Summer Game Fest officially kicked off today, June 6th, with the first of a slate of showcases. The first, headlined by Geoff Keighly himself, is often a celebration of upcoming games and excitement. Was that the case this year? Hahaha. No. This year’s Summer Game Fest was an indication of gaming’s backward slide into masculine mediocrity and status quo slop.
As if I’m never allowed a moment of joy in my life, all of the excitement I had from Sony’s State of Play earlier this week came crashing down around me when the very first batch of trailers rolled out for Summer Game Fest. When Hideo Kojima – usually a figure that would appear mid or late show – popped up barely 15 minutes in, I felt like something was very definitely off, deliver in the form of some bad omen. Sadly, I didn’t expect to be as right as I was.
Through two hours of presentation, there were three women total across the entire show, and barely any non-white presenters aside from two Japanese guests and IO’s Hakan Abrak. This was replicated in the games shown, with functionally no female protagonists (save in games with customizable or multiple character options) and almost no focus on games that were not about violence. When women did pop up on screen during many of the trailers, it was for sexual fetishization instead of having women represented as people. To say that this year’s Summer Game Fest was the Straightest, Whitest, Cis Male show in recent memory is made worse by the fact that to not be so is such a low bar that it is in hell.
Why all this preamble before talking about what we saw? Because I need you, dear reader, to understand that this show signals general tones and attitudes across the gaming industry at large, and those tones are currently fucking dogshit; any game that was not Dark Fantasy Action Game or Live Action Shooter felt like it was presented as a joke, and the number of trailers that pandered to men stuck forever at eighteen years old belied an industry that sees the rise of toxic masculinity culture as a market, not a problem. A show taking place in Pride Month during the growth of American fascism doing literally nothing at all to stake out a positive claim against that –not even corporate pinkwashing–felt so hollow and sickening that I regret even pretending to have been excited for this.
Anyway let’s get this shit over with.
Mortal Shell II
Developer: Cold Symmetry
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox
Marcy: Edgy Dark Souls. I debated very heavily on not just leaving it at that, but frankly that’s all this trailer really showed off. The game seems to have ramped up the ‘dark and violent’ atmosphere, as the trailer blared heavy metal music over shots of the player character doing violent executions of enemies over and over again. I commented about how bad this looked to which a friend said “But the guy slamming the snail man’s beard into his head to Nu Metal ruled,” I replied, “Sure, if you want to do that for 60+ hours.” There really wasn’t anything else shown other than enemy designs which all felt like the types of characters a middle schooler draws in their notebook, giving very little else to go on; grotesque overweight monstrosity in a wheelchair with a flamethrower felt particularly tone setting in the bad way. This trailer feels like it set the tone for the rest of the show, which was… not great.
Fortnite Star Wars Galactic Battle World
Developer: Epic Games
Release Date: Now
Platform: PS5/4, PC, Switch, Xbox One, X/S
Marcy: As if feeling my trepidation towards the weak opening, Summer Game Fest followed up with the announcement of the new Star Wars event in Fortnite. I actually have very little problem with Fortnite–the game is pretty fun and I’ve enjoyed playing it–but the Star Wars AI voice and other weird things the game is embracing have been kind of whatever. If you like Fortnite and Star Wars then, well, here you go.
Hideo Kojima Time (Death Stranding 2)
Developer: Kojima Productions
Release Date: June 26th 2025
Platforms: PS5
There’s an entire show dedicated to Death Stranding 2 later this weekend, which certainly speaks to the often joked about friendship between Keighly and Kojima that he’d get his own showcase. That being said, this trailer was bafflingly bad, showing extremely stiff (even for a Kojima game) acting between recently revealed additions Neil (Played by Luca Marinelli) and Lucy (Played by Alissa Jung). The trailer seems to hint that there’s some narrative importance to Neil and Lucy and the overarching plot of Death Stranding 2, and Kojima notes that the character plays a similar role to Mads Mikkelsen’s Cliff, and that was basically it.
