay on top of everything, you can check out the individual livestreams, like the full 2024 Summer Game Fest show, Wholesome Direct, the Xbox Games Showcase and Ubisoft Forward, as well as their various “Everything Announced” companion articles.

All the shows, and their recordings, are handily collected here as well. Plus, a useful way to check out every game (well, at least those coming to PC), and stay on top of developments by wishlisting, is the Steam event summary page.

For the record, Summer Game Fest was used by game makers to restoke awareness and excitement for a number of known titles. So we got things like deeper dives into Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows (out 12 November) and Star Wars Outlaws (30 August), as well as gameplay reveals for Xbox and Compulsion Games’ Southern Gothic action adventure South of Midnight (Coming 2025), and Obsidian’s action RPG Avowed, proving that 2024 Xbox and PC release is more than cool game art. Plus, there was a story trailer for promising new IP, and Q3 release, Unknown 9: Awakening, featuring The Witcher’s Anya Chalotra as its protagonist.

What you’ll find below, though, are typically reveals – brand new game and game content announcements – and just a small selection of the world-first looks that stood out for us at that.

1) LEGO Horizon Adventures

Starting off with something completely out of left field is LEGO Horizon Adventures, which puts a colourful, upbeat and family-friendly spin on the mature-leaning video game universe seen in PlayStation’s Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. Horizon developer Guerilla Games has collaborated with Studio Gobo for this LEGO adventure which can be played solo or in co-op mode, and is packed full of dud-collecting, customisation, platforming, bloodless but high-energy battles and a super chipper Aloy.

LEGO Horizon Adventures releases during the holiday period this year for PS, PC and Nintendo Switch.

2) Blumhouse Games

Some synergies just make sense. Like horror movie makers Blumhouse starting up a subdivision called Blumhouse Games. We knew about this turn of events already, but the Summer Game Fest stream provided an opportunity to showcase the various independent titles (from studios around the world) being made in partnership with Blumhouse. And there’s a lot of promise there, with arguably the most prestigious being Project C from Immortality’s Sam Barlow, made in collaboration with genre filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg.

Games featured in this trailer are:

On a similar note, having enjoyed such massive financial success on social deduction party game Among Us, creators Innersloth have started their own game fund called Outersloth – to help support other indie game makers. Summer Game Fest included a trailer for Outersloth’s slate of titles (more are waiting to be announced), including Mars First Logistics, Battle Suit Aces, Mossfield Archives, One Btn Bosses, Rogue Eclipse and, finally, Project Dosa from Thirsty Suitors makers Outerloop Games.

3) Neva

Initially revealed a year ago at a PlayStation Showcase, gaming fans got a better look at the gameplay for Neva, a new action adventure from the makers of GRIS, and publisher Devolver Digital. Neva chronicles the story of Alba, a young woman bound to a curious wolf cub following a traumatic encounter with dark forces. Working together, and with the cub growing into its own independent creature all the while, they embark on a perilous journey through a slowly decaying world.

Neva releases this year, 2024, on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

As a side note, looking to be just as heart wrenching is similar PC release Deer & Boy from Life Line Game Studio. The cinematic coming-of-age platformer, teased all the way back in November 2021, got a new trailer here. A release date has yet to be announced.

4) Wanderstop

When it came to Wholesome Direct 2024, and cosy indie games profiled in general during the showcase period, it felt like 85% of them were life sims ie. titles where you collect resources, make items, customise your home/farm/workplace, and interact with NPCs, helping to resolve their problems. One of these genre entries really stood out, though.

First, the pedigree. Published by Annapurna Interactive, narrative-driven Wanderstop is the debut game from Ivy Road, a new studio that brings together developers of The Stanley Parable, The Beginner’s Guide, Gone Home and Tacoma, along with the composer behind the music of Minecraft. As for the game itself, while it’s marketed as the tale of a fallen fighter, Alta, who resentfully manages a tea shop, the trailer suggests there is something more going on, which is very intriguing.

Wanderstop comes to PS5 and PC (through Steam) in 2024.

