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Gawd, it’s like hyping yourself up before diving into a freezing cold ice lake. Okay, okay, okay. Brave face. Hey, it’s time for The Game Awards 2023, everybody! Towards the end of every year, we all get to enjoy (or in our case, give up our evenings and ruin our fingers to the tune of) one of the gaming industry’s biggest events. The Game Awards is not only an awards ceremony – it’s a lavish smorgasbord of video game announcements, trailers, and news stretching into the early hours of the morning. At least for us Brits.
In case you don’t have the time to sit through the entire multi-hour livestream, we’ve done the hard work and put together a list of every noteworthy trailer and announcement that was shown at this year’s The Game Awards. You can get started reading; I’m just gonna… shut my eyes for a bit.
Every announcement at The Game Awards 2023
Below, we’ve gone through every trailer and announcement that you might be interested in catching up on. There are a lot of them, so strap in. Here are all the new PC trailers from The Game Awards 2023.
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons Remake
The Game Awards 2023’s preshow started off on good form with the announcement of the rumoured remake of Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons. This well-known 2013 adventure tasks you with controlling two characters at once to solve various environmental puzzles in order to cure the two brothers’ ailing father. It remains a beloved game a decade later, and a remake is good news to many.
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus
From Daniel Mullins, the incredible mind behind Inscryption, another creepy genre-hopping medley of captivating experiences is coming soon. It’s called Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, and it’s the sequel to the 2016 Pony Island that… I hadn’t heard about until now. Huh. I can’t even begin to describe what I’m seeing in this trailer, so just watch it for yourself above.
The Rise Of The Golden Idol
The sequel to The Case of the Golden Idol trades pixel art for a more painterly style, but judging by the trailer’s tangled string map connecting a series of mysterious clues, The Rise of the Golden Idol will very much keep the focus on puzzle-solving and brain-straining.
Usual June
Chat to ghosts, fight giant neon spiders, read books in a strangely cosy graveyard. Usual June stars a college student who can talk to ghosts and make friends with them to boot, but there are less affable monsters and a supernatural conspiracy ready to spoil the vibes. It’s out on PC sometime in 2025, with a dev team that includes Canabalt creator Adam Saltsman as creative director.
Arknights: Endfield
Next up was a trailer for Arknights: Endfield, featuring some absolutely banging music and a lot of extremely good-looking fight scenes. The trailer announced a PC technical test which will be coming soon, so anyone who’s looking forward to diving into the new sci-fi action RPG can give it a solid go ahead of its currently unknown release date.
Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
Well, I thought it looked slightly naff until I realised it was a VR game. Now it seems pretty cool. Assassin’s Creed Nexus was released last month on the Meta Quest line, and aside from, y’know, being a VR game, it sets itself apart with the ability to take control of three separate assassins: Ezio, Kassandra, and Connor.
Harmonium: The Musical
A beautiful trailer for Harmonium: The Musical came next, allowing us a first glimpse at a vibrand and confident-looking adventure game made with the deaf community in mind. It reminds me quite a lot of Tchia from earlier this year. It looks lovingly crafted, and it’s already won me over with a single shot of the protagonist shrinking, falling into a music book, and hopping between musical notes in a black and white platformer segment.
Windblown
From MotionTwin, the studio that brought us the excellent Dead Cells, comes a brand new, equally exquisite-looking action brawler game: Windblown. Only this time, it’s fully 3D. My main takeaway from the trailer was that the combat looks very crisp and readable, which is really important for a brightly coloured, fast-paced, optionally co-op action game like this. Windblown will come out in early access sometime next year.
Thrasher
Thrasher is a psychedelic, gorgeous “rhythm-violence” game and spiritual successor to 2016’s game Thumper from the same artist and composer. It’s coming in 2024.
Dave The Diver meets Dredge
I’ll admit I bounced off Dave The Diver when I first tried it, but I’ve been meaning to return to it, because it really does seem like my kind of game. And what better way to bring me back than a team-up with one of my favourite games of this year, creepy-cosy eldritch fishing sim, Dredge. What a perfect match.
World Of Goo 2
Wow. Didn’t expect this! Fifteen years later, we’re getting a sequel to the fantastic, endlessly charming gooey physics puzzler World Of Goo! I hope they really go all out with the new mechanics. Give me all the new goo types. Those goo cannons look pretty promising. World Of Goo 2 is coming sometime in 2024.
Metaphor Re Fantazio
A high fantasy RPG from the creators of Personas 3, 4, and 5. As expected, it looks and sounds great, and it seemingly maintains some of the systems of the Persona series such as turn-based combat, a party system, and some sort of character bonding mechanic. Also looks very different, too, of course, given the wildly different setting.
