Summer Game Fest, not-E3 season, or whatever we're officially calling June's hectic stretch of blockbuster showcases and events these days has been and gone, bringing with it a wealth of wonderful new games, new trailers, new release dates and more. With everything still to come this year, and everything promised for 2024 and beyond, it really feels like a great time for video games.
But what about the things that didn't show face over the last few weeks? Where were those games that we expected to see across the shows – or at least thought might appear – but instead left us hanging? We're firm believers in the fact that games are ready whenever those working on them say so, but that doesn't mean we can't be disappointed and/or surprised when our most-anticipated ventures fall silent. From Ark 2 to Stalker 2, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and everything else in between, here's our list of the biggest MIA games of the E3 2023 schedule.
Grand Theft Auto 6
Geoff Keighley would have pulled off the surprise of the century had he been able to close out Summer Game Fest 2023 with a gameplay reveal of GTA 6. There was as much chance of that happening as me being announced as the next character joining the Fortnite roster – but still, it's fun to dream. GTA 6 was confirmed to be in active-development last year and we've heard very little of it since. Well, you know, officially. Rockstar suffered a data breach in September, with screenshots and video of an alpha build hitting the internet soon after. Rockstar typically works to its own timeline and generates its own fanfare these days, but given the unique situation GTA 6 finds itself in now – kinda sorta detailed but not really – there was a part of me that wondered whether it would make an appearance. There's always next year.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
The ongoing wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong is rapidly becoming this generation's Half-Life 3, but I suppose Team Cherry should take that as something of a backhanded compliment. Announced over four years ago at this point, and with details still fuzzy and thin at best, Silksong remains this agonisingly-elusive treasure held just out of reach. I completely loved Hollow Knight and have replayed that little insect odyssey multiple times, but I'm starting to worry that all this build up for Silksong is going to result in a game that can't help but disappoint. Still, you know what might reassure me, Microsoft? Some actual concrete info about the game. God knows we've all waited long enough.
Everwild
While the Xbox Games Showcase brought us news on long-MIA first-party titles like Fable and Avowed, Everwild was a particularly notable absence. Everwild was announced nearly four years ago with a gorgeous trailer that appeared to feature in-game footage, but we've heard very little about the game since - aside from reports that it's gone through some development challenges and has restarted development. Beyond the fact that Everwild will take place in some sort of beautiful fantasy world, we still don't know what kind of game it actually is, and this year's showcase could've been an excellent opportunity to put those questions to rest. For us old-school Rare fans eager to see what else the studio can do in the modern era after Sea of Thieves, the mystery of what Everwild actually is continues to confound.
Haunted Chocolatier
As a fan of anything remotely spook-adjacent, Haunted Chocolatier piqued other interests than just my sweet tooth when I first heard of its existence in 2021. An upcoming project from the creator of Stardew Valley, this pixelated 2D adventure will see us gathering ingredients, making and selling chocolates in our very own shop, and dealing with its spectral inhabitants like some sort of paranormal Willy Wonka with far fewer kids around. The initial announcement treated us to precious little in the way of footage and screenshots, but I was already sold when we discovered Haunted Chocolatier would focus more on combat and RPG elements. It's definitely not a farming sim, then – sorry, Stardew fans – and as Concerned Ape (aka Eric Barone) takes a step into the shadows for this slightly different adventure, it would have been great to get a Haunted Chocolatier temperature check during Summer Game Fest this year.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
For the last few years, the flame of hope has not so quietly burned within me that we'll see something more substantial on Dragon Age 4. It's been some time since we got anything in the way of a big update on our long awaited return to Thedas, after all. Following a supposed gameplay leak earlier this year, news came that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is not likely to release until 2024 at the earliest. Even with this in mind, a part of me still thought we might see something Dragon Age-shaped during the Summer Game Fest… even if it was just a bite-sized piece to keep us going. Sadly it was not to be, but the next time a showcase rolls around, you better believe that the flame of anticipation will reignite once again.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
It's pretty unclear as to whether Beyond Good and Evil 2 is ever coming out, but here I am still holding on. I distinctly remember sitting in a very hot, very small room in the Los Angeles Convention Centre back at E3 2018 being shown a very early build of Ubisoft's sequel to 2003's Beyond Good and Evil. But, realistically we've not really heard anything about it since. Back in 2022, a report started it was totally still in development, but the game had been impact by company-wide issues at Ubisoft. I'm all for saying that no news is good news, but with Michel Ancel out and radio silence since 2018, I'm not holding out much hope for continuing on Jade and Pey'j's adventures - especially with another year of no-show at E3.