Chronicles: Medieval
Developer: Raw Power Games
Release Date: 2026, Early Access 2025
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: A cinematic trailer showing off the aesthetics and world of the game over anything mechanica, the last little bits of Chronicles: Medieval shows the player character on horseback against a field of men, overlooking a castle before sieging it, presumably. There really isn’t much to go off of here or even feel overly excited about; games like Chivalry exist, and even though the game is described as a “sandbox”, it seems like the majority of gameplay choices lead you to large scale medieval combat.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
Developer: Sega
Release Date: September 25, 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, Epic, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox One, Xbox X/S
Marcy: Finally, some good fucking food. Showing off the newest iteration of Sonic Racing, Sega pounced on the the lack of anything but drab tones to bring some life to the show. The racing looks fun and exciting, and the segment by Takashi Iizuka was genuinely funny in an otherwise humorless show, giving us 2025’s rendition of “Sega Does What Nintendon’t”, as Iizuka promised CrossWorlds will provide fully cross platform racing, which is pretty shocking of a reveal given how many different hardwares this game will be on. We also got to see cameo character reveals, from Persona 5’s Joker and Yakuza’s Ichiban Kasuga to the icon herself, Hatsune Miku. The stinger reveal showed off a Minecraft collab, adding Steve, Alex, and the Creeper as well.
Code Vein II
Developer: Bandai Namco
Release: 2026
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox
Marcy: Code Vein was Dark Souls: Anime, and Code Vein II seems to be delivering on that same premise. The first game had some interesting quirks in how it handled multiplayer and combat, opting for slightly more cinematic action that felt more at home in a character action game than a slower combat game like Dark Souls, which again feels like a feature that was shown off here. The monster designs seem really cool–the girl with a hollowed out face filled with candles was super creepy and cool–but the two protagonist characters shown had some of the most awkward plastic-y looking faces that sucked me out of it. Perhaps that will change a little closer to release, or look better in game? There’s no release date yet, just “2026”, so there’s still a lot of time left.
End of Abyss
Developer: Epic Games and Section 9 Interactive
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PS5, Epic Games Store, Xbox
Marcy: Little Nightmares With a Gun is what I thought of from the moment the trailer started, and I’m actually not saying that negatively; I think this is one of the games I’m curious to see more about as we get closer to release. Some of the promo material for the game describes it as a horror action exploration game, which focuses on finding upgrades and branching paths. The gameplay loop itself seems to have some potential as well, so I’ll be keeping an eye on this one as it gets closer to release and gets more updates.
Mouse P.I. For Hire
Developer: Fumi Games
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: While the focus of this trailer was on the presence of Troy Baker, the actual game itself seems far more interesting than Video Game Man voicing another Video Game. Mouse P.I. presents a noir themed shooter with rubber hose cartoon aesthetics, very much in line with early Disney cartoons than anything else, with the added twist of shooter based violence. I’d be lying if it didn’t remind me immediately of Fallen Aces, one of my favorite games of last year, so I’ll certainly keep an eye on this one and hope it can live up to the unique creativity it’s aesthetic provides.
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros
Developer: PlaySide
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PC
Marcy: In a trailer that showed off absolutely no gameplay at all, PlaySide revealed their Game of Thrones game, War for Westeros. Looking into the game’s Steam page and PlaySide releases about it, the game is apparently a Real-Time Strategy game, allowing you to play as the Great Houses or as the Night King. There will also be some form of multiplayer component, presumably a PVP mode. If you like Game of Thrones or RTS games, this one might be worth keeping an eye on, but right now there really wasn’t a lot to go off of.
Atomic Heart II
Developer: Mundfish
Release Date:
Platforms: PC, Consoles (Likely PS5 and Xbox X/S)
Marcy: Sigh.
The “spiritual” sequel to Atomic Heart, controversial developer Mundfish returned with probably the most spiritually vapid trailer of the show. Blasting Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”, we were shown footage of Main Character Man driving Fast Cars, Shooting Big Guns, and Staring at Sexy Fetishized Women, both human and robotic.
Fuck this game.
The Cube (Atomic Universe)
Developer: Mundfish
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC and Consoles (Likely PS5 and Xbox X/S)
Marcy: If that wasn’t enough of that, we also got a trailer for an “MMO RPG Shooter” called The Cube as part of the “Atomic Universe”. This trailer also ensured that the women you saw were scantily clad and sexualized, one with an actual nipple dress, and another with the camera pointed squarely at the woman’s barely covered vagina.
