The Game Awards 2023 - News, Trailers, & Announcements!

The Game Awards have arrived, and in a previous article we detailed all the winners and nominees for the show. However, the Awards aren't the only reason people show up to watch this massive event. Many also can't wait to see the future of gaming with an absolutely jam packed showcase of upcoming titles with many trailers and announcements. In this article, I pick just a few of my favorite game announcements, trailers, and news to show up at the show. Needless to say there were dozens more, so you can watch the entire event, but scroll down to see some of my most anticipated picks!

Exodus

I about got out of my seat when Matthew McConaughey came out on stage and shared he was going to be in a video game, and started describe how in this game, time moves differently and time will be passing differently for him than the rest of civilization. I couldn't contain myself and even said, "If he is about to announce Interstellar: The Video Game, I am going to lose my mind". He being who he is, announcing a game with the tease he did made me sure this was that. It turned out to not be, but that's ok. Exodus is a scifi new IP that looks incredible, and everything I love. Scifi. Space. Time. This one looks insane!

God of War Ragnarok - Free DLC Coming Soon!

It was a rumor and predicted thing from many outlets God of War DLC was coming to the show, but what no one expected was that it would be so soon, and that it would be FREE! This was a pleasant surprise!

OD - Hideo Kojima's new project (Besides Death Stranding 2) with Jordan Peele

We already knew that Hideo Kojima was working on a new, experimental cloud based project unlike anything done before, in addition to Death Stranding 2. We still know very little about this game/movie hybrid other than promises from Hideo and Peele that it is unique; but now we know the title "OD" along with a hint at it's horror setting and use of "meta human" technology with hyper realistic human faces.

Jurassic Park: Survivor

One of the most exciting things for me was this announcement. As a life long Jurassic Park fan, I was incredibly blown away at the visuals and the news of a JP game!

We are seeing the rise of the AAAA game. We have had the term AAA for a very long time in this industry. It is a term we use to describe the biggest budget, biggest production of games from the biggest studios. We even use it to describe massive franchises like Call of Duty. In the past few years, a few industry names have thrown around the concept of a "AAAA" game, a super game that is even beyond AAA. I never really thought about it until something Fortnite did recently. What would make a game "so large" that it would transcend the AAA nature of gaming?

What if a game became so large, that it ceased to be "just a game" and became an actual "platform" that launches completely other games? While Facebook has franticaly struggled to launch a metaverse, Fortnite has created this world with countless cross overs. It has created a world where every IP under the sun has appeared in this game. Concerts are appearing in Fortnite. Fortnite has massive live worldwide events. Even the Game Awards did a special event in the game. If there were ever a game that came close to the massive "world" of something like Ready Player One...it would be Fortnite.

But you might say...no matter how big Fortnite is, it's still "just a game".

However, Now it is a platform that is being used to actually launch other games. In the past we say that a game is launching on Xbox or Playstation. Those are platforms. Now the first wave of games we are seeing "launching on Fortnite". These are third party games made in collaboration with Epic and Fortnite to launch "Find it in Fortnite". We are getting Lego Fortnite and now Rocket Racing? We are seeing whole games launching "in fortnite". Fortnite is evolving into a platform for more games? It's not a game anymore, it is a platform that will see more games launch on. I feel like in the future, if these games are successful, and Epic handles the monetization with these partners right, we could see future game announcments where they say Available on Xbox, Playstion, PC, and in Fortnite.

The First Berserker

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Final Fantasy Rebirth is one of my most anticipated upcoming titles, and we got a new trailer and musical piece.

Marvel Studios: Blade

Marvel blew fans away by announcing another upcoming Super hero project. While sadly, Wolverine was a no show, Blade is coming!

Last Sentinel

A cinematic dystopian android filled scifi game Last Sentinel may have been a little under the radar, but it peaked my interest as I am always down for more scifi / AI related stories. It reminded me a little bit of a darker Detroit Become Human.

The First Descendant

The First Descendant is an upcoming third person Warframe styld shooter that I am very excited for ever since I got to partake in the beta. It is visually stunning, and the gameplay was engaging. We got a Summer 2024 release window.

Light No Fire - (No Man Sky Spiritual Sequel)

No Man Sky developer unveiled what is very much a spiritual successor to No Man Sky with LIght No Fire. Light No Fire seems to ask the question of what if an open universe, we have a dense "true" open world, with massive life sized mountains. It looked like No Man Sky but in a fantasy setting. We were promised the world, and it looks interesting for sure.

Zenless Zone Zero

Another extremely anitipated game for me is the nest in the Hoyoverse set of Genshin-likes with Zenless Zone Zero. The visuals, combat, and atmospher looks exciting, and the latest trailer has me on the edge of my seat.

Arknights: Endfield

Arknights: Endfield was a quick blink and you miss it announcement during the preshow that came and went without much commentary, but I loved the art style and trailer. So this could be an under the radar gem.