Exodus
Now the Game Awards itself begins! And suddenly Matthew McConaughey is on stage, announcing the first game he’s ever worked with, Exodus. A punchy cinematic trailer filled with lots of explosions, gorgeous lighting, and concerned-looking faces. This Mass Effect-esque third-person shooter looks like it’ll tell an emotional story around a struggle against an alien race known as the Celestials, and the effects of time dilation while moving at lightspeed. Nice use of Muse’s Supermassive Black Hole there too.
Big Walk
What am I even looking at? It’s a multiplayer wander ’em up from the makers of Untitled Goose Game, about solving puzzles and striding around an island with friends. Also you’re all… possibly-wooden bird people. Big Walk is coming in 2025.
Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown
I never played the 2D Prince Of Persia games back in the day, but they always looked more appealing to me than the one Prince Of Persia I did play as a kid, which was Warrior Within. Now Ubisoft have returned with another 2D entry, called Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown – and it looks so damn pretty I may have to give it a go.
Lego Fortnite
I played a bit of Lego Fortnite earlier today. There really is something good here, combining both brands to create a very solid foundation for a survival crafting game to rival the likes of Valheim, Grounded, and – dare I say it? – Minecraft. The building is satisfying, the artstyle is charming, the world is rich and invites exploration. And it’s free, too. If you’re a fan of survival games, check it out and see what you think! There are some teething issues with controls and the like, but otherwise I’m really impressed.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Whenever a new trailer for Hellblade 2 appears, it’s almost guaranteed to be the most visually stunning trailer at the event. The expressions on Senua’s face! The mud and rain and grime! That lighting! This trailer shows Senua delving into various dark places, fighting with lots of nasty-looking fellows, and slicing up her demons in a blood-red nightmare realm.
Kemuri
Kemuri is the debut game from Unseen Inc., the studio founded by former Ghostwire: Tokyo creative director Ikumi Nakamura. It almost looks like a wilder, more stylish cousin to Ghostwire, with its apparent urban fantasy premise of mythological youkai invading modern-day Japan, but it looks like you’ll be fighting them with a much flashier range of parkour and swordfighting moves. Maybe as a team, too.
No Rest For The Wicked
Gorgeous would probably be on just about everyone’s bingo card for a new Moon Studios game, but I’m still surprised at just how lovely the new action RPG from the creators of the Ori platformers looked in this new trailer for No Rest For The Wicked. This isometric fantasy ARPG seems to tell a bloody story around a succession war after a king’s recent death, but we’ll have to sit tight til the “Wicked Inside” digital showcase on 1st March 2024 to learn more.
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
Naysayers may scoff, but I absolutely love the Avatar films. Adore them. And Frontiers Of Pandora was one of my most anticipated games of this year. A short but sweet launch trailer showcasing Na’vi life and some high-octane RDA battles is now fighting against my colleagues’ news that the game isn’t quite living up to their expectations. But I love the world so much, of course I’m going to play it and see for myself.
Sega Power Surge
Sega teased a “new era” to come before show started, but in reality what they announced were new games in several old series. New Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Jet Set Radio, Streets Of Rage and Golden Axe, and glimpses of all of the above in this single trailer. Details are otherwise thin on the ground but: cool. I approve.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
I haven’t engaged with Dragon Ball since watching the little bald guy explode back in my school days, so let me make sure I’ve got this right: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is the latest entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series of 3D fighting games, and is the first one since…2007? Man, yeah, let those Dragon Ball fans eat.
The Casting Of Frank Stone
Surprise! Supermassive Games, of The Quarry and Until Dawn, are making a singleplayer horror game set in the world of Dead by Daylight. It’s an all-new story with all-new characters, so probably don’t expect DBD’s cast of weird killers (or Nick Cage) to show face, and will feature Supermassive’s signature choice-based story branching. The Casting Of Frank Stone is out next year.
Visions Of Mana
The first properly new Mana game in 15 years, Visions Of Mana sees the series return to its action RPG roots with stunning, animated visuals that bring it kicking and screaming into the modern era. With big open environments to explore and lots of monsters to biff, this will be one to watch for avid JRPG likers. It’s coming in 2024.
