Get set to loiter around departures for a bit, the Steam Summer Festival has been hit by a last-minute delay.
The upcoming Steam Summer Game Festival, due to kick off on June 9 and run until Jun 14 has been delayed. The online event will now start on June 16 and continue through until June 22. Valve announced the delay yesterday to media outlets and we’ve been hanging on to try to get more detail. Unfortunately, the Steam platform holders have been tight-lipped about the specific reasons behind the delay.
While you can keep an eye on the Steam social media and new pages for more details, it’s generally accepted that the delay is due to the timing of other less entertaining events around the world. The recent death of George Floyd, who died as a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis last week, sparked serious civil unrest across America. As a result, many gaming companies and other commercial organisations have taken steps to delay or cancel events that might detract or simply look badly judged during this period.
The Steam Summer Festival was originally part of a wider response to the unfolding Coronavirus pandemic that still continues to grip much of the world. With many major gaming events such as E3 and Gamescom unable to take place in person, games companies have moved to create new avenues to reach audiences. The Steam Summer Festival delay means that gamers will still get an opportunity to try out some of the newest games coming up without queues or Covid-19 risks, but they will need to wait a little longer to get their hands on them. We’re going to be making amendments to our news pieces regarding the Steam Summer Festival throughout the weekend so you have your dates in order. Until then, we can only really hope for a swift and amicable resolution to the serious avalanche of events that have culminated in this delay.