Fuck this game too.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Developer: Tribute Games
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS5/4, Switch, Xbox X/S, PC
Marcy: Anyway, another bright spot was the reveal of two new characters for Marvel Cosmic Invasion, a two-player side scrolling beat-em-up from Tribute Games. The reveal at SGF showed off She-Hulk and Rocket Raccoon as the newly revealed characters in the game, which promises to have multiple playable Marvel heroes with unique powers and playstyles. It looks like a lot of fun, and I’m always game for a solid beat-em-up, so I’ll certainly be looking forward to this later this year.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox X/S
Marcy: The return of Capcom’s PS2 era action franchise, Onimusha: Way of the Sword has players taking on the role of the historical Miyamoto Musashi, although with some obvious supernatural twists. Borrowing from history to bring Sasaki Kojiro (also known as Ganryu, and in this game referred to as Sasaki Ganryu) into the mix as Musashi’s rival, players will return to the samurai combat of the original series with some very obvious modern gameplay tweaks and graphics. There’s a teaser at the end of a mysterious woman, but frankly what that even meant was a little lost on me; that said, I’m a big fan of the original Onimusha games, so I’m pretty interested in checking this out when it releases next year.
Felt That Boxing
Developer: Sans Strings Studio
Release Date: TBD
Platforms: PC
Marcy: Muppets for Adults is always a sort of coinflip involved as to whether it will suck or be entertaining. A lot of times the concept of taking something wholesome and making it not that is about as far as those things go, but sometimes you get gems like last year’s My Friendly Neighbor. Felt That seems to be leaning a little more into the “Muppets that curse and talk about shitting” than the other, but the idea that it might be something more special will remain to be seen. The concept is that you play a down and out boxer trying to save an orphanage, and seems to be Muppet Punch Out, so if the gameplay holds up to the visuals (this is all described as in-engine), it could be something interesting.
Killer Inn
Developer: Tactic Studios and Square Enix
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC
Marcy: A game that will surely be dead 2 months following its release, Killer Inn is another iteration of Social Deduction Murder games that have by now been beaten to death. While watching this trailer I actually kept being reminded of a spy themed version of this concept called Deceive Inc, which at the time of this writing has 13 total players on Steam. Will Killer Inn beat that fate? Probably not. The game divides players into Wolves and Sheep (zzz), with the Wolves needing to kill the Sheep and find weapons and power-ups in which to do so without getting caught.
ARC Raiders
Developer: Embark Studios
Release Date: October 30, 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox X/S
Marcy: An online live service extraction shooter game first announced in 2021, ARC Raiders has had a consistent amount of hype, but also a long time in development. The official release date is coming this October, so how well it will do and what kind of longevity it will have remains to be seen. It has been mentioned that you can play solo, and that solo players are placed against other solo players, so there is at least that option if you’re not interested in multiplayer extraction shooting antics. Otherwise, there’s not much else here to experience.
Dune Awakening
Developer: Funcom
Release Date: June 10, 2025 (Early Access Available now)
Platforms: PC
Marcy: The Dune MMO. Player sentiment of early access has shifted a lot since it launched, but frankly I think you either want to play a Dune MMO or you don’t, so this trailer probably doesn’t change that any.
Chrono Odyssey
Developer: Kakao Games
Release Date: October 2nd, 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Described as a “Next Generation MMO”, there’s a beta you can try and sign up for now if you found the trailer at all interesting. I didn’t initially read it as an MMO, instead thinking it seemed like yet another dark fantasy “soulslike” game, but the combat seems to be more like Dark Souls than it isn’t, except that it has some form of time manipulation.
Mio: Memories in Orbit
Developer: Team ASOBI
Release Date: July 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox
Marcy: Originally shown in 2024, this trailer reminded us that this game existed, and that a demo was available today. As one of the only non-shooter non-dark fantasy games in the show, it at least was nice to be reminded that it existed.
Out of Words
Developer: Epic Game Studios
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PS5, Epic, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Another in the emergent genre of mandatory 2 player co-op games, Out of Words features two protagonists who must work together to solve puzzles and overcome challenges without the ability to speak to one another (in the game, I assume, because there’s no way players don’t use something like Discord to play this game together). The stop motion animation of the game is certainly very charming and gives it a lot of visually distinct life, but the market for this game will mostly rely on if you like 2 player co-op puzzle platformers or not.
