The five biggest events from the summer of gaming 2023
Reading time: 4 minutes
Summer is almost here, and in the gaming world – this is the time of year when the industry turns its attention to big announcements around upcoming games titles, as well as tournament finals in the esports world.
With E3 now eternally scrapped, game publishers are now taking it upon themselves to deliver their own announcements – much like the PlayStation showcase we saw just last week.
We look at the events to earmark ahead of a busy summer in the world of gaming.
Alastair Pusinelli
Published on June 5th, 2023
In this Insight:
Summer Game Fest
8 June
Summer Game Fest is very much the heir to E3, with event created during the Covid-19 pandemic after both E3 and Gamescom were cancelled.
With E3 a thing of the past, Summer Game Fest should have much greater relevance and may be the biggest event for game announcements in North America.
Over the last few years we’ve seen Unreal Engine 5, Among Us, Overwatch 2 and Valorant showcased, and we do have a rough idea as to what could be on show this year. Virtually all the big publishers will be on show from Activision to Xbox, with the heads up given on some big reveals.
NetherRealm Studios has confirmed that the first gameplay from Mortal Kombat 1 will be on show, with Remedy Interactive showing off raw gameplay for Alan Wake 2.
In the following days, expect even more reveals with Wholesome Direct and the Future Games Show Summer Showcase (both 10 June), Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct (11 June), as well as Ubisoft Forward (12 June).
Gamers8: The Land of Heroes
From 6 July
Perhaps the largest esports, gaming and entertainment festival on the planet, it doesn’t get much bigger than Gamers8.
Gamers8: The Land of Heroes is only in its second year, but the event held in Riyadh Saudi Arabia is causing shockwaves in the industry. Running for eight weeks, the event will see esports tournaments in Tekken 7, Fortnite, CS:GO, Rocket League, Rainbow Six: Siege, Dota 2, PUBG and StarCraft 2, with a whopping prize pool of $45 million.
As well as that there will be live concerts from the biggest music acts in the world, with last year seeing the likes of Marshmello, J. Balvin and the Black Eyed Peas. There will also be community tournaments for fans, as well as gaming events and a the Next World Forum – an opportunity for industry experts to connect and discuss ideas.
ALGS Split 2 - London
13-16 July
The Apex Legends Global Series Split 2 Playoffs returns to the Copper Box at the Queen Elizabeth Country park in London this summer. This is the second time this year that ALGS action hits London, following the success of the Split 1 playoffs in February.
This time around, EA’s competition will entirely take place on the Main Stage, enabling fans to watch their team’s matches throughout the four days.
TSM took the ALGS Split 1 crown last time in London, with a whole host of UK Apex Legends players performing well as the ALGS EMEA Split 2 Regional Finals.
Oscar “Yuki” Jiang claimed the title with Alliance, whilst UK-based Vexed Gaming with Tyler “Tyler” Wood were the runners-up. Pioneers, who have Matthew “SirDel” Biggins and Zaine “Zaine” Kazi on their roster, came home in third place.
Gamescom
21-27 August
Already the biggest games event in Europe, Gamescom is perhaps the most prestigious in-person event in the industry in the world following the end of E3.
Last year we saw reveals for DualSense Edge PS5 controller, Hogwarts Legacy, Gotham Knights and Sonic Frontier, as well as the classic Cosplay Competition amongst all the action on the Show Floor.
The week kicks off with devcom – a conference for Developers – before Opening Night Live whets the appetite for the rest of the week. The Show Floor opens up on 23 August, with the weekend celebrating the Gamescom city festival with live music in Cologne city centre.
LEC Season Finals - Montpellier
19 August-10 September
After the rip-roaring success of the return of the in-person LEC Season Finals last summer, Europe’s premier esports competition heads to Montpellier this summer.
Last year, the first time the event was held in an arena since 2019 due to Covid, the tournament raised $5 million for the Malmö economy – showcasing how much appetite there is for the event.
G2 Esports and MAD Lions have already secured their spots in Montpellier having won the Winter and Spring splits respectively, with a Summer champion set to join them. Three further spots are then open to the highest ranking remaining teams, which currently would be Team BDS, Team Vitality and KOI – who are the defending champions after merging with last year’s winners Rogue.
After a play-in tournament, the semi-final and final will be played out on 9 & 10 September, with the final three teams securing spots at the World Championships in South Korea.
Reach an incredibly engaged audience
These events, and many more taking place this summer, present fantastic opportunities for brands to enter the esports and gaming space - and reach one of the most sought-after communities on the planet.
With 2 billion gaming fans worldwide, the space is a much less saturated market than traditional sports, enabling far superior brand resonance.
Look at the recent trend of taking video game franchises to the big screen (Super Mario Bros., Sonic The Hedgehog, Gran Turismo and many more), as established companies are recognising what a massively under served market this is.
Brands such as KitKat only entered the gaming space a few years ago, and are now synonymous with the sector, sponsoring the LEC as well as collaborating with Sony for the launch of the PlayStation 5.
