The Game Awards — 2023

Woo! After days of teasing, the new one from Daniel Mullins has been revealed, and surprise! It's Pony Island 2! Was not expecting that, but... awesome!

A new one from Finji, Usual June, in which you "hang out, fight monsters, and discover your town’s darkest secrets in ... a third person action game about summer break and the end of the world." Coming 2025.

After spending so long with Dead Cells, Motion Twin have revealed their next project, Windblown. "Brave the Vortex and dash your way to greatness in this lightning-fast action roguelike from the creators of Dead Cells. Alone or in coop, become the ultimate killing machine as you enhance your skills and master your weapons in search of that perfect run"

A new World of Goo was not on my bingo card, but the first one was a classic, so let's go! 15 years after its predecessor, World of Goo 2 launches 2024.

Exodus is a narrative driven sci-fi shooter from Austin based studio Archetype Entertainment, starring Matthew McConaughey. "Become the Traveller". Not heaps to go off, but looks neat.

One of my TGA show highlights was Big Walk by House House, from Melbourne. Absolutely love the sounds and flora of Australia here. "Hang out and get lost with close friends in a big world." Looks super, super fun. Coming 2025.

We've been hearing about this game for years, but a new Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga gameplay trailer has me pretty hyped all over again. 2024, but still no exact date.

Ikumi Nakamura has revealed the first title from her indie studio, Unseen, and it's called KEMURI. "The unpredictable meets the extraordinary in an urban jungle where mysterious creatures - YOKAI - hide amongst the population. Become a YOKAI HUNTER and use your FOX WINDOW to unravel the mysteries of the city and bring balance to the world. Dive into a thrilling adventure alone or with friends". Looks cool.

Kojima was of course at The Game Awards, but... not for Death Stranding 2? He, with Jordan Peele, revealed OD. "OD explores the concept of testing your fear threshold, and what it means to OD on fear – while blurring the boundaries of gaming and film." Intriguing, but not sold quite yet.

Woo! A new trailer for Black Myth Wukong, showcasing lots of new characters, enemies, and areas. More importantly, a release date! August 20, 2024 - let’s gooo!

DON’T NOD Montréal have revealed their new one which looks interesting, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. "A story-driven journey through time. The magical summer of 1995 is one of self-discovery and forging unbreakable bonds for high school friends Swann, Nora, Autumn, and Kat. 27 years of no contact later, fate reunites them to confront the long-buried secret that made them promise to never speak again."

This one caught me off-guard! The First Berserker: Khazan is "a hardcore action role-playing game. The player will become Khazan, the great general of the Pelos empire, whom overcame death, and sets out to reveal the incidents that led to his downfall and seek vengeance on his enemies." Soulslike maybe? Please?

Arkane are making a Blade game. Cool I guess? Not sure I love the idea of them working with existing IPs (especially Marvel) when their original ideas are so cool - but it's undeniably a good fit. We'll see!

From Moon Studios, the developers of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps comes No Rest for the Wicked, a "visceral, precision ARPG". Art style, characters and gameplay all look great here - super keen.

"Set decades from now in a reconstructed Tokyo, you play as Hiromi Shoda in Last Sentinel, a narrative-focused, open-world action game from Lightspeed Studios." Gripping trailer but don't know heaps about it. One to watch.

Den of Wolves is a four-player co-op game from 10 Chambers, the studio behind Payday 1 & 2, and designer Ulf Andersson. Really dig the setting and aesthetic. "In this techno-thriller, you and your friends operate as criminals for hire in the conflicts between rival corporations in Midway City. Gather your crew, design the plan, gear up, and execute the heist."

Ex-The Division devs reveal a new open-world extraction shooter, Exoborne. A press release provides more info, emphasizing gear over RPG mechanics, with the focus being on the Exo-Rig's weapons, upgrades and traversal with built-in tools like grappling hooks and gliders.

After seven years of free No Man's Sky patches and overwhelmingly redeeming their reputation, Sean Murray and Hello Games are ready to show off their next big venture: Light No Fire. "A game about adventure, building, survival and exploration together. Set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth, it brings the depth of a role playing game to the freedom of a survival sandbox."

Set for a 2025 release, Capcom have announced the next in their mega franchise, Monster Hunter Wilds. Not heaps of info yet, but I've always really wanted to sink hundreds of hours into this genre and just never found one that really jived with me. Here's hoping this is the one!