Mafia: The Old Country
Developer: 2K Games
Release Date: August 8th, 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: A semi-reboot to the Mafia franchise, a series which never really got out from under being compared to GTA, the Old Country takes players to 1900s Siciliy to tell the story of Enzo Favara and the rise of the Sicilian mob. None of this trailer was apparently gameplay, which is a little concerning for a game that comes out in two months, but since this game seems to be focusing on narrative over gameplay, I suppose that’s not inherently surprising. Hopefully we’ll see if this game promises anything deeply interesting in either gameplay or story soon, but for now, mostly seems like you’re either into this or you aren’t.
LEGO Voyagers
Developer: Light Studio
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: A two-player game in which players are tiny Lego studs tasked with solving problems and exploring Lego landscapes, the thing that stuck in my mind more was that the game was immediately touted to provide a “friend pass” for players who may not own the game. I don’t want to get too in the weeds, but this feels like a bad compromise for games costing 80 dollars now by just blatantly admitting you aren’t going to want to buy two copies of it. Still, it looks cute and fun, so I won’t dwell on that too much.
Nicktoons and the Dice of Destiny
Developer: Fair Play Labs
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Probably the winner for “Trailer that needed more time in the oven”, this game seems to be a top-down action game where you play Nicktoons characters in a TTRPG spoof style setting. There are a lot of questions, namely who is actually in the game, because the trailer only showed Spongebob and hinted at Fairly Odd Parents. Also the animations looked absolutely abysmal and off-timed. Yikes.
Lies of P DLC
Developer: Round 8 Studio
Release Date: Today!
Platforms: Mac, PS4/5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: I ragged a lot on Soulslike bloat but Lies of P was genuinely very fun and one of the better games of last year. The DLC is now here, so if you loved Lies of P, you’ll have more to play. If you didn’t try it, the game is now on sale to promote the DLC, so you can try the game out for a discounted price and see if you like the Dark Fantasy Pinocchio game from Round 8.
Fractured Blooms
Developer: Serenity Forge
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC
Marcy: I am going to level with you reader: Selling me a game as “Silent Hill meets Doki Doki Literature Club” makes me not care about your game, because it means you can’t sell it to me as anything other than “disturbing and edgy”. DDLC especially is a red-flag to me because that game sucks, so poor Fractured Blooms did nothing to win me over here, and the trailer left me confused because it just sort of seemed like a Horror Farming Game. Maybe a better trailer closer to launch will help me out.
Blade & Soul NEO
Developer: NCSoft
Release Date: Out Now
Platforms: PC
Marcy: A free to play open world MMO, Blade & Soul NEO is an updated and remastered version of the original game. Blade & Soul’s biggest selling point is the Wuxia inspired aesthetics and character design, which also features a scantily-clad woman in melting latex, so well, you know.
Blade & Soul Heroes
Developer: NCSOFT
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PC, Google Play, iOS
Marcy: A Free To Play “Collectible Action MMORPG”, and not to be confused with the other Blade & Soul game, Heroes leans heavily into the anime aesthetic to try and sell itself as something interesting. It looks kind of vapid, frankly, but Blade & Soul has fans, so perhaps one of them is you.
Seven Deadly Sins Origin
Developer: NetMarble
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: Android, Windows, iOs
Marcy: I do not enjoy Seven Deadly Sins, so I can’t say if this will be good or not. If you like Seven Deadly Sins and want to play a game set in that world, this might be right up your alley. It looks nice, and seems to have lots of cameos, but for me I’m just not interested, and it seems to be an action RPG mobile game, so that probably puts it out of most people’s interest range I think.
Jurassic Park Evolution 3
Developer: Frontier Developments
Release Date: October 21st, 2025
Platforms: PC
Marcy: The Steam page for this game states it uses Generative AI so I don’t care about this game and neither should you.
