The digital confetti has settled, the last world premiere trailer has faded to black, and another Summer Game Fest is in the books. For a solid week, the gaming world has been glued to its screens, eagerly consuming the firehose of announcements that now defines the E3-less month of June. It was a whirlwind of showcases, from the main event hosted by Geoff Keighley to deep dives from Xbox, Ubisoft, and a host of indie developers.

This year felt like a return to form, with fewer CGI trailers and more chunky, confident gameplay demos. But as always, some presentations soared while others fell completely flat. Now that we’ve had a moment to catch our breath, it’s time to sift through the hype and declare the official winners and losers of Summer Game Fest 2025.

WINNER: “Aetherium” – The Indie That Stole the Show

Every year, one game from a small studio seems to come out of nowhere and capture the collective imagination of the internet. This year, that game was undoubtedly “Aetherium.” Revealed during the Day of the Devs showcase, this stunning sci-fi soulslike from a tiny French studio called “Ghost Pixel” was a visual masterpiece. Its haunting art style, which blended Giger-esque biomechanics with ethereal, glowing flora, was breathtaking. But it was the innovative gravity-shifting combat that made everyone sit up. The trailer showed the player character seamlessly running up walls and battling giant creatures on ceilings. It was the best kind of surprise: a bold new idea with gorgeous execution.

LOSER: Visionary Entertainment’s Bloated Showcase

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the painfully dull presentation from major publisher Visionary Entertainment. Clocking in at over an hour, the showcase was a textbook example of what gamers dread: a parade of pre-rendered CGI trailers for games years away, a cringey celebrity appearance to promote a mobile game, and a 10-minute segment dedicated to updates for a live service game that no one plays anymore. They showed almost no raw gameplay and announced nothing genuinely new, managing to be both boring and disrespectful of their audience’s time.

WINNER: Xbox’s Confident First-Party Lineup

After years of promising games, Xbox came to Summer Game Fest 2025 with the receipts. Their showcase was a tight, confident, all-gameplay presentation. We got a lengthy, impressive demo of the new Fable, showcasing its trademark British humor and beautiful world. We saw a brutal, action-packed vertical slice of Gears of War: E-Day. And they capped it off by shadow-dropping two exciting new indie titles directly into Game Pass. It was a showcase that radiated strength, assuring Xbox owners that a steady stream of high-quality exclusives is on the way.

LOSER: The “One More Thing” That Wasn’t

There’s no greater disappointment than a hyped-up final reveal that falls flat. Throughout the week, teasers for a project called “Chrono Break” had fans of the legendary RPG series Chrono Trigger buzzing with excitement. The final showcase ended with this reveal. The familiar clock pendulum swung, the iconic music swelled… and then it was revealed to be a free-to-play, gacha-style mobile game. The collective groan from the gaming community was almost audible. It was a brutal lesson in misreading your audience’s desires.

Overall Verdict

Summer Game Fest 2025 felt like a year of cautious optimism from the AAA space, with publishers like Xbox finally showing their hand. However, the real winner, as is often the case, was the indie scene. From the show-stopping reveal of “Aetherium” to dozens of other creative titles shown throughout the week, it’s clear that the most exciting and innovative ideas in gaming are still bubbling up from small, passionate teams. The future is bright, and our wishlists are once again overflowing.