June 9th 2023
Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest has kicked off with its main showcase event, debuting a number of never-seen-before trailers and presenting updates to some highly-anticipated games from 2023 and 2024. With a broad focus, there was plenty to chew over – so we’ve brought it all together into one place for you. Let’s dive in!
First up, we had the reveal of a new Prince of Persia… No, not Sands of Time, unfortunately, but a game that takes the series back to its side-scrolling routes, with modern speed and pizzazz. Titled Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, this one is coming to all major platforms and releasing January 18th 2024. More to come from Ubisoft’s event next week, no doubt.
Next, we got a look at the gameplay – and of course, the Fatalities – of the new Mortal Kombat reboot, Mortal Kombat 1. Releasing in September, the trailer goes over all of the things you’ve come to expect from the Mortal Kombat series – brutal violence, childish humour, Subzero… And during the show, they brought the creator of MK out to chat more about the story and how it’s going to play. Definitely worth tuning in for fighting game or MK fans, and definitely not PG. It’s arriving September 19th 2023 on all major platforms – pre-orders receive a bonus character and beta access.
Path of Exile 2 was announced a little while back now, and here we got to see some new gameplay footage from the upcoming Diablo-inspired RPG. With more to come at ExileCon in July, this is a brief glimpse at the new title and may be perfectly timed to appeal to players when they’ve finished Diablo IV. Path of Exile 2 is slated for 2024, and will be free-to-play.
Picking back up on the fighting game world, we saw some Street Fighter 6. The recently-released game in the venerable arcade series will be getting a crossover with the new Capcom IP Exoprimal. Exoprimal is a squad-based shooter where you fight off hordes of robots, dinosaurs, and robotic dinosaurs and it releases next month on July 14th 2023, also arriving on day one in Xbox Game Pass. The cross-over for Street Fighter 6 will take place in Fall 2023 and features a mecha Ryu, as well as new story content.
Adding a bit of celebrity stardust to proceedings, Nicolas Cage came on stage to discuss his previously-teased introduction to Dead by Daylight. The Hollywood actor will be joining as a survivor in the popular asymmetrical horror game, and is playable from July 25th. Players on PC can download a beta version of him from July 5th.
Diving into game-related media and away from actual games for a second, we got to see a trailer for season 3 of The Witcher, coming to Netflix this year. This marks the final season of Henry Cavill’s take on Geralt before the show continues without him, and the anticipation for his swansong season is rising. The first volume of the season will arrive on Netflix June 29th 2023.
Keeping witchy and returning to the games, we then went to new demon-hunting IP Witchfire, which looks like a Van Helsing-esque first-person shooter. It’s coming to early access via the Epic Games Store on September 20th 2023.
Leading into a more traditional first-person shooter – or as traditional as you can go with it also being VR – we got a look at Crossfire: Sierra Squad, the latest game in the popular Crossfire series of shooters. Pitched for PlayStation VR2, it’s also coming to Steam and is available to wishlist now – with a release date slated for August 2023.
In case you hadn’t had enough guns and gore, this was followed by a trailer for Remnant 2, with this trailer focusing on the co-op side of play. It looks set to follow its predecessor by going hard on the big bosses, big weapons, and big Souls-like energy, but with more shooting than the usual Souls-inspired titles. Remnant 2 is slated for a July 25th 2023 release, coming to PS5, Xbox Series and PC. Pre-orders will get early access to the Gunslinger character class.
Next, a change of pace and one of the bigger surprises of the evening – a new 2.5D Sonic game named Sonic Superstars. With a graphical style drawing from the Classic Sonic levels in Sonic Generations, this new title will see you able to play as 4 different characters, engage in multiplayer and take in a new adventure full of nods to the series’ past. This one is scheduled for Fall 2023 on all major platforms.
Following on from that, we got a look at some upcoming content for Honkai Star Rail, the space-RPG gacha title recently released on PC and mobile. The Genshin Impact-inspired game was confirmed to also be coming to PS5 in Q4 2023, so expect to see some more build-up in the run towards Christmas and the holiday season.
Heading back into the darker material, we got a new look at Tales of P, the steampunk reimagining of Pinocchio. I got real American McGee’s Alice vibes from this one, and if you’re curious about the game yourself a demo went live during the show on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC for download now. The full game is then slated for September 19th 2023, with pre-orders getting early access and some additional in-game content.
Another big surprise from the night was the next reveal of Sand Land – a new game from Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest creator Akira Toriyama, published by Bandai Namco. With his familiar art style all over the trailer, we look like we’ve still got a bit of a wait to see more as no release date was given. It will be coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Next, it was Annapurna’s turn – but not to reveal any games, per se. No, this was a reveal of a reveal – with the indie publisher hosting their own showcase on June 29th 2023. Annapurna have quite the back catalogue now and it’s always interesting to see what they’re up to, so I’ll be tuning in at 8pm BST / 3pm ET / 12pm PT.