Mina the Hollower
Developer: Yacht Club Games
Release Date: October 31st, 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: The newest game from Shovel Knight creator Yacht Club Games is Mina the Hollower, a game that was revealed a while ago but finally has a release date: Halloween! The game seems to very heavily lean into the retro aesthetics that Yacht Club loves, feeling very much like a Game Boy color game (specifically like GBC Zelda games), and the visuals look charming as much as the gameplay looks challenging. I’ll be interested in see this one later this year for sure.
VR Deadpool Slop
Developer: Twisted Pixel
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: Meta Quest 3/3S
Marcy: Getting Neil Patrick Harris to do a bad Ryan Reynolds impression seems like such a waste. Also this game looks like shit and the quips were awful, and it’s only on VR.
Dying Light: The Beast
Developer: Techland
Release Date: August 22, 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Returning to the protagonist of the first game, Kyle Crane, Dying Light: The Beast seeks to continue the parkour zombie action franchise but with the expected narrative continuation that most people seemed baffled by Dying Light 2 skipping. Maybe. I really can’t say that I ever cared a lot for Dying Light’s narrative, and found the parkour the most interesting and fun part of the franchise, so if it keeps that up, I’m curious to check out The Beast.
Mixtape
Developer: Annapurna Interactive
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: In what felt like a trailer mostly meant to remind us the game did still exist, Annapurna delivered in remiding us by almost exactly showing the same trailer as last time but slightly different. This new trailer has me feeling like the game is trying a little too hard to replicate a certain Teenage Aesthetic of the 80s and 90s, otherwise known as “Game for People in their 40s”, I guess. With no firm release date still, it will remain to be seen whatever becomes of this game.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree
Developer: Bandai Namco
Release Date: September 19, 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: A game that reminds me of Hades in the top-down isometric action combat category, Towa relies on Eastern mythology over Greek, and while it does look fun, I think comparing it to Hades may do the game a bit of a disservice; it certainly didn’t look as snappy and deep as Hades did. It does, however, look fun, and it seems to imply that there may be some form of multiplayer aspect, so that could also lend it some life and interest.
Acts of Blood
Developer: Eksil Team
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PC (Currently)
Marcy: Alright now this is what I’m talking about. An action game from an Indonesian developer that wants you to recall movies like The Raid or That One Scene in Oldboy in the Hallway, Acts of Blood featured almost exclusively visceral hand-to-hand combat sequences in the trailer that looked like a lot of fun. Hopefully the gameplay itself with be as smooth and stylish as this trailer wants us to believe, but we’ll have to see more when it releases in 2026. There is a demo on Steam, if you want to check it out.
Bernhardt: This looked very very good. Like Sifu if you just did scumbag Golden Triangle murder shit instead of real martial arts.
Scott Pilgrim EX
Developer: Tribute Games
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Sure, why the hell not. The original Scott Pilgrim game became infamous for being a game that seemed to revive modern interest in beat-em ups while also kindling many of the arguments against digital games and their legacies after being delisted and then “saved”, Scott Pilgrim EX promises to bring back some of the original team to embark on a new beat-em-up quest and original story. It looks great, has Anamanaguchi music, and if it plays just as well as the original game, I think I won’t really have many complaints.
Bernhardt: A Scott Pilgrim game in 2025, huh? Sure.
First Descendant Breakthrough
Developer: Nexon
Release Date: August 7th, 2025
Platforms:PS4/5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: I was pretty skeptical of First Descedant when it first was released and shown off, finding the odd sexualization to be slightly confusing against what seemed to be an MMO shooter; then I realized it was by Nexon and it made a lot more sense. Anyway, Breakthrough is a new season/patch for the game, and the trailer starts off by showing us a woman deep in thought before stuffing her massive chest into a skintight zip-up body suit, and then I guess stuff gets shot or something.
Scum
Developer: Gamepires
Release Date: June 17, 2025
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: An online survival game, Scum is very… Eastern European. I mean that politely, but this game’s sense of humor and aesthetic is very much indicative of its roots, such as they are; this trailer was initially kind of unappealing and hard to digest. Looking into the game a bit more, though, it does seem to be silly and a little fun, so if you like survival games, you might find Scum up your alley when it apparently leaves Early Access.
Bernhardt: Was unaware you were allowed to rock it like that on a major ad show. Maybe you shouldn’t be.
