On Friday, the Game Awards dumped a veritable bevy of teases (and hastily announced winners, because who shows up to the Game Awards for those, apparently?) of what’s to come in the near future for video games — and there was a lot of cool sci-fi and fantasy storytelling on the cards. Here’s the genre highlights you might have missed.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Out next March, the Jedi: Fallen Order sequel follows up on Cal Kestis five years after the first game, and finds him making himself a nuisance for the Empire and other factions alike along the way.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Larian Studios’ follow up to the iconic RPG duology brings us back to the titular city to fight the Cult of the Absolute and reunite with some old friends — namely Minsc and Jaheira for the first two games.
Final Fantasy XVI
The legendary series showed off a new look and a summer 2023 release date for the 16th mainline entry, directed by Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida. Aptly for a trailer titled “Revenge,” it’s full of blood, war, and giant magical summons. RIP to that poor Chocobo.
Dune: Awakening
While you wait for Dune 2, there’s more from Arrakis on the way in the form of Awakening, an online MMO survival game that sees you trying to eke out a life on Arrakis amid the tumultuous faction conflict tearing it apart.
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima and his best bud Norman Reedus are back to wander across a post-disaster United States in a follow up to the acclaimed creator’s first post-Konami project. This time, the creepy baby is not inside a little goop-filled carrier!
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores
The Horizon sequel showed off its first major DLC expansion, taking Aloy to the fire-consumed ruins of Los Angeles.
Destiny 2: Lightfall
The next Destiny 2 expansion promises to bring an end to the sci-fi looter-shooter’s years-long conflict against the mysterious Darkness slowly enveloping the galaxy, but its new trailer is all about the shiny new powers you’ll swipe from said Darkness to wield against it. Magic grappling hooks, ahoy!
Hellboy Web of Wyrd
A surprising early announcement of the evening, this mystery new game sees Hellboy tracking down a missing member of the BRPD. And it looks like Mike Mignola’s artwork came to life, which is incredible.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
The new DC game from Arkham developers Rocksteady Games brought a solemn tone to the evening with the revelation that the recently passed Kevin Conroy will don the Bat-cowl one final time, voicing the game’s take on the Dark Knight.
Transformers: Reactivate
In perhaps one of the most out-there announcements of the night, this trailer depicts an Earth ravaged by alien invasion… and you’d never guess it was a Transformers game until the title card showed up at the very end.
Hades II
Bisexuals rejoice! Other orientations too, but c’mon, we know who loved the first game the most: Supergiant’s thirsty Greek mythology roguelike is back with a surprise sequel starring Zagreus’ sister Melinoë, as she teams with Hecate to free her father Hades from the wrath of Chronos, the personification of Time itself.
Judas
The next game from BioShock’s Ken Levine certainly looks BioShocky, teasing a nightmare scenario aboard some kind of steampunk-y space station. Creepy hand powers, creepy mechanical foes, retro-future aesthetic? Yup, that’s certainly BioShock-adjacent.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Coming off the high of Studio Trigger’s excellent anime Edgerunners, we got a new look at the DLC for CD Projekt Red’s futuristic RPG. Expect more Keanu Reeves, because of course, but hey! Idris Elba’s here too!
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
In the grim dark future of the 41st millennium, there is, at last, a sequel to the Ork-stomping action shooter Space Marine, this time pitting the forces of Ultramar’s finest against the alien hordes of the Tyranids. You shall know no fear, but you shall also know a lot of chainswording aliens.
Armoured Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
My fellow feral mech fans join me in eternal shrieking: after over a decade of waiting while From Software became known as the studio behind the Souls games, at last we return to one of its best series: the customisable mecha action of Armoured Core.