I/O Interactive is having an interesting first this coming weekend.
As reported by Gematsu, the company has announced their first IOI Showcase, their first dedicated presentation for this June. What’s really interesting about this event is the schedule; it’s happening on June 6 at 6 PM PT/9PM ET. That’s is a few hours after this year’s Summer Game Fest, also happening on June 6 at 2 PM PT/5 PM ET.
We don’t think I/O Interactive intends to compete with Geoff Keighley’s event. They themselves will be presenting at this year’s Summer Game Fest. But then, given how loaded their show is this year, I/O may not really have time for much more than a trailer at the event.
We’ll let them I/O explain their decision on timing the event if they were so inclined. But it seems they have a lot to reveal this year, and that’s why they’ve decided to pull out all the stops with their own dedicated event.
First things first, I/O has an announcement coming for Hitman World of Assassination. There are two reasons for fans to expect something to be revealed. For one, this game will be one of many launch titles for the Switch 2, releasing this week. But on top of that, the Hitman franchise is slated to hit its 25 year anniversary. It would be prime time to announce a new game, a spinoff, or just another large scale expansion.
MindsEye has had a strange buzz going, as first impressions seem quite mixed. The game’s mastermind, former Rockstar Games developer Leslie Benzos, has remarked on the strange reception the game has been receiving, but this event might be their and I/O’s opportunity to turn it around.
For those who don’t remember, MindsEye was originally announced to be an experience that is just one part of a bigger game creation suite called Everywhere. It isn’t clear why plans changed, but now we have simply been told that the game’s studio, Build A Rocket Boy, is releasing MindsEye as a standalone game, and it will have a creation suite to make open worlds. Hopefully, they can have a strong showing here.
Lastly, the IOI Showcase will be one of the first presentations featuring 007 First Light. There’s a decent chance it will also be in Summer Game Fest. But if Keighley’s event will be a big platform to get a lot of eyeballs, the IOI Showcase will be where they can get in depth.
I/O apparently will have other games or announcements coming in this event as well. It’ll definitely be interesting to see what they have to show us in this presentation soon.
