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Geoff Keighley acknowledges lack of diversity at Summer Game Fest

Host says one woman was due to appear on stage but couldn't make it due to scheduling conflicts

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Geoff Keighley has acknowledged complaints about the lack of diversity around this year's Summer Game Fest, though he didn't address the issue in-depth.

In an interview with CBC, host Keighley simply said: "I think generally we do a pretty good job with diversity in our shows. That was something that's a fair flag.

"We also want to be authentic to the games that are being presented on the show and the developers that are making them. So yeah, I think we're conscious of it."

He added that Melanie Liburd, the actor who plays Alan Wake 2's new protagonist Saga Anderson, was due to appear on stage but scheduling conflicts prevented this from happening.

Even if Liburd had been available, she would have been the only woman to appear on stage. The seven people featured during the show, including Keighley, were all men – something we discussed on our podcast.

Keighley's next show – and opportunity to rectify this lack of diversity – will be Gamescom: Opening Night Live, broadcast from Koelnmesse in Cologne on Tuesday, August 22.

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James Batchelor avatar
James Batchelor: James is Editor-in-Chief at GamesIndustry.biz, and has been a B2B journalist since 2006. He is author of The Best Non-Violent Video Games
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