Summer Game Fest is officially here! The de facto replacement for E3 has returned for another year, with today, June 6th, featuring the flagship Geoff Keighley-hosted Summer Game Fest event at the YouTube Theater. The fun starts at 5pm EST, followed by a wide assortment of showcases across the weekend. These include the Wholesome Direct, the Latin American Games Showcase, the Xbox Games Showcase, PC Gamer’s PC Gaming Show, a Death Stranding 2 event, and the Black Voices in Gaming showcase, just to name a few. Visit the official SGF website to learn more about when to catch these streams.Now, while speculation runs rampant about this weekend’s reveals — will we see a release date for Hollow Knight Silksong? What about more VTubers in Death Stranding 2? — I’d like to take some time to clarify which games I do not expect to see any screentime during Summer Game Fest. Most of these are real. Others could happen, if the fates allow. Anyway, here are all the games Geoff Keighley is hiding from you at his house.PROJECT MIXScreenshot: PLECTRUM SOFTPLECTRUM SOFT is doing something incredible: Designing a 3D, narrative-driven VR game that places the player right into an anime world without suffering from any uncanny valley effect. It’s so smooth, so seamless.PROJECT MIX is the studio’s upcoming cyberpunk VR bartending game. And yes, while others are quick to compare the title to Sukeban Games’ VA-11 Hall-A, there’s clearly much more to the title than just a similar setting with a related aesthetic. PROJECT MIX looks to be an in-depth VR experience, complete with romance options and apartment hang outs. Imagine a visual novel brought to life, right in front of you, offering a wider story to unravel and explore. I’m very excited to see how PLECTRUM SOFT pulls off PROJECT MIX. And while I don’t expect to see such a unique indie title at SGF events, I’m hoping Geoff and friends leave me pleasantly surprised.Regardless, PROJECT MIX should absolutely be on your Steam wishlist, even if you don’t have a VR headset. In fact, the studio even hinted at a non-VR mode if funding allows. Check out PROJECT MIX’s Kickstarter now before it ends on June 14th, and don’t forget to download the game’s free demo.Ricochet 2Screenshot: ValveIt’s every Valve fan’s dream, the one game they want as a follow up more than any other: Ricochet 2. Valve’s unique muiltplayer first-person action battle game may be beloved by fans, but a Ricochet sequel is likely not in the cards. You can still check out the original game on Steam for $4.99 though.Lock & Key: A Magical Girl MysteryScreenshot: Studio ÉlanOkay, of all the games on this list, Studio Élan’s upcoming magical girl yuri visual novel Lock & Key has the highest chance of appearing in a presentation. But just in case it doesn’t, I want to go out of my way to highlight it. Lock & Key: A Magical Girl Mystery is looking like the perfect queer-themed magical girl title, a story all about life after gay adolescence’s high’s and low’s. You know, what happens when you’re simply living your queer life, day-in and day-out, and yet the past comes knocking into the present. I really hope we get to see this game at one or two SGF events. After all, Lock & Key just completed an incredibly successful Kickstarter in April, raising over $15.7 thousand to bring the game to life. So we’re likely to see more of this game sooner rather than later. But just in case it gets zero screentime this weekend, go out of your way to wishlist Lock & Key on Steam now. And try the visual novel’s free demo while you’re at it.Another VR girlfriend game!Screenshot: ILLUMINATIONRemember ILLUSION’s VR Kanojo? You know, the Japanese virtual reality game that simulated a lazy day with an incredibly realistic young woman? Well, ILLUSION shuttered in 2023, but a successor to its original VR girlfriend game is coming out later this year. As Waypoint covered in April, the brand new studio ILLUMINATION is working on VR-Kanojo, which features VR Kanojo’s producer as well as its art director. Expect a similarly immersive VR experienced focused on spending quality time with your girlfriend as she visits your bedroom for the very first time. As for what’s on the docket? Well, we can’t say anything further for now. Wink, wink.VR-Kanojo was originally set to launch in April, but the game was delayed after fans criticized its middling graphical quality in a pre-release trailer. It would be cool to see this game appear at SGF, but I don’t think Geoff Keighely is going to show any h-games at his events any time soon. Sad.Idol ShowdownWhen VTuber viewers think of Hololive fangames, one of the first titles that comes to mind is Vampire Survivors-like indie hit HoloCure. But you’d be remiss to miss Idol Showdown. Developed by Besto Game Team and published by holo Indie, this free-to-play multiplayer title is a full blown fighting game featuring a wide selection of Hololive VTubers. It even has rollback netcode implemented, which is how you know real, bona fide fighting game fans worked on it.VTuber Hakui Koyori drops for the game tonight, so I highly recommend downloading Idol Showdown on Steam and trying it out over the weekend. It’s a great way to kill time between those less-than-stellar trailers. Granted, I’m hoping Idol Showdown does make an appearance in SGF. The world needs more games about VTubers fighting each other, something that the larger English-language VTubing space should definitely lean into. (Geoff, if you’re reading this: Consider my proposed agency crossover title that would let Mythic’s Nyanners and Phase’s Pippa bop each other)Official ‘Touhou Project’ english releases on SteamScreenshot: Team Shanghai AliceTouhou Kinjoukyou ～ Fossilized Wonders is on the way, marking the 20th mainline Touhou Project game from ZUN’s Team Shanghai Alice. While the game is expected for August 2025 during this summer’s Comiket, wouldn’t it be nice if we received a little gift early? And by that, I mean, a series of official (or, well, officially sanctioned) English-language Touhou Project releases, localizing the main games on Steam? Currently, these games are only officially sold in Japanese, and players must rely on the Touhou Community Reliant Automatic Patcher (or THCRAP) to play these titles in English.Don’t get me wrong, THCRAP is an incredible project created and maintained by the English-language Touhou community. But I’d love to have some sort of official English language release. Maybe one day. Definitely not during SGF, though. Which is a shame. ZUN deserves some love at SGF.Team Fortress 3Screenshot: ValveSigh. Please Valve. I just want to play an updated version of Team Fortress 2. I’m begging you. I will give you all my hats.The post Here Are Games You Will Never See at ‘Summer Game Fest’s Showcases appeared first on VICE.