In a two-hour presentation that was short on major announcements but big on indie titles, this year’s Summer Game Fest was dominated by one reveal: Civilization 7 is coming out in 2025.
The legendary strategy simulation series, which debuted in 1991, hasn’t seen a new installment in eight years. Although it looks like a 2K editor The ad was accidentally leaked. Earlier in the day, it was still a treat for fans to see designer Sid Meier on video, presenting the new project standing in front of a table full of Bafta awards.
“For over 30 years, players around the world have shared their love and support for Civ,” said Meier, who started the series at Microprose before forming Fireaxis Games. “I’m incredibly excited for Civ fans to see Civilization VII, a game that represents the culmination of three decades of innovation and strategy refinement.”
The game will be released on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, but no firm release date has been given.
Harry Potter, Lego Horizon Adventures and more
Elsewhere in the show, which began with host and organizer Geoff Keighley acknowledging the slew of studio closures and layoffs that have blighted the industry over the past year, there were a few other announcements.
Lego Horizon Adventures had already been rumored, but this was the official debut of what appears to be a typically light-hearted version of the PlayStation sci-fi adventure. It is a cooperative game that combines puzzles and combat in which the main character Aloy and her friends must face Helis, “the leader of a group of sun worshipers who bow down to an ancient evil shrouded in mystery.” according to the PlayStation blog. There’s also some city building, and Aloy can customize the Mother’s Heart village. It will come out this winter.
Also revealed was Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions from Warner Bros and Unbroken Studios, which will be released on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch on September 3. It appears to be a direct simulation of this magical sport, with solo play, online cooperative matches with friends, or online play against other players.
There were also new trailers for Monster Hunter Wilds, the horror game Slitterhead from the creators of Silent Hill, and Funcom’s survival MMO Dune Awakening, which were suitably impressive and epic. Ahead of its own event taking place on Sunday, Ubisoft showed off a new trailer for the open-world adventure Star Wars Outlaws, which featured a veritable who’s who of Star Wars cameos, including Lando Calrissian, Jabba the Hut, and plenty of Jawas. .
Independent summer
But the stars of a rather advertising show were the independent developers. Cuffbust is a fun 20-player cooperative prison escape game from Choo Choo creator Charles, while travel stop is the long-awaited new title from Stanley Parable creator Davey Wreden and Gone Home and Tacoma’s Karla Zimonja. Meanwhile, the self-explanatory Deer & Boy seemed to be a beautiful, emotional adventure with highly stylized visuals, a very similar aesthetic to Nevathe next project from Nomada Studio, the creators of the acclaimed platform game Gris.
There were also two major announcements from successful companies looking to support smaller studios. horror movie creator Blumhouse announced its slate of six new games, all from independent studios, starting with the ’90s-style Fear of the Spotlight. Additionally, InnerSloth, the creator of the wildlock hit Among Us, announced its intention to support startup teams with a new funding arm. outside lazy.
But those expecting a show to live up to the expectations of the old E3 presentations were perhaps a little disappointed in terms of any major Triple A reveals, although perhaps that’s a good thing in the current climate of instability. One of the most striking billboards in downtown Los Angeles before the show was erected by independent publisher New Blood Interactive: Under the title “Gone but not forgotten,” the video announcement listed several studios recently closed by big publishers, including Arkane Austin, Roll7 and Tango Softworks . The message was then pixelated and replaced with the words: “We love you. We miss you. “We hate money.”
So no big surprises. But if one of the biggest events on the gaming calendar can begin with a celebration of the indie titles that have done well on PC gaming service Steam this year, followed by Geoff Keighley’s statement, “It’s a reminder to the big publishers to deal with “Your developers are right”, maybe there is hope after all.