Summer Game Fest 2026 preview: What to expect from this year's showcases

The 2026 Summer Game Fest showcases kick off this Friday with the usual Geoff Keighley-hosted stream, followed by many more livestreams this weekend. Sunday is an especially big day, with the Xbox showcase and then our own PC Gaming Show, which I can assure you is stuffed with cool games.

I can't make any assurances about the other showcases, which will surely contain many surprises, but we do know some of what's planned, and can make a few educated guesses about what hasn't been explicitly announced.

Below are some, but far from all, of the games we may see this weekend.

• The first gameplay footage of Star Wars: Zero Company. We published a big cover feature on this XCOM-like tactics game earlier this year, and our man Ted came away pretty excited by what he saw. This is confirmed for the SGF stream.

• Guild Wars... 3? We know something to do with Guild Wars is happening. ArenaNet hasn't said exactly what it is, but it also hasn't denied that it's Guild Wars 3. Could it be?

• Clutch, a racing game about "a pair of sibling racing prodigies competing in the R1K racing series."

• Blood Message, NetEase's "first AAA singleplayer" game, about a nameless messenger who embarks on a perilous eastward journey during China's Tang Dynasty.

• Something related to Among Us. (Hey, remember Among Us? Man, the early 2020s were weird. Not like the mid-2020s, which are normal.)

• Persona 6? Nothing confirmed, but the pipes are leaky.

• A Muppet or two, probably.

• The big thing to expect from our friends at GamesRadar+ is an extended look at Exodus, the Mass Effect-like RPG being published by Wizards of the Coast.

• Prior to that will be the usual showcase with 40+ games, including Halloween: The Game, Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, The Pines, and Aniimo.

• Gears of War: E-Day is getting its own "Gears of War: E-Day Direct" following the main Xbox showcase, so expect a deep dive there.

• State of Decay 3 is a likely inclusion, as its marketing engine started revving up recently.

• Halo: Campaign Evolved, the remake of the original Halo, should get some time at the showcase.

• An update on Clockwork Revolution, the upcoming action RPG from inXile, seems likely.

• Obsidian released three games last year. The famed RPG (and survival game!) studio has always got something on the stove, and we might see what's next.

• OD is a Kojima Productions project that was announced at the Xbox Showcase back in 2022, and may reappear now that Death Stranding 2 is out of the way.

• Marvel's Blade from Arkane is a likely candidate for a trailer.

• A new Fable 4 trailer is possible, but the RPG was just delayed till next year, so it may be out of the spotlight for the moment.

• The Elder Scrolls 6?? Given that Todd Howard regrets mentioning it so early, probably not. Almost definitely not, really. But it could happen*.* If we get anything from Bethesda, my money's on those rumored Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters.

• An appearance by new Xbox boss Asha Sharma, whoseems keen to maintain a public presence in the way Phil Spencer did.

Well, I can't just tell you what surprises await in our showcase this year, but I can tell you that over 50 games will appear at the 2026 PC Gaming Show. You can see some of what to expect on the show's Steam page, including:

• Control Resonant
• Total War: Warhammer 40,000
• Beast of Reincarnation
• Outward 2
• Abiotic Factor
• Valheim

I can also say that the show's theme is my favorite so far. Tune in!

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