Recently I shared my predictions for who I think the winners will be at The Game Awards this year. Now with the event less than two weeks away, it’s time to start predicting what I think will be announced at the big event!
The big three of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo tend to show up with generally one big announcement each, but the rest of the show consists of third-party and indie developers. This causes The Game Awards to be a tough event to make announcement predictions for since just about anything and everything can show up. That said, it’s not an impossible task! This year I’ve boiled down my thoughts to 12 total predictions, and to be clear, I don’t think that they’re all going to happen. I simply think that each of these announcements has a chance of happening. If all of them manage to somehow come true, then it will have been one of the best Game Awards shows yet.
Grand Theft Auto VI
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. I think that there’s a good chance that Grand Theft Auto VI has its official reveal at The Game Awards, and I think that this trailer will contain a 2024 release window. Now you may be thinking that I’m either crazy for thinking such a thing can happen, or that I’m spot on for making this prediction, so hear me out.
First off, there’s the fact that Rockstar themselves said that the first trailer would be coming in early December. The Game Awards are happening on December 7 which clearly falls under the umbrella of early December. There’s also the fact that The Game Awards are one of the biggest stages in the games industry, with the event having over 100 million viewers last in 2022. It makes too much sense to reveal the biggest upcoming game in the industry at the industry’s most viewed event.
At the same time, this is Rockstar we’re talking about and they like to do things when and where they feel like it. Going hand-in-hand with that is the fact that this is Grand Theft Auto VI that we’re talking about. The trailer could be dropped on any day of the week at any time and the world will stop for it. If you had any doubts about this, look no further than the over one million likes that the tweet announcing the trailer garnered in less than 24 hours. Anything is possible here (except for confirmation of a specific release month or day), and to be honest I think this prediction has a 50/50 chance of success. Regardless, I’m sticking to my guns on it.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 DLC
There hasn’t been any announcement of DLC for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 yet, but I think that’ll change at The Game Awards. Specifically, I think the DLC will involve Daredevil in some capacity, and I’m predicting that we’ll also get the announcement that the DLC is coming in January.
Why do I think it’ll involve Daredevil? Well shortly after Spider-Man 2 came out, fans noticed that the Nelson and Murdock sign was no longer in front of the building it called home in the first game. When game director Bryan Intihar was asked about it, all he had to say to fans was “stay tuned.” Not long after, fans also discovered more secrets related to Daredevil. Where there’s smoke there’s fire right?
As for the timing, the first entry in Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man series had its DLC content announced ahead of time, and it was subsequently released in three individual chapters shortly after the game came out. I can see the team pumping this DLC out in January (only three months after Spider-Man 2 came out) while the game is still fresh in people’s minds. What’s a better place to announce this new content than at The Game Awards?
Stellar Blade
Korean made game Stellar Blade has been absent ever since it received an official title in a State of Play last year. It was supposed to come out this year, and at this point it’s clear that’s not happening. So I’m predicting that the much-anticipated action game will make its big return at The Game Awards this year with a May 2024 release window.
One reason I think this is because of the recent news that its developer Shift Up has made a publishing deal with Sony that makes it a second-party developer for the PlayStation creator. While this news could have come at any point in time, the fact that it’s coming so close to The Game Awards could be a sign that Stellar Blade is gearing up to return to the limelight. As for the May 2024 part of my prediction, Sony’s been very secretive about their game lineup next year. We know basically nothing about what they have in store for us and while I imagine they’ll want to keep some of their bigger announcements for their own stage, they’ll definitely want to start building excitement for the next year of the PS5’s life-cycle.
Due to its long absence, Stellar Blade also seems like the kind of game that would be ripe to release not too long after a big re-reveal. Dropping in May wouldn’t be too far away and would give PlayStation fans a big game to look forward to in the first half of 2024.
Concord
Geoff Keighley likes to try and get one big first-party announcement/reveal from each of the big three for The Game Awards each year. Sony tends to keep their bigger reveals for their own events, but I can see them throwing Geoff a bone and giving him our first proper look at Firewall’s upcoming game Concord. We first learned about this game at their PlayStation Showcase earlier this year, but the teaser we got was a whole lot of nothing and only revealed that the game would be in the sci-fi genre and was set to release in 2024.
