By Chad W. Shreeves

It’s that time of year again, Geoff Keighly’s annual celebration of all things gaming. The Game Awards happen this Thursday, December 7th. Everything Entertainment will be there to recap all of the announcements on Friday.

While like many awards shows, the Game Awards are a celebration of the year that was, this particular one does something unique. The main draw of the show isn’t as much for the show itself, but for the various announcements that occur for upcoming projects that get announced.

But what’s likely to get announced? Besides some rumors and smaller titles, 2024 is looking a little barren. Yes, there’s Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth in February, and Rise of the Ronin sometime in the year, but as far as those high budget titles, it’s not looking like a huge year. The Game Awards are a possibility to change that.

From indie darlings to first party AAA titles, it could potentially be a big night. Let’s break down some of the possible candidates. While this is a far from a comprehensive list, here are some of the biggest things that might occur.

Most Likely

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

Copyright Square Enix

Being one of the first major titles of the year, this is going to be one of Square Enix’s last chances to sell the sequel to their 2020 hit and second installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. They’ve already shown quite a bit of the game, but one “final” trailer will likely hit. While Remake was a financial and critical success, there were a lot of detractors given the “episodic” verbiage of the project and a focus on action oriented combat opposed to the turn based system of the original.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Copyright WB Games/DC

Just like Final Fantasy VII, Suicide Squad is another huge potential blockbuster for February. Unlike the former, however, Rocksteady’s return to the DC Universe they became so famous for after the Batman: Arkham trilogy has been marred with controversy. From battle passes to generic-looking gameplay, Rocksteady might just use a big event like this to try and win back fans after the heavy backlash they experienced earlier in the year.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Copyright Fromsoftware

Fromsoftware announced their Elden Ring expansion earlier this year and since then it’s been crickets. While fans of the challenging RPG have been eager to see what’s next, they’ve only been left with small clues and hints. The Game Awards could be the perfect opportunity to finally peel back the curtain and give some more concrete information.

First Party PlayStation Studios Title(s)

Copyright Sony

While we don’t know anything about what’s coming down the pipeline for PlayStation next year, it’s hard to believe they won’t have anything major outside a couple of third party gems. With Insomniac releasing Spider-Man 2 to massive critical acclaim earlier this fall, it’s possible they might build on that momentum and finally show off their Wolverine game they announced last year. Sony also have a lot of first party studios that haven’t been as active in years. Bend Studio, Sucker Punch, and others could very well show off what they’ve been working on.

Death Stranding 2

Hideo Kojima loves making announcements at The Game Awards, so it stands to reason this won’t be any different. While the sequel to his divisive title still feels quite a ways off, it’s possible he’s going to show off something. And Kojima, being one of the powerhouses in the gaming industry, knows how to put on a show and gain excitement.

Possible

Legacy Activision Titles Coming To Game Pass

Copyright Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard

Since completing the Activision-Blizzard merger a couple months ago, Microsoft has been rather quiet about what their plans are for the company. While it’s extremely unlikely to feature any earth shattering announcements regarding Activision’s future (see below for a couple examples), it’s quite possible they’ll announce a slew of legacy titles. Some classic Call of Duty games, possibly the Crash and Spyro collections as well, could all be headed to Game Pass. It’s also fully possible classic PC games like Warcraft III and Starcraft could make their way to PC Game Pass as well.

Grand Theft Auto VI

Copyright Rockstar Games

While we already know that Rockstar will be announcing their heavily anticipated sequel tomorrow, by Thursday it’s still going to be one of the most talked about news stories in gaming. Rockstar could continue to build upon the momentum and offer something of an extended trailer or look at the gameplay during the Awards to continue to conversation further. But they also don’t need the Game Awards to sell their title, so they could always opt out to do their own thing.

Gears of War 6

Copyright Microsoft Game Studios

One Microsoft first party game we know is in development is the next installment of Gears of War. And the franchise has been dormant since the release of Gears Tactics last year. This could be the best opportunity in the near future to finally peel back the layer and reinvigorate the franchise. Microsoft had a huge, if divisive, hit with Starfield this year, so going into 2024 with hype building for another big first party game is in their best interest.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2

The Super Mario Bros movie is one of the most successful films of the year and the most profitable video game adaptation of all time. They also used last year’s Game Awards to promote the movie as well. This would be the perfect opportunity for Illumination’s Chris Melendandri or stars Chris Pratt and Jack Black to take to the stage with a quick announcement that yes, a sequel to last April’s hit film is now in active development.

Unlikely, But Still Possible

Kingdom Hearts IV

Copyright Square Enix

While it’s been almost 18 months since Square Enix and series creator Tetsuya Nomura announced the sequel, they have been quiet about the game ever since. While it’s fully possible they could use an event like this to finally give eager fans a new look, Square Enix has a rule about only promoting one of their big games at a time. The same reason why they barely talked about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth until after Final Fantasy XVI had shipped. So it’s more likely than not Kingdom Hearts IV will not see any major coverage until the spring or summer next year.

World of Warcraft Console Version

Copyright Blizzard Entertainment

Ever since the Activision-Blizzard purchase by Microsoft was announced, many fans of the 20 year old MMO began to take an eventual Xbox version as an inevitability. While there’s a chance this early to announce at least early development has begun on a console port, it may not be a priority of Activision at the moment. Even putting aside the complexity of porting a game like World of Warcraft to consoles, with the development team at work on next year’s expansion The War Within, they may not have much time to devote to an Xbox edition of the game.

New Nintendo Console

Basically every industry source in the know has confirmed that the Nintendo’s upcoming Switch successor is real and far enough along that it’ll be revealed soon. But Nintendo themselves have played it very safe about talking about the console. While it’s fully a possibility, it’s not likely given those same industry sources that have proven reliable in the past have reported a Spring event to show the next generation of Nintendo hardware to the world is in the works. Given an expected Holidays 2024 release date, there’s no immediate rush to show the console off now.

What are you hoping gets announced this Thursday? Follow back to the Everything Entertainment Network later this week for full analysis of the winners and the big announcements!

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