OD
Oh boy, it’s a new Hideo Kojima game. Prepare yourselves for a wacky, unsettling trailer for the upcoming horror “experience” known as OD. The trailer doesn’t give away much: just three extraordinarily uncanny-valley faces performing the same short monologue, with some very different emotions behind it. Thanks to a short on-stage interview with Kojima after the trailer, we know that the game is “a new form of media”. Well, that clears things right up. Oh, and Jordan Peele is here, lavishing praise on Hideo and giving us very few details about the game-that-isn’t-a-game-but-also-is, but assuring us that OD is going to be pretty terrifying.
Jurassic Park Survival
Okay you bastards. It’s a real dirty trick to show such iconic scenes and to deliver such iconic Richard Attenborough lines to get me excited for a new Jurassic Park game. This world premiere of Jurassic Park: Survival gives us a cinematic and thrilling look at InGen scientist Dr Maya Joshi and her harrowing attempts to survive and escape a dinosaur-dominated Isla Nublar after failing to evacuate with the rest of her team. I’ve been saying for years that we need a good strong Jurassic Park horror survival game.
Fortnite: Rocket Racing
Rocket League is one of my absolute favourite and most-played games ever. It’s earned and kept my goodwill by not messing with the central formula over its many-year history. Fortnite has had pretty much the opposite journey. But adding a racing game with Rocket League cars is, I’ll admit, a canny move. It’s actual racing though, so not exactly Rocket League. More like Mario Kart, except you can do all the same boosting and aerial shenanigans that Rocket League cars can do. And if you’re reading this, it’s almost certainly out right now!
Black Myth: Wukong
Interesting! That was a lot more talking than I’ve come across so far in a Black Myth: Wukong trailer. But my expectations were met in other ways, such as the plethora of wonderfully designed characters and creatures. Including a gigantic spider thrashing about in appallingly spidery fashion. This game doesn’t give a single solitary shit about arachnophobes apparently, because my god, that was horrifying. For non-arachnophobes though, rejoice! We finally have a release date for Black Myth: Wukong – 20th August 2024.
Warframe: Whispers In The Walls
A new chapter of Warframe begins with the upcoming release of Whispers In The Walls. Some pretty fancy-looking sci-fantasy moves are on display in this trailer showcasing the next chapter of the Warframe story, which players will get to enjoy next week on 13th December.
Ready Or Not
Hardcore tac-shooter Ready or Not has endured a tumultuous early access phase, even temporarily vanishing from Steam and facing some (not entirely unreasonable) accusations of turning a blind eye to real-life police brutality. In any case, it’s about to update into version 1.0, on December 13th, and there’s a new CGI trailer to mark the launch.
Tales Of Kenzera: Zau
I do love a pretty platformer. And from this trailer, Tales Of Kenzera: Zau looks to be just that: a gorgeous story-driven platformer, steeped in Bantu culture, about a young shaman who makes a bargain with the God of Death in order to bring back a loved one. This is definitely one to watch for when it arrives on 23rd April 2024.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
From the Life Is Strange peeps comes a new cinematic story whose tone is very adequately summarised by this world premiere trailer. It starts off familiar, as a group of teens explore a pastoral landscape and encounter supernatural goings-on, but it seems as if the game will also feature those same teens years later, as grown-ups, meeting up to deal with the consequences of whatever happened when they were younger. Intriguing.
The First Berserker: Khazan
Brutal anime hack-and-slash about a general falsely accused of treason, from the Dungeon & Fighter universe. Definite Souls vibes. The animations and florid character designs lift it above the generic descriptions of combos and boss battles.
Final Fantasy x Apex Legends
Okay, that’s another thing I wasn’t expecting. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is coming to my very favourite battle royale, Apex Legends, on 9th January. In what way? I’m not rightly sure. But that was some very sweet-looking artwork of Crypto, Wraith, and Horizon at the end there.
Honkai: Star Rail
The next destination for surprisingly excellent sci-fi HoYo game Honkai: Star Rail was revealed in a new trailer at this year’s The Game Awards. Many characters, old and new, feature in this new teaser for Penacony, the so-called Planet of Festivities.
Skull And Bones
My god, I need a new great pirate game in my life. I’ve recently revisited my childhood and started playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! again, and it’s made me hungry for more. Skull And Bones promises to be all about becoming a pirate kingpin, from gathering resources to hiring a crew to building your own pirate fleet. It also promises to be a live service game, however, so how satisfying these things feel to do over the long haul remains to be seen come its latest release date: February 16th, 2024.
Marvel’s Blade
A new Arkane game, eh? That’s gonna turn a lot of heads. What’s more, it’s a Marvel game. In Blade, you’ll take control of the titular sunglasses-wearing half-vampire and get to play him “your way”, whatever that means. I’ll say one thing though. Another vampire game from Arkane after Redfall? That takes balls.