This PvP multiplayer FPS has a lot to prove as one of Sony’s big tentpole releases in their new live-service game push, and with a release planned for next year, it just makes sense for the Japanese company to give this reveal to Keighley. While it is a big game, it’s smaller than anything we’re waiting for from the likes of Sony Santa Monica, Sucker Punch, or Naughty Dog, so I can see them being fine with Keighley having it. I just hope that whatever we see is actually something substantial and features actual gameplay. No short CG teasers Sony!
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
It feels like it’s been an eternity since Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was first announced back at The Game Awards in 2019. Ever since then it’s been in and out of hiding, with each subsequent appearance impressing with its visuals and cinematic flair. While its most recent trailer at this year’s Xbox showcase was an incredible tone setter, it left me feeling like I still needed to see more before I could say I was truly excited for it. I think the stage is set for Hellblade II to return to the stage at The Game Awards this year with a brand new trailer that shows off some gameplay and reveals a summer 2024 release window.
With how long it’s been in development, a summer release doesn’t seem too far fetched. It seems even more likely when you think about how Hellblade II is likely to drowned out by the bigger heavy hitters in the holiday season. This is a game that will want and need as much room to breathe as possible so that it lands with the biggest splash it can manage, so releasing in a month like July or August could be perfect for it (assuming no one else thinks the same for their big game releases).
Starfield: Shattered Space DLC
Starfield might not have hit as hard for me as it did for many others when it first came out, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to its upcoming Shattered Space DLC. In fact, I think that we could possibly get a brief look at it at The Game Awards. By the time the show rolls around, Starfield will have been out for just about three months. I don’t anticipate that the DLC will be out anytime soon, but I do think that Microsoft and Bethesda would be open to giving fans a tease as to what they can expect from it when it comes around next year.
I don’t think we’ll be getting any solid release information from this tease aside from a 2024 release window since I imagine the team will want to take their time working on Shattered Space to make it as good as they possibly can. Besides, just saying it’s coming next year will be more than enough to satisfy most fans in the mean time as they continue to explore Bethesda’s vast new universe.
Princess Peach Showtime!
This might be the safest prediction I make, but I think that we’ll be getting a new look at Princess Peach Showtime! at The Game Awards. You may be wondering why I’m using this as my Nintendo prediction instead of something like Metroid Prime 4, a new Mario Kart, or the next 3D-Mario game. Well my reasoning is that I don’t expect Nintendo to reveal those games or any other huge first-party releases until they unveil their new hardware.
According to reports, we know that the successor to the Switch is likely to be released in the second half of 2024. With Nintendo saying earlier this year that the new hardware wouldn’t be coming until April 2024 at the earliest, I’m not expecting any official announcement until May or June just before summer showcase season kicks off. I can’t picture Nintendo revealing any new huge first-party games that are clearly in-development for new hardware and then dodging the question of what platform they’ll be coming to for roughly half a year, so for now we’ll have to make do with another trailer for their next big game. And for what it’s worth, Princess Peach Showtime! looks like it’ll be a fun game. We’ll just have to wait a little longer for the big reveals that everyone’s been waiting for.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Geoff Keighley and From Software have a great working relationship. It was on his stage after all where the world got its first look at gameplay for From’s latest magnum opus Elden Ring. With that history in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got together once again to reveal the first look at Elden Ring‘s upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Announced early this year with only the above piece of concept art, fans have had months to speculate as to what this DLC will be about and where it will take them. Seeing as how it’s been in development for a fair amount of time now, I think it’s possible for it to appear at The Game Awards.
At the same time, From Software could need more time to work on it before they’re ready to reveal anything from Shadow of the Erdtree. With how well Elden Ring turned out, I don’t think anyone would hold it against them for not showing anything just yet. They endured years of radio silence before getting to see anything from the main game, so what’s another couple of quiet months?
Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red
The Assassin’s Creed franchise is finally going to Japan in the long-awaited Codename Red. We got a very short tease announcing this during the Assassin’s Creed showcase in 2022, but it really only served to announce that the project existed. And although Assassin’s Creed Mirage just came out last month, I do think that we have a chance of getting our first real look at Codename Red during The Game Awards.
