It’s that time of the year which resembles Christmas in a way for those in the world of video games. The Summer Game Fest officially launched on 1st June with The Mix Summer Game Showcase, and since then there has been a combination of main flagship events and community and partner showcases scattered over the past eight days.
I always love this time of year because it gives people the opportunity to take a look at games both large and small covering a variety of themes. It also is an opportunity to see just how much my backlog is going to grow with fun and exciting new adventures to embark on in the coming months.
Today, I wanted to share some of my favourite games revealed from across the Summer Game Fest showcases that I’m looking forward to when they release.
Table of Contents
PlayStation State of Play
Kicking off the week of gaming festivities was Sony’s PlayStation State of Play. I didn’t know what I wanted to see, so I went into this showcase with an open mind. While there were a lot of stunning looking games, with some grabbing my attention, for the most part many of the games were not ones I would typically play. In this instance my main highlight comes from the news of a new reimagining of Rayman Legends.
Rayman Legends Retold is a new 3D reimagining of the much loved Rayman Legends game, which launches on PlayStation 5 on 1st October 2026. The game features new content and narrative surprises alongside a fully voiced cast and expanded soundtrack. You’ll also find a number of detailed returning levels as well as the addition of a mysterious new realm and four brand new musical levels and couch co-op for up to four players!
I grew up alongside the Rayman games and loved them as a kid, so seeing Rayman Legends returning in the Retold version is incredibly exciting to see.
Summer Game Fest
Next up, the main event of the summer showcases, Summer Game Fest.
After the PlayStation State of Play, I went into this with an open mind. I knew the one thing I wanted to see. Where it would drop in the showcase and if it was actually going to, I didn’t know however, we all know how the showcase played out in the end.
With so many gorgeous and interesting games showcased, there’s certainly a good handful being added to my list to keep an eye on. However, I think it goes without saying that my top game from Summer Game Fest has to be the reveal of Final Fantasy VII Revelation. The way I screamed when it was revealed out of pure excitement was just something else. I had doubts as to whether it would be revealed or not, but when Tifa was teased during the Street Fighter segment just before, I kept saying, “they can’t not announce Final Fantasy VII Part 3 now,” and suddenly there was the announcement.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is the third and final part in the Final Fantasy VII remake journey. The conclusion of Cloud and the gang’s journey. With a Spring 2027 release timeframe, there’s still plenty of time to play or even replay the first two parts of the journey before the game launches. For now, I’ll let the trailer do all the talking!
I have a few honourable mentions that stood out to me from the Summer Game Fest showcase. These include:
- Steallar Blade: Bloodrain
- Guild Wars 3
- Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
- Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance DLC
- RuneScape Dragonwilds
- An Eggstreamely Hard Game
Wholesome Direct Showcase
Well, we all know this was my favourite showcase. Indie and wholesome games. The perfect combination and the showcase did not disappoint one bit. Truthfully, I want to check out every single game shown. I’ve added a number of demos to Steam to check out, and I truly can’t wait to see all of these games release over the next few months and beyond.
I didn’t have one clear standout because, as I said, I loved all of them however, I’d have to say the following games are the ones I can’t wait for:
- Go-Go Town 1.0
- Fields of Mistria 1.0
- Lofita
- Planet Zoo 2
- Spirit Crossing
- Otterly Lost
- In The Drift
- Hela
- Froggy Brews
- Waterful
- Deer & Boy
- Dressmaker
- Dungeon Tourist
Of course, many of these I know I’ll be checking out and probably sharing thoughts on a lot of these at a later date.
If you didn’t catch the Wholesome Direct live, make sure to check out the replay below!
Did you know that during the Wholesome Direct that Momento shadow dropped its full game? Make sure to go take a look!
Xbox Games Showcase
Next up was the Xbox Games Showcase. Ultimately, the end of the bigger showcases (excluding Nintendo) from over the past week. I went into this totally open minded because, firstly, I didn’t know what to expect and, secondly, I’d actually forgotten it was on.
I expected to see news about Call of Duty and Fallout in some way, but neither of those is high on my list of games to explore at the moment. Likewise, there were a number of games that again looked incredible, and the journey they would take you on would be amazing, just sadly not for me this time around.
However, there are still plenty of games that I’m excited for. Most notably, I’d have to say both of the Persona announcements. While I’m still a newbie to the franchise, having started with Persona 5, seeing Persona 4 Revival coming early next year is exciting, as I would love to dive into the game properly. Of course, we can’t forget about the Persona 6 teaser which, you know, has all of us asking questions as to what it’s going to be all about.
Of course, I also can’t forget Fable! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing the games in the past, and I’m very excited to see this new addition to the franchise, especially since it is coming from the Playground Games team too!
Outside of the Persona and Fable announcements, I have to say that the following games are certainly on my radar now too:
- Spyro: A Realm Beyond
- Clockwork Revolution
- Bad Magpie
Overall, these main Summer Game Fest showcases have been a delight and packed full of exciting projects that many talented teams have been working on over the past few years. There’s no denying that while I’ve highlighted a number of games here, there are still plenty more that I will likely explore over time.
As for Nintendo, they are doing their annual June Direct and Nintendo Tree House tomorrow (9th June 2026), and I’m pretty curious to see what they have in store. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on that showcase over on my social media!
That’s it for my main Summer Game Fest game picks. I think it’s a nice selection of cosier and more wholesome indie games mixed with some bigger studio selections. However, there’s still some time before most of these release, so I better start catching up!
What were some of your favourite reveals from the Summer Games Fest showcases? Let me know in the comments!
Don’t forget that the next Steam Next Fest is right around the corner too!
