[1] Games journalist Geoff Keighley had been working with the ESA since before 2000 to support the E3 convention typically held in June of each year, including running the E3 Coliseum, a side event to give developers and their games more exposure than the standard press conferences.

[9] This change of approach was criticized by some in the industry,[citation needed] and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it would not be participating in the event, after missing E3 2019, as the vision offered by the ESA did not match its expectations;[10] Keighley also opted out of the show, noting he did not "feel comfortable participating" due to the changes.

[1] Keighley began working with numerous developers and publishers to run a four-month Summer Game Fest from May 1 to August 24, 2020,[3] helping developers and publisher to host live streams and other events in lieu of the cancellation of E3 and Gamescom.

[25] Alongside introducing their new publishing label, Prime Matter, Koch Media's presenting covered the following games:[26] Sony participated in the event by holding a State of Play on July 8, 2021.

Participating publishers with individual showcases included Capcom, Devolver Digital, Epic Games, Netflix, Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox.

Following his experience at the 2024 Summer Games Fest, Diego Nicolás Argüello of Paste thought the event was in a "transitional period" and shifting towards something "more in line with what E3 used to be".

Perhaps it was naive to expect the 'chill' vibe to remain as one of the event's pillars, as it's already becoming larger than its intended place and runtime.

With marketing professionals stating that for the main show for 2024 that it costs $250,000 to air a one minute trailer with $100,000 being added to the price for each additional 30 seconds.

[36] Esquire estimated that those rates the 2023 Game Awards made $9.65 million in fees to air trailers for the main show in 2023.

This has generated some criticism as it makes airing a trailer during the show mostly out of reach for smaller and independent studios who do not get a free slot.