Becoming an even more permanent fixture through the gradual growth of the Game Awards, Geoff Keighley has quickly risen to become one of the most prevalent figures in the gaming world. Not only has he provided a number of fixtures on the gaming calendar, using his extensive connections to quickly make events like the Game Awards into monumental video game showcases, but he's also quickly become somebody that embodies a more consumer-friendly landscape for the medium as a whole.
Announced via Keighley's Twitter, the popular industry icon revealed that a Spring version of last year's Steam Game Festival will debut tomorrow, March 18, at 10 AM PT and will conclude on March 23 at the same time. It appears the event has been scheduled to fill in the gap left by the now-canceled GDC, with Keighley claiming that a whopping 40 game demos that were meant to appear at the conference will be making their way to the Steam storefront for users to enjoy.
The demos available are yet to be revealed, however. Keighley claims that the major online event will be "spotlighting a selection of new and upcoming games." No doubt it's a fantastic idea to bring the demos meant to debut at the event to audiences online, especially as the current state of the Coronavirus means that fans are likely searching for something to do. With a number of huge titles supposedly slated to make their way to GDC, fans can expect to see some of 2020's best and brightest games playable free of charge on Steam tomorrow.
For those who don't remember, the Steam Game Festival originally debuted late last year, with Keighley and Steam airing a number of massive demos for fans for 48 hours. Most notably, this Festival included games like the highly-anticipated System Shock remake and Moving Out, allowing players to get their first look at these massive titles.
Of course, GDC was canceled last month, with a number of studios pulling out of the popular video game convention due to concerns surrounding the Coronavirus. It was one of the first big events to close its door due to the pandemic, with several major company's realizing the dangers of a mass event as packed as GDC. Since its cancelation, a number of other events including E3 and the Overwatch League have also seen cancelations due to the viral spread of the outbreak.
The Steam Game Festival will begin March 18 at 10 AM PT and will conclude on March 23 at the same time.