Resident Evil 4 remake. Screenshot: Capcom
2023 has the potential to be one of gaming’s grandest years.
Driving the news: An abundance of major game delays in the past 12 months has set up an unprecedented cascade of releases for 2023 — a year that will also see the completion or collapse of the biggest attempted video game merger of all time.
- The first six months alone are stunning.
January: The industry’s most prestigious TV release ever, Sony’s “The Last of Us” will premiere on HBO in a marquee Sunday night slot Jan. 15.
- Also this month: Google will shut down its Stadia service (Jan. 18), EA will release a remake of Dead Space (Jan. 27).
February: Virtual reality tech gets one of its biggest boosts yet with Sony’s launch of the PS5-tethered PSVR2 (Feb. 22).
- Also in February: Nintendo’s first U.S. theme park opens, Warner Bros. releases Hogwarts Legacy (Feb. 10), Bungie/Sony release Destiny 2 Lightfall (Feb. 28) and industry leaders gather near Las Vegas for the DICE convention (Feb. 21-23).
March: Capcom releases its remake of one of the most acclaimed games ever, Resident Evil 4 (March 24).
- Also in March: EA’s Respawn Studios releases Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (March 17), long-awaited indie Storyteller (March 23) is released, thousands of game makers gather for the Game Developers Conference (March 20-24) and fans head to PAX East (March 23-26).
April: Nintendo returns to the big screen with the premiere of the “Super Mario Bros. Movie” (April 7), made in partnership with Illumination and Universal.
- Also in April: The long-delayed Dead Island 2 (April 28) is released.
May: Nintendo is finally set to release The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (May 12), a direct sequel to 2017 Switch stand-out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, among the best-reviewed games ever.
- Also in May: Another long-delayed Warner Bros. project, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (May 26), is released.
June: The first in-person E3 since 2019 is held. It will be preceded the week before by competing in-person showcase event Summer Game Fest.
- Also in June: Street Fighter 6 (June 2), Diablo IV (June 6) and Final Fantasy XVI (June 22) are all set for release. Plus Microsoft has promised that Xbox mega-exclusive Starfield will come out by June 30.
Summer: The deadline for Microsoft to purchase Activision-Blizzard expires in July, even though the FTC’s trial over the deal is set for August (regulatory deadlines in the U.K. and EU are sooner).
- Also this summer: Sony’s next feature film, “Gran Turismo” (Aug. 11) is released, current early access hit Baldur’s Gate III advances to a full release, and The Games 4 Change summit (July 18-20) is held.
Fall: Not much announced yet for what is usually gaming’s biggest season, but expect Sony to deliver on its 2023 promise of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by then. Also for 2023: A Ubisoft return to actually releasing major games with Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar Frontiers of Pandora and, perhaps, its first free-to-play franchise spinoffs.
- 2023 could also see the release following war-related delays of the Ukrainian-developed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, the release of Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 and — believe it when it finally happens — a potential 2023 debut for anticipated indie side-scroller Hollow Knight Silksong.
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