The Game Awards is one of the biggest events of the gaming calendar, with the gaming elite getting together to celebrate the biggest and best games of the year. Whereas the film industry has the Oscars, we have this, and it’s always an event to remember, from unexpected winners to stage invaders with some odd requests, there’s always something going on.
The Game Awards is also a hotbed for new announcements, teaser trailers, and marketing pushes, with some developers choosing the event to push their biggest projects, knowing how many eyes are watching at any given moment. These are just some of the games that Luke (LA) and Dan (DB) expect (and hope) to see at the event.
God of War Ragnarök DLC (LA)
Death Stranding 2 (DB)
Based on the unmatched bromance between Geoff Keighley and Hideo Kojima alone, a Death Stranding 2 appearance seems to be a foregone conclusion. The game was first announced at last year’s Game Awards ceremony and we have heard very little about it since. Kojima-san’s recent posts on X also suggest that he is hard at work editing the trailer for something.
Furthermore, DS2 is officially only a working title at the time of writing this. The final name for the sequel to 2019’s mind-warping, post-apocalyptic odyssey has not yet been unveiled. Could a trailer at this year’s event provide us with an official title? Perhaps, we could also even get a release date, or at least a release window giving us some idea of when we can expect to play the game.
Borderlands 4 (LA)
Thanks to a LinkedIn post we now know that Borderlands 4 is in development by Gearbox, as well as two other separate titles in the Borderlands universe. One of the most fun titles to play in co-op, it’s been some time since we last entered the world of Pandora and its surrounding mythos. Whilst the third entry may not have hit the lofty heights of its predecessor, the team over at Gearbox certainly knows what makes a good Borderlands game, and with the current generation of consoles, the power at their hands to bring Pandora and the surrounding galaxy to life is massive.
Hellblade 2 (DB)
If you can cast your mind back to a pre-COVID pandemic world, it was actually four years ago this month at the 2019 Game Awards ceremony that Hellblade 2 was originally announced. Following a litany of delays and Xbox getting more and more desperate to ship an exclusive title of this caliber, surely this is the perfect time for this title to strike. For the love of God, just give us a definitive release date, and please give us the chance to play this awesome-looking sequel to one of the most underrated games of the past decade!
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (LA)
Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s biggest title by some stretch. They took all the best parts of their previous titles and added them together to give us one of the best, if not the best Soulslike experience so far. Shadow of the Erdtree will hopefully add to that, although story isn’t exactly at the forefront of any FromSoftware game, so it’ll be interesting to see how heavy they lean on the story elements, compared to adding to map and throwing in some more bosses for us to fight.
The DLC has been announced for months now, with no concrete details known, and the developer continues to provide non-updates in the form of “development is going well” and so on, so The Game Awards will provide the biggest and best opportunity for them to blow everyone’s minds with a trailer of some sorts. Here’s hoping anyway.
The Outer Worlds 2 (DB)
Now that the dust has settled on the monumental release of Starfield, we can finally talk about the other upcoming Microsoft exclusive, epic space exploration game, tangentially related to Bethesda, (as far as it is being developed by Obsidian who also made Fallout: New Vegas.) We haven’t really heard much about this sequel since it was announced back in 2021, other than receiving confirmation that it will indeed be exclusive to PC and Xbox consoles.
It is no secret how desperate Xbox is for a solid, critically acclaimed exclusive title, and given how great the first Outer Worlds game was, this certainly seems like more of a sure thing than Starfield ever did. The Outer Worlds 2 has seemingly been in production pretty much since the first title launched back in 2019, so now seems like the perfect time to update the audience with a fresh trailer and a release date.
TMNT: The Last Ronin (LA)
Considered one of the best modern comic books for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it’s been a little while since we last heard anything about it, since that first announcement teaser trailer. Anyone who has read the source material knows the adult nature of it, and it is certainly a story aimed at a more mature audience than some of the other stories THQ could have chosen, but it’s one that’ll lend itself to some great gameplay opportunities.