Mindseye / 007 / Hitman Package
Developer: I/O
Release Date: Various
Marcy: I/O has a separate showcase later, so I’ll touch on it more in another article, but this little package showed off their new ip Mindseye, a sci-fi action game that also promised a Hitman DLC or collab. Not to be outdone, I/O’s reveal of their new 007 game also inspired a Hitman DLC featuring Mads Mikkelsen’s infamous Le Chiffre from Casino Royale.
Lego Party
Developer: Fictions
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Legally Distinct Lego Mario Party. If you like Mario Party but don’t want to play Mario Party, you can play Lego Party instead, or you could love yourself.
Wildgate Open Beta
Developer: Dreamhaven
Release Date: June 9-16
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Wildgate still exists. Infact, it will have an open beta in June 9-16, incase you were somehow lacking for online multiplayer shooter games. This one takes place in space and has ship to ship combat and slightly cartoony graphics and attitude.
Blighted
Developer: Drinkbox Studios
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: Steam (Possibly more later?)
Marcy: Guacamelee developer Drinkbox Studios is back. Didn’t know they were gone? Well, they actually have only made 2 games other than this, and Guacamelee is probably their most famous, so I don’t blame you. Blighted is a stylish action RPG, and while the devs called it a Metroidvania, it actually looks more like Hades. I’m not going to think about that too hard, but despite their small library, their games are pretty solid and have great music, so I’m curious to see how Blighted turns out.
ILL
Developer: Team Clout Inc
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC
Marcy: Personally I think this game should maybe be named “MOIST”, because everything in it just looks… wet and unpleasant. The absolute body horror gore and viscera in this game seemed to turn off a lot of people that I talked to about the show today, and while that doesn’t always bother me as much as others, I do kind of wonder if there’s much to the game than extremely violent death animations for grotesque humans (the fact that they specifically wanted to show you kicking mutated babies to death makes me think probably not). I guess we’ll see as more comes out about the game later this year.
Bernhardt: Very well named.
Mecha Break
Developer: Amazing Seasun Games
Release Date: July 1st, 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: After the initial trailer showed off what looked like a very fun anime-based mecha action game, Mecha Break is finally about to release next month. This new trailer continued to mostly show off the game’s aesthetics and mood and not that much about the gameplay itself, but so far my read of Mecha Break is you are 100% into the vibe of Anime Mecha Combat or you’re not, so you probably already smashed Add to Wishlist or skipped it once you finished watching the trailer.
Infinitesimals
Developer: ArcSys
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PS5, Epic, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: While I’ve been pretty down on shooters today, I kind of liked the idea of Infinitesimals, as the shrunken down aesthetic seems like something that not many games have tried to take advantage of or do anything interesting with. It also seems to be a mostly single-player adventure, which I think helps sell me on wanting to give it a try over constant multiplayer live service games.
Street Fighter 6 DLC Update
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS4/5, PC, Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: The absolute best thing in this entire show bar none, Capcom revealed the new roster of DLC characters with a cameo from NJPW and AEW wrestler Kenny Omega. Just watch the trailer. Anyway, revealed was C. Viper, Sagat, Alex, and Ingrid(!) as the next squad of characters to join the fray.
Bernhardt: Kenny selling the abdomen in a DLC announcement is some real worker stuff. He is the God of Pro Wrestling.
Last Flag
Developer: Night Street Games
Release Date: 2026
Platforms: PC (Steam and Epic) and Unspecified Consoles
Marcy: Another game that will probably die shortly after launch, Last Flag is a capture the flag style battle royale hero shooter featuring stylized 70s aesthetics with a focus on cartoony characters and violence. This game is being made by a studio founded by Imagine Dragons lead singer Dan Reynolds and manager Mac Reynolds, and features 5v5 combat. The characters are so stereotypical it borders on uncomfortable (the Japanese woman is a sexy archer, the Black guy is Shaft), and is touted as “casually competitive”, which probably means unbalanced.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
Developer: Leenzee
Release Date: July 24, 2025
Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
Marcy: Another soulslike game, this one features female protagonist Bai Wuchang as she journeys through a dark fantasy interpretation of the late Ming dynasty. The use of medieval China brings my mind to Wo-Long and also Sun Wukong, and to be honest Wuchang does not really do a lot to differentiate itself from either game except that the set protagonist is a very attractive woman. There certainly isn’t a lot of time left before it releases, so if this sounds like your type of game, you can pick it up next month.
Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver
Developer: Brass Lion Entertainment
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC (At least)
Marcy: Perhaps one of the most out of nowhere releases in the show, Wu-Tang Rise of the Deceiver promises “action adventure rpg” with a focus on snappy combat. Brass Lion Entertainment states that it supports up to 3 player co-op (which felt surprising), with the game increasing in difficulty as players progress through it and unlock new challenges in their quest to save the members of the Wu-Tang Clan. I’m absolutely down for this one day one.
Bernhardt: Thankfully, U-God is not the creative director.
Into the Unwell
Developer: She Was Such a Good Horse
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC (at least)
Marcy: The second game in the show with a rubber hose cartoon aesthetic, Into the Unwell is more colorful (in that it actually uses color) and has 3D, cel-shaded graphics that bring the characters to life. It looks to be a very challenging platformer, featuring a down on their luck protagonist tormented by the devil in order to get their life back on track. It looks like a lot of fun, and seemed to hint at possible multiplayer. There also seems to be some implications of a roguelike mechanic, but not a lot of details are currently available.
Splitgate 2
Developer: The moron above this
Release Date: It’s in Beta if you care
Platforms: Who cares
Marcy: The lead of Splitgate 2’s studio came on stage wearing a hat that said “Make FPS Great Again”, then shit on every other FPS game/developer team to hype his game.
Fuck this guy and fuck this game, and fuck this show for letting him on stage with that hat.
Bernhardt: Difficult to recall a time a game has burned more bridges more quickly more cluelessly than when they let this guy on stage. Trevor Strunk of No Cartridge has done important research in this space, courtesy of the great Dia Lacina.
Stranger Than Heaven
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: TBA
Marcy: The surprise game reveal from Ryu Ga Gotoku, the maker of Yakuza, brought us a new crime story set in 1943. After how exhausting this show had been this trailer felt like a shot in the arm, and I was thoroughly excited to see the possibilities here. The RGG team have made banger after banger, and they only seem to be improving. One thing I am still curious about is how this relates to the previously revealed “Project Century” which was set in 1915; It would be interesting this game spans multiple decades and Pre-War Showa Japan and Post-War Showa Japan. The music, visuals, and overall vibe of this game ooze style, and RGG have never let me down before.
Bernhardt: This rules.
Resident Evil Requiem
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: February 27, 2026
Platforms: PS5, Steam, Xbox X/S
Marcy: After teasing that we’d have to wait a little longer earlier in the show, Capcom closed out the Summer Game Fest with the teaser of Resident Evil 9, otherwise known as Resident Evil Requiem. Players are introduced to the protagonist Grace Ashcroft, who is likely related to the Resident Evil Outbreak character. The shots of nuked Raccoon City and the ruined RPD made me gasp outloud, and Resident Evil 7 and 8 are two of my favorites in the franchise, so I’m very excited for what this game will bring to the table narratively and in terms of gameplay.
Bernhardt: This also rules, even though the peak window for FBI Agent That Sits Bisexually as a protagonist probably closed six or seven years ago.
Wrap-Up
Marcy: Boy, that sure was miserable.
As I finished up this article, I was shocked that there were 40+ games even shown in the two hour period of this show, because at times many of them started to run together. I do appreciate that in picking them apart for this recap I noticed more slivers of hope than I initially had, but that doesn’t really change the tone of the show or the games shown. There is really only a select handful in this list, perhaps 10 if we’re being generous, that seem interesting; many others seem likely destined to be flavors of the month at best, and decommissioned multiplayer games set for delisting at the worst.
While you’ll have to wait a little longer to read it, I will say that the Day of the Devs stream that followed this renewed some of my faith in the market, but also served as a good reminder: you can’t rely on AAA or even AA gaming to save you, represent you, or care about you, or their workers. If you enjoy gaming and are passionate about it, indie devs (not capital I indies with huge backings) are the places to look for games by diverse creator voices and with souls.
If this helped save you two hours of your life, dear reader, then my job is complete. I’m going to take a shower. See you later and tomorrow for more recaps from the Day of the Devs, Wholesome Direct, and more.
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