Summer Game Fest 2023 Breaks Viewership Records, Says Keighley

Summer Game Fest 2023, one of the biggest gaming events of the year, was a huge success, according to its founder and host Geoff Keighley. The event, which took place on June 8 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, attracted over 2 million concurrent viewers at its peak, setting a new record for the series.

Also read: 9 Games announced in the Summer Game Fest 2023

The event featured more than 40 companies, including game developers, publishers, and hardware manufacturers, who showcased their upcoming titles, trailers, and announcements. Some of the highlights of the event were:

The first gameplay footage of Mortal Kombat 1, a reboot of the iconic fighting game franchise by NetherRealm Studios and co-creator Ed Boon.

The reveal of Alan Wake 2, a sequel to the cult classic psychological thriller by Remedy Entertainment and director Sam Lake.

The release date announcement of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the highly anticipated superhero game by Insomniac Games, which will launch on October 20 exclusively for PlayStation 5.
The new trailer for The Witcher Season 3, the Netflix adaptation of the popular fantasy book and game series, starring Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia.
The surprise appearance of Nicolas Cage, who will star as one of the survivors in the upcoming Dead by Daylight update, based on his horror movie Willy’s Wonderland.

According to Streams Charts, a website that tracks live-streaming data, Summer Game Fest 2023 collected almost 4.4 million Hours Watched during its three-hour duration. The event also generated over 2.5 million chat messages on Twitch, where more than 500 channels streamed the event.

Summer Game Fest 2023 surpassed its previous editions in terms of viewership metrics. Compared to last year’s event, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Summer Game Fest 2023 improved its peak concurrent viewers by 9% and its average viewers by 2%. This is also the first time that Summer Game Fest reached over 2 million concurrent viewers, making it one of the most watched gaming events in history.

Keighley expressed his gratitude and excitement on Twitter after the event, saying that he was “blown away” by the response from the gaming community. He also teased that there will be more surprises and announcements to come throughout the summer.

“Thank you for watching Summer Game Fest 2023! I’m blown away by your support and enthusiasm for what we do. This is just the beginning of an amazing summer of gaming. Stay tuned for more news and reveals in the coming weeks!” he tweeted.

Summer Game Fest is an annual celebration of video games that was launched by Keighley in 2021 as a response to the cancellation of E3, the traditional gaming expo that was disrupted by the pandemic. Since then, Summer Game Fest has become a platform for major game companies and developers to showcase their latest projects and connect with fans around the world.

Summer Game Fest 2023 was also part of the Tribeca Festival, a prestigious film festival that featured video games as an official selection for the first time this year. Some of the games that were nominated for the Tribeca Games Award included Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Sable, Twelve Minutes, and The Big Con.

When and where did Summer Game Fest 2023 take place?

Summer Game Fest 2023 took place on June 8 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. It was streamed live on various platforms, such as YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.