Last Sentinel
Next up, Steve C. Martin of Lightspeed LA got up on-stage to announce their new open-world sci-fi game, Last Sentinel. I do love a good rainy cinematic where robots menacingly knock down doors. Protagonist Hiromi Shoda mows down a battalion of said menacing robots in an alternate sci-fi Tokyo, and saves a group of children along with their robotic caretaker. It’s a fairly by-the-numbers cinematic trailer, but it does look good.
The First Descendant
There are some interesting Shadow Of The Colossus vibes coming from this next reveal trailer for The First Descendant. Namely, some very, very big bosses. With some excellent art direction behind them, I might add! We’ll learn more once we get our hands on the game sometime in Summer 2024.
Zenless Zone Zero
I never know what the hell is going on in any HoYo game trailers – it’s almost part of their brand at this point. But sci-fi action-RPG Zenless Zone Zero is coming in 2024. I got that much. Looks pretty, too.
MechaBreak
I never used to be interested in mech games, but after Armored Core 6 this year… I might be coming around on the genre. Here’s a rather more vibrant take on giant mech battles, in MechaBreak, whose trailer tonight announced an upcoming closed alpha test.
Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2
The briefest of 30 second trailers here, all to reveal Space Marine 2’s much anticipated release date, after it was recently delayed to late 2024. Well, that late 2024 has just turned into a concrete date of September 9th 2024. Rejoice!
Den Of Wolves
A new sci-fi heist FPS is in development from 10 Chambers, the developers behind co-op horror shooter GTFO. A gritty yet over-the-top cinematic interrogation scene ends with the title reveal: Den Of Wolves. It looks like a combination between their previous game, the sci-fi GTFO, and the game some of the developers previously worked on at a different studio: Payday.
Exoborne
Exoborne is a tactical open-world extraction shooter from some of the creators of The Division, with vertical movement using grappling hooks and the like. The trailer was a cinematic, but it looked nice. It’s also being developed by Sharkmob, whose previous game, the Vampire: the Masquerade battle royale Bloodhunt, remains playable but ceased development not long after launch. Hopefully their second swing goes better.
Asgard’s Wrath 2
VR games look more and more impressive every year. Asgard’s Wrath 2 is a pretty big deal, being the free game that Meta will be giving out with every purchase of the Meta Quest 3. And to be fair, the combat in this trailer looks pretty swell. The action game is coming out on December 15th – so just a few days from now!
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky is famous nowadays not only for its catastrophic launch but for its incredible turnaround over the years into pretty much exactly the game that Sean Murray promised from the beginning. And what a way to celebrate it, with a trailer that goes through the years showing off the many, many content updates that transformed No Man’s Sky over those years. Oh, but that wasn’t the real trailer. The real trailer, also from Hello Games, was for…
Light No Fire
A new game from the makers of No Man’s Sky set in a similarly ambitious procedural environment. The twist is that this time they’re not generating a universe. Light No Fire is a multiplayer game that takes place on a single Earth-like planet, generated at a scale whereby mountains can be taller than Everest. Sean Murray was as cagey as ever in terms of what you do in the game – that man hates verbs – but it seems to have co-op building and pilotable dragons, so there’s that.
Stormgate
I may be legendarily terrible at RTS games, but goddamn, I’m somehow still excited for Stormgate. It may look like Starcraft and talk like Starcraft, and also talk a bit like Warcraft III… But it’s very much its own thing, and developers Frost Giant are looking to keep the entire genre going strong for the next decade or more with a sprawling campaign, one of whose characters was shown off at length in the latest Stormgate trailer that was shown off next at TGA 2023.
The Finals
The Finals is here, at last. Its playtests over the course of the year were each an enormous success, sucking in thousands upon thousands of players to engage in chaotic fast-paced PvP heists in the midst of some of the nicest destructible environments this side of Teardown. Lots of slo-mo shots of explosions and people bursting into coins heralded the announcement that The Finals is out and free to play right now! Hopefully they fixed that gnarly bug I got hit with in the last playtest, where I periodically wouldn’t be able to fire.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Finally, another Monster Hunter! The Game Awards 2023 wrapped up its oh-so-long selection of world premieres with a glimpse at Monster Hunter Wilds, and my word, it looks good. Check out that trailer, and particularly pay attention to that shot of the player using their mount to hop between sections of rock while scaling the mountainside. Oof, that makes me excited. Sadly, we’ll have to wait til 2025 for the next flagship Monster Hunter game.
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