As of yet, we know very little about the game, other than that small trailer involving four candles quickly turning to one, hinting at the main story beat present in the story. The type of game, length, gameplay, etc is still up in the air, so we’re in need of some more guys!
Avowed (DB)
The Outer Worlds 2 looks is very exciting, but as we know, it is not the only Microsoft-exclusive RPG that Obsidian Entertainment is working on. Avowed has been in the works for years at this point and has gone through multiple iterations. It was originally meant as Xbox’s answer to The Elder Scrolls franchise, but then Microsoft went ahead and purchased Zenimax anyway, meaning that both IPs are now owned by Microsoft.
Regardless, the game promises to be something special and at the very least, will hopefully tide players over until the eventual release of The Elder Scrolls VI. It would be really nice to get a concrete release date for the game, because at the time of writing, it is not even known whether The Outer Worlds 2 or this title will drop first.
Indiana Jones (LA)
Licensed games typically aren’t very good. Regularly viewed as nothing but quick cash grabs and nothing more, there’s rarely a time when any amount of development or thought has been put into the game. There have been some that buck this trend recently, for example, Robocop: Rogue City, Guardians of the Galaxy, and of course Marvel’s Spider-Man, but equally, we’ve also had Marvel’s Avengers, so where the new Indiana Jones game from MachineGames will fall is anyone’s guess. Another entry where we know very little, with no gameplay stills or videos to speak of, and nothing released about the setting or story, so The Game Awards may represent the best time for an update, potentially?
Silent Hill 2 Remake (DB)
Following a year of very successful remakes, this game will likely be the biggest remake of 2024. Although we don’t yet have an exact release date, it is expected pretty soon; sometime in Spring of 2024. Therefore, it would make a lot of sense for Konami to want to show it off at some point during this year’s Game Awards ceremony.
However, there is an obvious caveat to this. We have already touched on the diehard bromance between Geoff Keighley and Hideo Kojima. Due to this, combined with the prolonging bad blood between Konami and Kojima-san, many have said that Geoff may not want to feature the title at his event, so as not to upset his friend who was responsible for creating the now infamously cancelled PT Silent Hills demo. Only time will tell.
Amy Hennig’s Untitled Captain America & Black Panther Game (LA)
Announced back in October 2021 and the last visual offering being in September 2022, there has been virtually zero news about this game since. With industry veteran Amy Hennig at the helm, and set during World War 2 with the principal characters being Steve Rogers’ Captain America and T’Chaka’s Black Panther (T’Challa’s father), there’s much to be excited for. What bigger and better stage could there be than The Game Awards?
Chances are, if we don’t see some sort of gameplay or even a further teaser trailer for the project, the game won’t be released in 2024, which will certainly dampen proceedings.
Splinter Cell (DB)
We know that a return to this glorious series has been in the works at Ubisoft for a while now. Despite knowing since 2021 that a remake of the classic 2002 stealth title is in development, any information beyond that is essentially non-existent. The Game Awards 2023 would be the perfect time for Ubisoft to properly re-announce it, showing off the gorgeous Snowdrop Engine and giving us a better idea of what to expect.
With the MGS 3 Snake Eater remake officially being announced earlier this year, it seems as though 2024 could be the year for modern revisits to iconic PS2-era stealth/action masterpieces. With David Hayter confirmed to return for Metal Gear Solid Delta, Michael Ironside returning to voice Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell remake trailer would just be the icing on a very tasty cake. Come on Ubisoft, give the people what they want.
Will you be tuning into the Game Awards this year?
That’s our picks, both likely and otherwise for announcements and trailers we’ll be seeing at this year’s The Game Awards. As with any awards show, there will be surprises, and maybe even some out-of-the-box, never-expected games will make an appearance, but for now, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see what they have in store for us. Stay tuned for more coverage on the site during and after the event.
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