The Game Awards’ Game Festival Debuts Free Limited-Time Demos
For the past few years, The Game Awards has shown its dedication to the gaming industry at large, the event celebrating noteworthy professionals as well as the games themselves. While proceedings have largely done so through a traditional awards ceremony alongside exclusive reveals, this year’s edition of the annual affair is now also playing host to a new event called The Game Festival, debuting a slate of playable demos leading up the widely-publicized show.
Revealed in a post from event creator and host Geoff Keighley, The Game Festival is described as the latest addition to The Game Awards, giving players access to over twelve hands-on gameplay demos made available for the very first time. Going live over PC storefront Steam, unreleased games like the System Shock remake as well as the feather-filled shredder SkateBIRD will playable for a limited time, with access lasting for a full 48 hours from December 12th (10 a.m. PT) to December 14th (10 a.m. PT).
Today I’m introducing a brand new aspect of #TheGameAwards It’s called #TheGameFestival, and tomorrow for 48 hours, you’ll get to play 12 new game demos for the first time on @Steam. More details: https://t.co/k4n3guyJxc
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) December 11, 2019
“Six years ago I bet everything I had to create The Game Awards as a way to celebrate our passion for gaming,” Keighley explained via Medium. “Now feels like the right time to take the next step with The Game Festival, a completely digital approach to the consumer event space. Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.”
A number of notable games have already been confirmed for the limited free demo showcase, all of which can be viewed in the list below:
- System Shock (Nightdive Studios)
- Eastward (Pixpil/Chucklefish)
- Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
- Moving Out (SMG Studio/Devm Games/Team17)
- Röki (Polygon Treehouse/United Label)
- Chicory (Greg Lobanov)
- Wooden Nickel (Brain&Brain)
- Haven (The Game Bakers)
- Heavenly Bodies (2pt Interactive)
- Acid Knife (Powerhoof)
- The Drifter (Powerhoof)
- CARRION (Phobia/Devolver)
- SkateBIRD (Glass Bottom Games)
Giving gamers the chance to play an anticipated collection of games is sure to be a welcome idea for fans, also granting developers a chance to showcase their development efforts in a widely-accessible fashion. In a follow-up post, Keighley teased the bright future ahead for The Game Festival, suggesting the “digital consumer event” could expand in a big way for next year’s Game Awards, with its sights set on utilizing user feedback and reaching “across all platforms and regions.”
As our show continues to grow, I want to move beyond just showing trailers — and give you access to gameplay through a digital consumer event. This is a pilot program for 2019. We’ll take your feedback and expand in a big way in 2020 across all platforms and regions.
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) December 11, 2019
What do you think? Are you excited about these limited-time freebies being introduced for The Game Festival, or are you just wondering what will be revealed at The Game Awards? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:
Eric Hall2712 Posts
Phone-browsing Wikipedia in one hand and clutching his trusty controller in the other, the legendary Eric Hall spreads his wealth of knowledge as a writer for Don't Feed the Gamers. Be sure to catch his biweekly "Throwback Thursday" segment for a nostalgic look at trivia from the past.
