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Ranking the Game Showcases at This Year's ‘Not-E3'

By HC Green Men's Journal

Updated June 13, 2026 12:41 AM

Over the last week-plus, I have watched hour after hour of game reveals from publishers across the gaming landscape. Each of the five major shows had its highlights, including extended looks at upcoming releases and brand-new announcements. There were even a few notable absences from the proceedings as we didn't see anything from Grand Theft Auto VI or Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the next game from The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog.

Now that the dust has settled on a hectic run of gaming news, it's the perfect time to go back and break down each of the five big showcases to see which was the best.

5) Future Games Show

Right up front, the tandem of Troy Baker and Alix Wilton Regan did the best job of presenting, giving the show a consistent throughline that the others lacked. The depth wasn't there, though, as it kicked off with a remake of the VR shooter Arizona Sunshine and had precious few offerings from top publishers-Bandai Namco and Ubisoft provided interviews for games that had been shown at other events. While featuring a deep dive on EXODUS was nice, there was a lot of forgettable stuff shown along the way.

4) State of Play

Sony kicked off Not-E3 with its latest State of Play on June 2 with new footage from Marvel's Wolverine, which was awesome. There was a nice assortment of third-party games and the announcement of Until Dawn 2. While closing the show with God of War Laufey was the right move, and I trust Sony Santa Monica to deliver, having a God of War game without Kratos was reflexively a bit deflating. It also didn't help that Sony showed the lowest number of actual titles, and that Intergalactic wasn't one of them.

3) Nintendo Direct

When Nintendo opened its show with Rhythm Heaven Groove, I got nervous. I knew a lot of ports would be featured, and outside of Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda, not much was in the rumor mill for what Nintendo would be showing. As it turned out, my concerns weren't warranted. Nintendo not only delivered the anticipated Ocarina of Time remake, but it also announced Xenoblade Genesis and Kingdom Hearts IV, new entries in long-running RPG series, and the coup de grâce, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE, a true turn-based Final Fantasy RPG.

2) Summer Game Fest

Although it can feel a little hokey at times, all credit to Geoff Keighley for keeping the spirit of E3 alive by hosting a show in front of a live audience and even sprinkling in celebrity appearances like Snoop Dogg. Summer Game Fest featured a ton of games, and the event was bookended by huge announcements of Resident Evil Veronica and FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION. This was the most diverse lineup of titles shown under one banner with a good mix of AAA efforts and interesting indie stuff. It also blended extended looks with all-new reveals better than any other show over the last week-plus.

1) Xbox Games Showcase

Everyone knew Microsoft had a stacked lineup of first-party games, and it opened its presentation with Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, and Halo: Campaign Evolved back-to-back-to-back, all while deftly navigating the GTA VI vortex by dropping Halo in late July, Gears in October, and pushing Fable to 2027. From there it was just one hit after another: two new Persona games, State of Decay 3, a new Senua, Metro 2039, the excellent-looking Clockwork Revolution, and then wrapping up with DMZ footage for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. This whole show, including news that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution would be console exclusives, very much felt like Xbox announcing it was back.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 11:22 PM.