BioShock 4
BioShock Infinite is now a decade old and has aged closer to milk than a fine wine, Ken Levine’s next game, Judas, might not be out until early 2025, and Clockwork Revolution - a very BioShock-like shooter shown off with a trailer at this year’s Xbox Games Showcase - will release in “due time”. With little on the near horizon to plug a BioShock-shaped hole, I can only wonder how BioShock 4 is coming along. Cloud Chamber Studios began developing the game in 2019, but we’ve heard pretty much nothing about it since then. Given how arduous and long game development can be, it’s unfortunately not much of a surprise that so little has been revealed. Effectively rebooting a beloved franchise with established boundaries is no easy feat, so I hope this means Cloud Chamber is taking its time to perfect BioShock 4 and reinvigorate the series like it’s fresh out a vita-chamber. Would you kindly wait a little longer?
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
If you'd told me at the beginning of 2023 that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would fail to show face throughout not-E3 season, I'd have believed you. The reason for this is pretty simple: at the turn of the year, after a handful of preceding delays, Rocksteady Studios' first post-Batman Arkham series venture was due on May 26 – and so by the time the summer showcases rolled around, the online action-adventure should have already been in our hands. Skip to February's State of Play showcase, and 15 minutes of new gameplay footage showcased an underwhelming live-service looter-shooter that left would-be players far from impressed. Rocksteady said it needed more time to deliver "the best quality experience" thereafter, before Kill the Justice League was delayed to February 2, 2024, and likewise skipped the summer showcase season altogether.
Perfect Dark
Rumblings of a Perfect Dark reboot began back in 2018, but it wasn't until the Game Awards 2020 that the modern reimagining of the classic sci-fi shooter from 2000 was confirmed. We've not heard all that much about the so-called "secret agent thriller set in a new-future world" since, besides the fact that it'll be on Game Pass from day one, and that developer The Initiative is bringing the game to life with the help of Crystal Dynamics – the same team behind the Tomb Raider reboot. So much has changed in the landscape of video games since the first Perfect Dark's debut on Nintendo's N64 console, of course, but this modern slant on Joanna Dark's adventures promises to be an "eco sci-fi" tale that's set in the near future, suggesting it might explore some very real themes of climate change. Given how long Perfect Dark has kept us, um, in the dark, an appearance during Summer Game Fest or elsewhere in the not E3 2023 schedule felt possible, if not likely. But it wasn't to be.
Stellar Blade
Formerly known as Project Eve, Stellar Blade has captured the interest of many a Bayonetta fan for its flashy third-person action and, ahem, questionable character modeling. Since its initial reveal all the way back in 2019, and its subsequent cameos in PlayStation showcases and State of Plays, we haven’t heard much from this futuristic hack-and-slash adventure. We did get some new gameplay back in January of this year, but I think many of us expected to finally see a release date for Stellar Blade at SGF 2023. Could the length between updates this deep into development be an ominous sign for Project Eve?