5) DOOM: The Dark Ages

It’s been four years since the last DOOM game, DOOM Eternal released. id Software and Bethesda Softworks are changing that now though with prequel DOOM: The Dark Ages, announced during the Xbox Games Showcase. Tapping into events mentioned in Eternal and 2016 series reboot DOOM, DOOM: The Dark Ages is a single-player action FPS that tells the origin story of the DOOM Slayer, looking at the ferocious warrior’s early demon slaughtering exploits during a medieval war against Hell.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is currently on track for release in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PC and PlayStation 5. The game will also be a Day One Xbox Game Pass debut. Wishlist on Steam here.

Still on matters of beloved action sci-fi franchises with over-the-top violence and chainsaw weapons, Gears of War is also getting a prequel treatment. Gears of War: E-Day takes players back to the horror of Emergence Day, and the nightmare situation facing young soldiers, and besties, Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago. Watch the trailer here.

There’s no announced release date for Gears of War: E-Day but expect to play it on Xbox Series X|S and PC, as well as through Game Pass on launch.

6) Life Is Strange: Double Exposure

Not only did fans get a reveal of the next Life is Strange game during the Xbox Games Showcase, but there was the big surprise that, for the first time in the supernatural narrative adventure series, a previous protagonist is returning as the star character. In Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Max Caulfield, from the original LiS, uses her Rewind time abilities for the first time in years, in order to try save her murdered friend Safi. Except now Max finds she can now shift between two parallel timelines – enabling her to solve and prevent the same murder.

Developed by Before the Storm and True Colors’s Deck Nine Games, and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange: Double Exposure releases on 29 October this year for Xbox Series X|S, PS, and PC, with a Switch launch at a later date.

7) Mixtape

We adored the exhilarating musical narrative adventure The Artful Escape from Australian studio Beethoven and Dinosaur, and publisher Annapurna Interactive. Now developer and publisher are teaming up yet again on another emotionally stirring adventure with music at its heart. Drawing inspiration from classic 80s coming-of-age tales, Mixtape follows three high schoolers as they head off to their final party together before graduation, and reflect on the highs and lows of adolescence. Notably, Mixtape has managed to assemble a jawdropping soundtrack that includes hits from the likes of Roxy Music, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division.

Mixtape launches in 2025 for PC, Xbox and PS. It will also be available day one with Xbox/PC Game Pass.

8) Age of Mythology: Retold

One Age of Mythology game (and a DLC). That’s all gamers originally got back in 2002 and 2003. But 20+ years later, the mythology-centred Age of Empires spin-off is returning. Real-time strategy game Age of Mythology: Retold, from Microsoft Games Studios, brings back fan-favourite elements and pairs them with modern design and visuals, as players combine human armies with legendary monsters, and the powers of gods from Greek, Egyptian, Norse and Atlantean cultures to secure victory.

Age of Mythology: Retold releases on 4 September 2024 for Xbox and PC. It will also be playable Day One with Game Pass.

9) A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars

In terms of DLC announcements, two-person indie studio Max Inferno, with publisher Secret Mode, unveiled a trailer for Seeing Stars, the second expansion for hit organisational puzzle game A Little to the Left (our review). Seeing Stars introduces 38 new levels, in addition to loads more solutions to discover (with 100 stars to collect), an upgraded hints system for the game whether you purchase the add-on or not, and more cats!

A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars is coming to PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 & 5 on 25 June. Wishlist A Little to the Left: Seeing Stars on Steam here.

Heady survival horror sequel Alan Wake II, from Remedy Games, also got its first expansion in the form of Night Springs. Watch the trailer here for a better idea of what to expect, but in short, Night Springs consists of three new episodes, where players assume the role of some very familiar characters… or at least alternate Night Springs versions of them. The Night Springs Expansion became available on 8 June, and is included with the Deluxe Edition of Alan Wake II. On that note, a physical Deluxe Edition of Alan Wake II becomes available in the Northern Hemisphere Autumn.

10) Screenbound

While we’re going to dedicate a whole article to the indie games that caught our attention during Summer Game Fest, we have to give a shoutout now to Screenbound, from Crescent Moon Games, which popped up during the Future Games Show and PC Gaming Show (though it was announced a few months back). This puzzle platformer features the unique, and trippy, gameplay mechanic of taking place in 2D and 3D simultaneously. Put another way, players move around environments in first person… while playing in 2D on their Quantum boy (Qboy) handheld gaming device. Success hinges on you mastering the inter-relation between the different dimensional spaces in this “3D + 2D = 5D” experience.

With a launch date still to be announced, Screenbound is set to release on PC, and potentially, console too.