Why is it Summer Game Fest and not Summer Games Fest (plural)?

If it’s a Geoff Keighley event, it has a clear name. I mean, come on – “The Game Awards” is about as honest as it gets. It’s exactly what it says on the tin. The same goes for Summer Game Fest, the name of Geoff Keighley’s E3-style event that has taken place annually in June since 2020.

The title of the event is true to what it is, especially when it was first announced in 2020. At the time, COVID-19 was raging; in-person events everywhere were postponed, and E3 was no exception. As game developers and publishers looked for virtual venues to showcase their projects, Geoff Keighley created an event that served as an anchor to bring together these disparate events, which were then spread across the summer. The title ‘Summer Game Fest’ felt like something someone wrote down very quickly to solve a major problem that had arisen almost as quickly.

But here’s the thing. The name is just a bit wrong. It should be ‘Summer Games Fest’.

It is still grammatically correct as ‘Summer Game Fest’. Everyone understands upon hearing that title that there will be more than one game showcased during the titular fest. Its meaning is clear. But nine times out of ten, when I say the title out loud – or when someone else I know says the title out loud – I mistakenly say “Summer Games Fest.”

Maybe it’s the mouthfeel. Maybe it’s because there are always a lot of them games there, plural, and all my brain wants to say is games to emphasize that. Or maybe it’s the fact that multiple publications to hold on calling It Summer Games Fest instead of the actual title (can you blame them?).

I realize that this summer is the fourth Summer CompetitionS Fest, and there are quite a few, but I don’t think it’s too late to change it. I’ve emailed Geoff Keighley to ask if there’s a reason he chose ‘Game’ and not ‘Games’, and I’ll update this post if I hear back. I don’t actually think he’s going to change it. But I can’t help saying it wrong. It is what it is.