Summer Game Fest 2025: How the Biggest Titles Performed

As the Summer Game Fest kicks off, it’s useful to revisit last year’s showcase and gauge how the announced titles have progressed. The event was a mixed bag—some titles surged ahead, while others stalled or vanished entirely. Below we highlight the most prominent announcements and their current status.

Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem emerged as the standout hit from the 2025 Summer Game Fest lineup. Riding on the momentum of the Monster Hunter series and a string of critically acclaimed Resident Evil entries, Capcom has secured the financial flexibility to pursue more experimental projects, such as the quirky titles Pragmata and Kunitsu‑Gami: Path of the Goddess.

Live‑service shooters continue to be a risky proposition. Last year’s Game Awards introduced Highguard, and this year’s festival unveiled Last Flag, a 5v5 capture‑the‑flag hero shooter from Night Street Games—a studio founded by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds and his brother Mac. Released far too late into an era of live‑service fatigue, the game was shut down just weeks after launch, with the developers announcing a rapid wind‑down of support.

Who would have thought IO Interactive could craft a compelling assassin narrative with a playful twist? 007 First Light has become the best James Bond game since GoldenEye on the N64, and it has sold out like hotcakes in its first week. With Amazon now holding the Bond IP, concerns arose that IOI might lose the license; however, the studio issued a statement to allay those fears, suggesting that future Bond titles—potentially blending Hitman-style stealth with Bond glamour—could still be on the horizon.

Since the 2025 showcase, only a handful of titles have managed to capture significant attention, and MindsEye stands out as one of the most glaring disappointments. Spearheaded by former GTA producer Leslie Benzies, the studio promised a groundbreaking experience but ultimately fell far short of expectations.

Reports of a chaotic production environment suggest that internal turmoil may have amplified the game’s shortcomings. Former staffers have lodged a formal complaint, alleging that the company installed monitoring software on personal devices and enforced crunch both before and after launch. In contrast, CEO Mark Gerhard of Build a Rocket Boy claims that external sabotage played a key role, citing a special mission intended to expose the alleged interference—though the evidence presented was deemed unconvincing.

At SGF 2025, 1047 Games CEO Ian Proulx attempted to generate buzz for Splitgate 2 by donning a hat emblazoned with the MAGA‑inspired slogan “Make FPS Great Again.” The stunt backfired, diverting attention away from the game itself and sparking controversy over the political messaging.

Following the launch, Splitgate 2 struggled to maintain its player base. Existing players voiced frustration over microtransactions and the inclusion of a battle royale mode—an odd fit for a title marketed under the MFPSGA banner. The developers responded by pulling the game into beta for further refinement, eventually relaunching it in December under the new name Splitgate: Arena Reloaded.