The coronavirus pandemic has affected almost every sector of the society, including the gaming industry that has caused delays in game launches as well as canceled events. To compensate for all these, digital distribution service, Steam, is planning to host more game festivals during the lockdown.
The Steam Game Festival was first held in December 2019.
Steam will Host Two More Game Festivals
According to a report by RPS, Steam will be hosting two more additional virtual game festivals this summer.
The first one to come is the Indie Showcase of the Polish game conference, Digital Dragons, which will take place on Steam this May after the physical event has been canceled due to COVID-19 threats.
The next one is from Geoff Keighley and Valve's Steam Game Festival, which will be happening in June, taking the place of the canceled E3 event that would have taken place this summer.
Officially known as the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition, the gaming event will take place on June 9 to 12 and will be offering Steam users with "time-limited demos or short playable experiences" for some of the upcoming games.
Additionally, fans can connect with game developers who work behind the scenes of our favorite games.
Keighley announced on Twitter that the festival would be expanding to other platforms as well, but it's not yet clear what he means by that.
The Steam Game Festival is relatively new, first arriving in December 2019 along with Keighley's Game Awards. It then came back in March in light of GDC's postponement.
Those who are interested in the event can check the event's official webpage, where attendees could sign up and set a reminder.
Additionally, the game festival is also open for developers where they can showcase their games and provide a short demo for Steam users. They can register until this April 24 only.
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The Effect of E3's Cancellation
Although taking the place of the annual event, E3, the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition is not affiliated with E3 and that the organizers of one of the most significant gaming events has apparently no plans of holding a virtual alternative in place of the canceled physical event, according to previous reports.
Since E3 is not happening, there have been major shifts in the gaming industry, specifically announcements of upcoming games and consoles.
According to GamesRadar, industry expert, Daniel Ahmad believes that both Sony and Microsoft were forced to reschedule the official announcements of the next-gen consoles, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X.
Digital Dragons Indie Celebration
Meanwhile, the Digital Dragons will be taking the annual indie games festival to Steam.
The event will be officially known as the Digital Dragons Indie Celebration that will take place on May 13 to 15, where 50 indie games will be highlighted on the platform, allowing attendees and Steam users to play demos, chat with devs, watch some streams, and see the awards.
Game developers could also register for the Digital Dragons Indie Celebration, and they can sign up through the event's official website.
For now, gamers will have to make do with these virtual events until the coronavirus pandemic finally ends, and everyone can finally get together again.
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