The Game Awards (TGA), as presented by executive producer Geoff Keighley have concluded for 2023, with Baldur’s Gate deservedly winning the coveted Game of the Year award. Aside from the trophies themselves, however, the ceremony has become a place for video game developers and publishers alike to announce new games on the horizon.
via The Game Awards
Keen to find out what’s releasing in the next year or so? We’ve got all the major announcements at The Game Awards right here for you.
Kojima Productions Unveils OD
Industry veteran Hideo Kojima was present at the awards ceremony to announce a new Xbox title in the works, named OD, which apparently stands for “Overdose”. Kojima Productions dropped a trailer for the game as well, teasing it to be some sort of horror game by the tone and visuals of the trailer itself.
Interestingly, Kojima invited filmmaker and comedian Jordan Peele onstage and announced that he would be a collaborator on the project. Given that Peele was behind the critically acclaimed Get Out (2017), it’s no wonder that OD will be a horror title as well. And as expected from a Hideo Kojima game, the trailer did not include a release date or year.
God of War: Ragnarok – Valhalla DLC Goes Live on December 12th
Perhaps wishing to not get upstaged by Xbox and OD, PlayStation brought out the big guns at The Game Awards by dropping a trailer for God of War: Ragnarok – Valhalla — a completely free DLC expansion for the blockbuster 2022 action-adventure title.
This expansion takes heavy inspiration from the trendy roguelite genre and brings it to God of War. Valhalla goes live on December 12th, 2023, exclusively on PlayStation 4 & 5.
The Finals Celebrates its Official Launch
Free-to-play shooter The Finals, developed by Embark Studios and published by Nexon, launched its initial version at The Game Awards ceremony.
This official launch also includes the game’s very first competitive season.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Brings Budokai Tenkaichi Back
Bandai Namco made sure to bring the fire at The Game Awards with a trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. This marks the first mainline entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series of fighting games since 2007 — a whole 17 years after the release of Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
“Sparking!” happens to be the series’ title in Japan, which may confuse Western audiences that expected it to be named Budokai Tenkaichi 4 or something along those lines. Sparking! Zero is set to release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S & X, and Steam — though when exactly is still up in the air right now.
Jurassic Park: Survival Rises from the Ashes
Originally cancelled mid-development in July 2001, Jurassic Park: Survival returns as a revived version of itself. Unlike its previous incarnation, though, this edition seems to have a female protagonist — rather than the male protagonist David Vaughn.
As per the trailer shown at The Game Awards, it looks like this will be a survival horror game where the player has very limited access to weapons like firearms and such. Instead, they will have to rely on their instincts in order to escape the park — which at this point has already experienced the dinosaurs escaping their exhibits.
Jurassic Park: Survival is set for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S & X, and PC.
Arkane Studios Set to Release Marvel’s Blade
After the success of both Dishonored and Deathloop, French developer Arkane Studios’ next project will be based on Marvel’s Blade, the vampire hunter most known for being played by Wesley Snipes in the eponymous 1998 film.
Blade will be a third-person action title “set in the heart of Paris”. What platforms it’ll be on and when it comes out were not included in the trailer.
Square Enix Doubles Down on Final Fantasy XVI with DLC
Final Fantasy XVI will receive not one, but two DLC expansions — one coming out today and the other in Spring 2024.
The first one, entitled Echoes of the Fallen, fills in some of the story before the final battle. Both DLCs will be coming to the PlayStation 5 version, and presumably the PC version that is currently in development.
Rise of the Ronin Drops on March 22nd
The much-awaited open world title from Team Ninja, named Rise of the Ronin, got a beefy trailer as well as a release date of March 22nd, 2024 at The Game Awards ceremony.
Originally announced in 2022 during a State of Play livestream hosted by Sony, Rise of the Ronin is set in the final years of the Edo period in Japan. Players will have access to a whole host of weapons from that time period, including firearms from the Boshin war of 1868. Rise of the Ronin will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive — though it is unclear whether it will eventually come to other platforms.
Ex-BioWare Employees Debut Exodus
Archetype Entertainment, a new studio manned by former BioWare employees, revealed their upcoming role-playing game titled Exodus at The Game Awards.
Both the trailer and the developers’ heritage have the gaming community at large thinking that Exodus will be heavily inspired by Mass Effect, one of the most successful sci-fi RPG franchises of the modern video game era. Players will take on the role of the Traveler, a human with the power to save all of humanity, but suffers the effects of time dilation.
Matthew McConaughey, lead actor for the Academy Award-winning Interstellar (2014), will voice act for the game. Exodus is set for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S & X, and PC.
Ikumi Nakamura Unveils Kemuri
The affable Ikumi Nakamura, famous for working on games like The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo, is working on her first game as an independent developer with her very own studio, titled Kemuri.
Coming onstage personally to unveil the trailer, Nakamura herself showed Kemuri to the world for the first time. It’s looking like a colorful, parkour-focused action-adventure title with plenty of elements from Japanese folklore and history sprinkled in. The trailer did not include a release date nor the list of platforms Kemuri would be on, however.
Visions of Mana Continues the Franchise
Square Enix didn’t just settle for a Final Fantasy trailer this year, going twice with a reveal of Visions of Mana — the next entry in the long-standing JRPG franchise.
Just like previous titles in the series, Visions of Mana features a colorful anime art style combined with action RPG gameplay. This title follows the 2020 remake of Trials of Mana, originally released in 1995 for the Super Famicom (known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Western markets). Visions will be the first new Mana game in over 15 years, however.
Visions of Mana releases in 2024, on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox Series S & X, and PC. Curiously, Square Enix is opting to skip the Nintendo Switch with this release.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II Lands September 9th
Saber Interactive seems to really have its plate full as of late, with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II also on its docket of upcoming titles. A sequel to 2011’s Space Marine, it’s likely that Space Marine 2 will incorporate the hybrid melee and gun-focused combat of its precdecessor from a third-person perspective.
Space Marine II launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S & X, and PC on September 9th, 2024.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Fends off Delays
Marred by delays throughout its development cycle, Rocksteady Studios is finally ready to release Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The game is a direct sequel to 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight, and will feature an open world based in DC Comics’ Metropolis setting.
Initially announced in August 2020, the game has since had its release date moved several times. It drops February 2nd, 2024 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S & X, and PC.
No Rest for the Wicked Goes into Early Access 2024
Coming from the developer of Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps, action RPG No Rest for the Wicked enters early access in the first quarter of 2024 on PC.
Touted as a Diablo-like ARPG in the same vein as titles like Grim Dawn and Torchlight, this will be Moon Studios’ first foray into the popular genre.
Ready Or Not Launches Version 1.0 on December 13th
Tactical shooter and self-styled SWAT 4 spiritual successor Ready Or Not will finally launch officially on December 13th, 2023 — after spending two years in early access.
Developer VOID Entertainment boasts a “significant expansion” to the game in Version 1.0, with more single player missions, customization options, and quality of life improvements. Ready Or Not is exclusive to PC, and can be purchased on Steam.
Monster Hunter Wilds Kicks off Series’ Sixth Generation
Hot off the success of Monster Hunter Rise, Capcom made sure to keep Monster Hunter fans happy with a trailer of their own at The Game Awards. The next mainline title will be called Monster Hunter Wilds, and the trailer certainly showed plenty of new things for fans to get excited about.
There’s flying mounts, the possibility that the game would have a fully open world, and more. Wilds launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S & X, and PC in 2025.
