Steam's Summer Game Festival will fill E3's empty June slot with free demos

Steam is hosting a summer game festival from June 9 through June 14 to highlight upcoming games through limited-time demos and other ways to "connect with the developers."

If that date sounds familiar, that's because E3 2020 was scheduled to kick off on June 9 before it was canceled due to coronavirus concerns. With an E3-sized hole in the games industry's summer lineup, it seems Valve has stepped in to give some developers an opportunity to show their stuff. Developers have until April 24 to submit their game for the festival; more eligibility details can be found here. 

Industry producer Geoff Keighley discussed the Steam summer festival on Twitter. "The Steam Game Festival will give you the chance to play demos of upcoming games from developers around the world," he said. "And you can do it for free from the comfort of your own home in these uncertain times."

Of course, Steam being a PC platform and all, its summer game festival doesn't have the wide-reaching appeal of a mecca like E3. Fortunately, Keighley says "the festival will also expand to more platforms," though it's unclear how. 

If you're interested in seeing what the festival has to offer, you can sign up to receive reminders and other notifications here. Even better, you don't need a virtual ticket or anything to participate. If you have a Steam account, you can take full advantage of any "time-limited demos or short playable experiences" that appear.  

In addition to keeping everyone entertained, here are the many ways the game industry is helping with coronavirus relief efforts.