Back to real reveals, and we saw Throne and Liberty, NCSoft and Amazon Games’ new MMO IP that’s coming to PC and consoles. I got real Guild Wars vibes from this which should be no surprise, given NCSoft developed just that series. With lots of medieval flavour, this game has been in closed beta for a little while now, but is looking for new players to come in and tech test. Folks can sign up on their website to take part now ahead of a later full release on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
More medieval, more magic, as the next trailer covered Warhaven from Nexon. A bit more hacky-slashy, the PvP title is coming in Fall 2023 – and a demo will be available for PC players during Steam’s Next Fest event 19th June – 26th June. Don’t miss that window if this looks like your cup of tea!
From the serious to the silly now, as previously-announced party game Party Animals got a release date. For fans of Gang Beasts and Rubber Bandits, this looks right up your street – and it’s coming 19th September 2023 to Xbox and Steam.
And for more party games, we also saw the release date of Crash Team Rumble confirmed for June 20th 2023. While this isn’t Crash Bash as folks had been hoping for, it’s still a competitive multiplayer game pitting players 4 vs 4 against each other using characters from the Crash Bandicoot series of games. There’s been a closed beta already for pre-ordering folks so if you want to know more, there’s plenty of material out there to form early impressions.
Sam Lake of Remedy then came up on stage to chat a bit about Alan Wake 2 – which will see you have two playable character options for the first time in the series. After a bit of discussion, we got to see some “unedited” gameplay footage from the latest build of the game featuring Saga Anderson, the second playable character (after the titular Alan). Alan Wake 2 arrives on October 17th 2023 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
To the delight of many in the Gaming.Buzz Community I’m sure, we got a peek at Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. Featuring a co-op campaign for up to 3 players at once, it’s shaping up to have plenty of dakka and many, many boltguns. Space Marine 2 is slated to release Winter 2023 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series, with a collector’s edition available for those who love statues of chainsaw-swording Tyranids.
Next, we got a look at Yes, Your Grace Snowfall – a follow-up to Yes, Your Grace, the choice-driven narrative management game that sees you take the throne as a struggling king of a kingdom at war. Visually, it looks a few steps up from the original game while still retaining its pixel-art charm. I’m really looking forward to this one, and it’s releasing in 2024 on Xbox, PC and Switch. You can wishlist it now.
John Carpenter (yes, that John Carpenter) joins the games’ industry with his involvement in Toxic Commando, a zombie co-op shooter coming from Saber and Focus Entertainment. Expect big guns, vehicles, and lots and lots of zombies. It’s coming in 2024 to Xbox Series, PC and PS5.
Another famous face took the spotlight in the next trailer, as we got to see some of Jason Isaacs voice recording work coming to Baldur’s Gate 3. The game releases in full on August 31st 2023, with pre-orders getting early access amongst other things. It arrives on PS5, PC, Mac and Nvidia Geforce NOW.
Another shock of the evening was to see Spider-Man 2 come to the show. Recently covered in the PlayStation Showcase last month, the PlayStation exclusive got a bit of chat about Venom, key art, and – bizarrely, given this wasn’t at the Showcase event – a release date of October 20th 2023. Most of the gameplay was already covered, but if you want to hear a bit more about the concepts around the game, the interview with developer Bryan Intihar is worth a watch.
Next up, off-the-wall Palworld got another showing, looking more at it’s “what if Pokemon had guns?” concept. I love how nearly all of their trailers can be mistaken for Pokemon until about 15-20 seconds in when the ordinance comes out. Palworld has been doing the rounds for a while now, and we’ve still got a bit to go as it enters Early Access in January 2024.
Following this, we got a look at Black Desert Online expansion Land of the Morning Light. Coming to the MMO June 14th, it’s pitched as a journey to the land of legends and brings new content, new battles and new environments to the game. Pre-orders are live now on Steam for PC.
Speaking of fantasy, we got a peek at another new Lord of the Rings game, following on from the critical savaging that Gollum took. For my two cents, it doesn’t really look like Return to Moria is going to be a return to form for LOTR titles, but time will tell if it will come good on release. The survival-building game is slated for a Fall 2023 release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
Returning to a different kind of fantasy, we got a better look at Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, the mobile game recapping the various stories from the FF7 universe. Pre-registration for the game is open right now, with a closed beta taking place on Android between June 8th and June 28th 2023. The game itself looks like it’ll take in common mobile monetisation with gacha tickets already part of the pre-release page, but it remains to be seen how deep that goes.
Moving on to more fantasy, we got a new look at Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. The action-RPG has plenty of supernatural vibes to it with a hint of Witcher, and adds to Focus Entertainment’s stable of releases coming this year. Banishers is dated for the end of 2023, coming to PC, Xbox Series and PS5.
