Highlights From The Game Awards
Another installment of the Game Awards is in the books. As always, the show featured a plethora of “World Premiere” trailers and major announcements, and we sat through the two-hour event in order to give you the highlights from the end-of-the-year spectacle.
The Main Attractions
Bandai Namco’s Motohiro Okubo revealed that a new SoulCalibur installment is on the way. SoulCalibur VI will be the first title in the series available on the PC. Just like Tekken 7, another Bandai Namco-owned franchise, SoulCalibur VI will use the Unreal Engine 4. A specific date wasn’t set, but we do know that it’s coming sometime in 2018.
The Bayonetta series also made an appearance. Platinum Games announced that Bayonetta and its sequel would be available as a single package for the Nintendo Switch. The first game just arrived on the PC earlier this year, but it’s unclear if Bayonetta 2 will be available on Steam in the near future. Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime provided another surprise when he revealed that a third Bayonetta game was in development. Unfortunately, it will be an exclusive title for the Nintendo Switch.
Hideo Kojima and Norman Reedus were also at the show to reveal a lengthy trailer for Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding. As usual, we were left with more questions than answers after watching the new video, especially when we saw a baby inside Sam (who was played by actor Norman Reedus).
Sea of Thieves is on its final round of alpha tests, and Rare released a new trailer for the pirate-themed game at the show. In addition to more gameplay hijinks on the high seas, the trailer also revealed a March 20 release date. You now have a little more than three months to gather your crew of friends so that you can work together to take out enemy ships, hunt for buried treasure, and fight hordes of skeletons.
Bluehole recently released details on the desert map for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and we saw more footage of it at the show. However, it wasn’t the only major announcement from the studio. After nine months, the game will leave Early Access on December 20. Before the release of version 1.0, you can try out the new Miramar map now so that you can find the best places to scavenge for gear and hide from enemies.
The last reveal of the night belonged to 4A Games, which showed off another trailer for Metro: Exodus. The latest installment in the series will bring you out of Moscow as you begin the search for a new home. With the use of a small train car and help from a group of elite Spartan Rangers, you’ll have to survive the elements of a mutant-riddled Russia if you want to reach paradise. The game is expected to come out sometime in the fall.
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Hidden Gems
One of the first announcements of the night came from Campo Santo, which had a new game in the works called In the Valley of the Gods. The short trailer featured two women in the ruins of Ancient Egypt. The duo took turns carrying a briefcase that contained a vintage camera and a scroll. Interested fans will have to wait a bit longer for more information, though, because we won’t see it until 2019.
Black Forest Games, a studio based in Offenburg, Germany, was also at the show to reveal the survival-based Fade to Silence. Your job is to create a refuge in a post-apocalyptic wasteland for you and other recruitable followers. As you scavenge for materials, you’ll have to deal with dangerous monsters and freezing temperatures. The game will enter Early Access on December 14, with a final version scheduled for release in August.
Hazelight Studios’ A Way Out, which we originally saw at E3, will be available to players on March 23. Game director Josef Fares showed off a new trailer for the title, but not before he went on a passionate rant about his game, EA (the game’s publisher), and the recent lootbox controversy. We’d tell you more, but you should just watch it for yourself here.
The development team that brought you The Vanishing of Ethan Carter has been busy with a dark fantasy shooter that marries the world of skeletons, spooky environments, and an entire horde of other hellish creatures. It’s called Witchfire, and its pedigree as a shooter comes from three ex-People Can Fly developers, which was responsible for games like Bulletstorm and Gears of War: Judgment. You’ll cast spells and cleave through undead monstrosities at every turn, though there’s no date just yet for this gothic nightmare.
Swedish studio 10 Chambers Collective, led by the creator of the Payday series Ulf Andersson, showed off a new four-player co-op title called GTFO. The game seems to combine a fair amount of puzzle-solving, stealth requirements, and first-person shooter elements to create an intense experience. The game’s slogan “Work together or die together” is indicative of the kind of co-op gameplay GTFO is aiming for, and if you have a tight-knit group of friends, you can rally together to go monster-slaying, which could very well replace Payday in your rotation of frenetic multiplayer games.
See You Next Year
The show’s winners allowed fans to look back at this year’s major releases, but these announcements and trailers were the highlight of the show. Fans are always curious about the next major title, and the Game Awards always provides enough content to keep them excited for the upcoming year.
Rexly Peñaflorida is a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering topics such as computer hardware, video games, and general technology news.