This new entry is seemingly set to release at some point next year (likely in the fall), so announcing it now will start the ball rolling on garnering excitement for a setting fans have been begging for since the Ezio trilogy. There’s also the fact that the protagonist for Codename Red had their reveal leaked because of a Ubisoft employee’s LinkedIn cover photo last month. The timing doesn’t necessarily mean that a full reveal is imminent, but it also doesn’t mean that it’s not imminent either. I’ll be filing this one under the “likely to happen” category.
Final Fantasy XVI DLC
My next three predictions are all Final Fantasy ones, so let’s start with Final Fantasy XVI. I enjoyed the game quite a bit, even though I had my share of issues with it that kept the game from reaching the greatness it strived for. That said, I’m very excited about the DLC that’s in development for it and I think that The Game Awards could be the place that we start to learn more about them along with a summer 2024 release window for at least one part of the DLC.
We know that there are two pieces of DLC coming down the pipeline, and although we don’t know what they’ll be about, fans have wasted no time speculating on end. Will we get to explore Cid’s past or will we follow other characters? How about the events that happened during one Final Fantasy XVI‘s many time skips? There are so many possibilities and they’re all equally exciting.
Although I think we could get some information at The Game Awards, I think it’s also just as likely that we don’t. It may be too soon for the team to have anything they feel comfortable sharing at this point in development, and I’d completely understand if that’s the case. If this doesn’t manage to work out though, there are still two other possible announcements we could get from Square’s flagship series.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Of my three Final Fantasy predictions, the one that’s most likely is that we’ll get another trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. We got our first look at gameplay at Summer Game Fest this year, followed up by another trailer in September that revealed Cait Sith and Vincent, the Golden Saucer, and a February 29, 2024 release date. With The Game Awards happening just over three months before Rebirth is set to come out and enough time for at least two more trailers (including Square’s infamous launch trailers), it makes all the sense in the world that we’ll be getting another trailer here.
I imagine that this trailer would also feature that big reveal of Cid, the last party member to join the crew. We already know that all members of the party from the original version of Final Fantasy VII will be present in Rebirth, but not all of them will be playable, similar to how Red XIII wasn’t playable in Final Fantasy VII Remake. With that in mind, I figure that the next big trailer for Rebirth will be the one to finally lift the curtain on Cid and his airship, the Highwind. The only reason I can see a trailer not being at The Game Awards is because Square is either planning to only release one more trailer prior to release or because they’re doing one of my other Final Fantasy predictions.
Final Fantasy IX Remake
My final prediction is that Square Enix will finally officially announce that they are working on a remake of Final Fantasy IX. For those who don’t know, the existence of this remake was first revealed as part of the infamous NVIDIA leak alongside a number of other titles such as Kingdom Hearts IV. So far, that leak has proven to be true with multiple games from the leak being announced afterwards. It’s a long shot, but I think that if Square Enix wants to make a big splash at The Game Awards with a new project, announcing a remake of Final Fantasy IX will be the way they go.
Back in January of this year, Final Fantasy series producer Yoshinori Kitase teased a “big announcement” for the series that was unrelated to Final Fantasy VII, though he couldn’t talk about it just yet. Minds immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had to be talking about either the Final Fantasy IX remake or the remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics that was also part of the NVIDIA leak and has yet to be revealed. Now it’s possible that it’s Tactics that gets announced at The Game Awards and people would certainly pop for that announcement, but it wouldn’t be as huge of an announcement as revealing a remake for Final Fantasy IX.
This is all assuming of course that neither of my prior Final Fantasy predictions come true. If this one happens, then I don’t think either of the others do. Maybe if we only get some news about the DLC for Final Fantasy XVI, but even then I imagine that Square may want to keep all the marketing focus on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth before shifting gears to announcing a remake of another beloved title. Anything is possible though, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
These are my predictions for what I think might be announced at The Game Awards this year, but I want to know what you think has a chance to appear. Do you agree with any of my predictions? Do you have a prediction that’s completely out of left field? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below (and on YouTube) and let’s talk about it!
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