Next, with less fantasy but still fantastical, the show brought us Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. The popular spin-off series from the Yakuza franchise sees Kazuma Kiryu return to the front-and-centre, and is coming to PC, Xbox and PlayStation on November 9th 2023. Pre-orders get a Legendary Fighter Pack for use in-game.
Taking a dip beneath the waves, we got a look at… Well, Under The Waves. The narrative exploration game sees you take control of a diver living under the ocean, with opportunities to explore the deep in a submarine and swimming. It looks very atmospheric and pretty, particularly for fans of the sea. It releases August 29th 2023 on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
For those who felt the last game was too sedate, the show quickly pivoted to cover the next season of Call of Duty Warzone. Taking us around the new Vondel map, it promises to feature a medieval castle, a football stadium and even an abandoned zoo. Player of Warzone can get stuck in to the new map from June 14th 2023 with the launch of Season 4.
Accelerating through the trailers now, we took a brief pit stop to announce some new limited edition Porsche-inspired Xbox Series X consoles. Not available at retail, these new custom liveries have been produced to mark Porsche’s 75th anniversary and can be won by going to https://www.porschexboxsweepstakes.com/ and entering the competition.
Moving swiftly on, we saw a trailer for Fae Farm, a new cosy farming sim to add to the popular genre. Previously announced for Switch, the magical farming game will also be releasing on PC with both versions coming September 8th 2023. Pre-orders are live on Steam and the Nintendo Store now.
Next, we got a bit of chat about upcoming new stuff for Marvel Snap, the mobile card-battler that’s proven immensely popular. Ben Brode from the Marvel Snap team came on to speak a bit about new game modes coming to Marvel Snap, and share a little skit featuring SungWon Cho (ProZD).
Back to fantasy now, with King Arthur: Legends Rise getting a cinematic reveal trailer. Not much to go off of here, but it’s coming to PC and mobile cross-platform, with pre-registration open now. A bit of searching later has dug up a gameplay trailer – included here below – which seemed odd to not include in the show. Still, if these sorts of games are up your street, get on that registration!
Did I hear “more fantasy”? If I did, then that’s what we got next as the free-to-play Wayfinder got it’s time to shine. This MMO comes with a MOBA feel to it and heavy emphasis on playing with friends – time will tell if it gets the formula right to stand out. Playtest access registration is open now, with early access beginning this summer on PC, Xbox Series and PS5.
After that, Paradox Interactive took the floor. First up, Stellaris Nexus – a new take on the Stellaris world, promising 4X action condensed down into 1-hour games. It’s certainly an interesting prospect at cutting down the sprawling length of an average 4X game, and potentially of great interest to the Gaming.Buzz Community who have regular Stellaris games.
Sticking with Paradox, a short trailer for Space Trash Scavenger followed, giving us a first glimpse at the resource-collecting-and-building game. Perhaps a condensed version of popular Gaming.Buzz Community game Space Engineers? Time will tell – but it’s available to wishlist right now on Steam.
With a final reveal from Paradox, they’re going big in bringing the Star Trek IP into their blend of 4X. Titled Star Trek Infinite, a full reveal is coming on Picard Day which is June 16th 2023 – although the early signs is that it could be Stellaris, but Star Trek. One to keep an eye on for fans of either series.
Away from 4X, the next reveal was the world-first trailer for Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior. With a twist on the top-down rogue-lite, Lysfanga sees past you’s following your previous paths each time you respawn, attacking monsters and building your strength over multiple runs. It looks an interesting twist, and the game is coming to PC this year (2023) and can be wishlisted on Steam and Epic.
Going back to the fantasy FPS well again, we got a new look at Immortals of Aveum, a new IP that also featured in the PlayStation showcase last month. With lots of hookshotting around and some semi-famous faces, it looks like this could be a pretty fast-paced title with high production values, although the screen looks too busy for my liking. This isn’t far from release now, with July 20th the date it’s due to arrive.
Our second-to-last trailer gave us a look at a cinematic trailer for the upcoming new season of Fortnite. Known as Wilds, it sees you able to ride dinosaurs and is live today, featuring a collaboration with Transformers that sees a likely incoming Optimus Prime skin. Also promoted was the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, available to download now. Included below is the gameplay trailer, with the cinematic available on the Fortnite YouTube channel.
Finally, Geoff pulled a classic “one more thing” on the audience, and revealed the new Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth trailer that the Twitter account had been counting down to. Taking in snippets of Junon, Kalm, chocobos and a Jenova battle, this trailer had it all – and maybe a bit much? We’ll see – but it won’t be for a while. Rebirth will be arriving in early 2024, on 2 discs on PS5. A mammoth game. Unfortunately no sight of the rumoured FFXVI demo which is a shame so close to release, but the hype from the live audience was real for Rebirth.
And that’s it! What did you most enjoy about the reveals? Anything you’re super hyped for? Come and share your thoughts in the Gaming.Buzz Community Discord and we’ll bring you more information on some of these games as they come closer to release. See you in there!