In a pre-Coronavirus world, gamers used to be able to attend gaming conventions such as E3 and PAX and go hands-on with yet-to-be-released titles. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, many events have been canceled or postponed, or have switched entirely to digital showcases, with no such opportunity to go hands-on with these games.
Thankfully, Microsoft is coming through with the ID@Xbox's Summer Game Fest Demo Event. The weeklong event will give gamers a chance to discover new games and try them out early, all from the comfort and safety of their home. More than 70 game demos of unreleased Xbox games will be available through July 27, with new games being spotlighted daily via the Xbox Dashboard throughout the week.
It's important to note that these aren't necessarily your typical "game demos" in the sense that they are polished segments from a completed or nearly completed game. In many instances, these are early builds of the game that may not represent the final version. Some of these games probably won't even be out for a while. Wheras game demos release via the Demo channel are typically polished, the demos for Xbox Summer Game Fest are more reflective of the experience you'd get attending E3 or PAX, where the games are still early builds. As explained by Glenn Gregory, Sr. Product Marketing Manager of ID@Xbox:
We’ve never done this before; what that means is that you’ll get to experience these games early – some way early – which is awesome, but you should also note that these games will continue to evolve and be polished as they near release. In other words, think of these as akin to “show floor demos” and not necessarily indicative of the final product. And speaking as somebody who has worked in the industry for a while – that’s not a bad thing! In fact, being able to check out games early and then see how they evolve is freakin’ awesome!
For those unfamiliar, ID@Xbox is a program for independent game developers to self-publish their titles for Xbox One and PC. To that end, many of the demos featured in this Summer Game Fest are smaller indie titles. Among the game demos available are Destroy All Humans! (Black Forest Games), Doodle God: Crime City Demo (JoyBits, Inc), and Knight Squad 2 (Chainsawesome Games).
The ID@Xbox Summer Game Fest Demo Event runs from July 21 - July 27. The full list of available game demos can be found here.