Summer Game Fest Dropped A Big Final Fantasy 7 Clue Early On (And It Was Hilarious)
Summer Game Fest's opening night livestream was packed with huge reveals and updates for some of the most exciting upcoming video games, but the event saved one of the biggest exclusives for last. To close out the night, SGF host Geoff Keighley revealed a bombastic new trailer for "Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth," the long-awaited second part of Square Enix's "Final Fantasy 7" remake series. The audience went absolutely bananas over the reveal, particularly because Keighley had trolled the audience with it earlier in the night.
Midway through the presentation, Summer Game Fest showed off a new ad for mobile game "Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis," which enters early access this summer. At the conclusion of the trailer, Geoff Keighley hinted that there was more where that came from, but then quickly segued to a different topic.
"Now, speaking of 'Final Fantasy,'" he said, causing the crowd to immediately start freaking out. After quickly calming folks down, he continued, "Today, during Summer Game Fest, DoorDash has your back." Groans and raucous laughter immediately reverberated through the crowd as a visibly delighted Keighley giggled at the intense reactions. At this point, maybe we should have guessed that more "Final Fantasy" news was on the way — but the joke succeeded in throwing everyone off. Summer Game Fest viewers had no idea what was to come.
What if you wanted Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but instead Geoff Keighley said "DOORDASH"#SummerGameFest pic.twitter.com/0FfTfscUin
— Tom Surtees 🕷️ (@TomLegend101) June 8, 2023
Geoff Keighley's DoorDash joke was an unexpected success
Summer Game Fest viewers were just as blown away by Geoff Keighley's DoorDash misdirect as the people in attendance, as evidenced by the amused reactions online. DoorDash probably didn't mind too much, as the company started trending almost immediately on Twitter. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier referred to the joke as "definitely an all-time Keighley press conference moment," while others noted that the host clearly knew how silly the move was.
i am actually in tears laughing at "speaking of final fantasy (crowd gets excited) doordash has your back!" and even geoff has to laugh that this was a bit of a reach
— yuuko from nichijou (@headfallsoff) June 8, 2023
As viewers would learn later in the evening, Keighley was definitely playing off of the rumors that have been surrounding "Final Fantasy 7" and Summer Game Fest for a while. Fans had been hoping to see footage from the upcoming JRPG sequel during the event, so this joke seems to have been meant to throw people off the scent. While it definitely succeeded in that regard, it also reminded some gamers that there are other highly anticipated sequels that remain just out of reach, like "Hollow Knight: Silksong."
Speaking of Hollow Knight: Silksong
DoorDash has your back
— Spawn Wave (@SpawnWaveMedia) June 8, 2023
But, hey: At least DoorDash still has our backs, right?