Skate
It feels like we've been waiting forever for the next Skate game (it has now been 13 years and counting since the last one!), so it was simultaneously disappointing and unsurprising to not see any more of it at this summer's shows. Since we found out last year that Skate 4 was going free to play and playtesting was underway, little more information has been revealed, leaving me itching to get back out there and start shredding the streets once again. The processing power of the latest consoles opens up a whole new world of environmental possibilities, but for me the Skate experience has always been as much about the bails as the tricks. With early footage showing off new parkour-like climbing and jumping abilities, you're just as likely to find me trying to join the Jackass squad or the Thrasher Hall of Meat as putting together a silky smooth run when Skate finally arrives, and I can't wait.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC
When Geoff Keighley teased a huge reveal at the end of SGF, my hopes leapt as high as Torrent in a Spirit Spring. Could this be more details on Elden Ring's first big expansion? It’s been nearly four months since Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was announced with a mysterious image and simple confirmation that the expansion is "in development." Alas, no, the finale of SGF was a trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, leaving FromSoft fans to continue staring and speculating over that one sole picture from February’s announcement. Who is riding Torrent? Is that a Haligtree? Answers may not come for a while, with FromSoft set to release Armored Core 6 in August - I suspect we may have to wait until after this major release for more Elden Ring DLC details to emerge. Either way, I am 100% sure Shadow of the Erdtree will be worth the wait.
Hades 2
Admittedly, Hades 2 was only just announced a relatively short time ago, back at the tail end of 2022. Given that Supergiant Games promised to unveil more about its early access launch at some point in 2023 though, there would’ve been millions of Hades fans out there clamouring for a whisper of its sequel at not-E3 2023. Given how well Hades was received, Supergiant can probably afford to take a lot longer with Hades 2, and that means we’ll likely be staying in the dark on the sequel for a little while longer, until Supergiant is finally ready to pull back the curtain.
State of Decay 3
It’s been over three years now since State of Decay 3 was first unveiled, and we’re no closer to learning any new information about the sequel now than we were back then. Undead Labs is seemingly still plugging away at the new game, and it’s being developed in Unreal Engine 5 with the help of Gears of War developer The Coalition. However, State of Decay 3’s no-show might have something to do with reports of toxic studio culture and mismanagement, which claimed Undead Labs didn’t even want to announce the sequel in 2020.
Star Wars: Eclipse
The Star Wars Eclipse reveal was little more than a vibe check from a galaxy far, far away, a teaser trailer for the unknown fringes of the Star Wars franchise. It's been 18 months since Quantic Dream showed off its next game, and in that time we've had Star Wars Jedi: Survivor come along to act as a perfect primer for the High Republic era that serves as the setting for Eclipse. I'm not all that familiar with David Cage's past efforts, but as Star Wars moves ever closer to an era no longer defined by the Skywalker Saga, I'm increasingly intrigued by what Eclipse will have in store.
Metroid Prime 4
At this point, it has been over four years since it was announced that development on Metroid Prime 4 had restarted with Retro Studios at the helm, and six years since it was first announced for the Nintendo Switch. And despite that lengthy period of radio silence, Nintendo once again did not have any update on the upcoming title so far this summer – including the most recent Nintendo Direct. While it seems fair to assume that development is simply continuing out of the spotlight, and the Metroid franchise certainly hasn’t been abandoned given the release of Metroid Prime Remastered earlier this year and Metroid Dread in 2021, it is hard not to wonder what exactly is going on and when Nintendo might finally let the rest of us know even the smallest tidbit about it.
Wonder Woman
If you thought information about some of these other games was scarce, Wonder Woman from Warner Bros. Games and DC is queen of the hill when it comes to lack of updates. Basically everything we know about the upcoming Wonder Woman game stems back to its initial announcement in early December 2021. We know it’s going to be a single player open-world action game featuring an original story that uses the much-lauded Nemesis System from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War. And that’s… it. That’s the entirety of what we really know. Given how long fans have been clamoring for Monolith to introduce the Nemesis System to another franchise, it’s almost surprising – and concerning – that we have yet to see anything further from Wonder Woman.
Kingdom Hearts 4
It's a shame we didn't end up seeing anything on Kingdom Hearts 4 this month as it would have made a lot of people very happy - mainly me. News on the highly anticipated sequel has been scarce since it was first revealed in April 2022, but to be fair, Square Enix did say the game was in "early development" at the time of its announcement. There's concerns that we could be waiting as long as we did for Kingdom Hearts 3 to release (which ended up being five years from its first reveal) so fans are more anxious than ever to receive updates on Kingdom Hearts 4. This is the second E3-season where the game has failed to show up since its reveal but that hasn't stopped me from anticipating it during every single showcase we've had so far.
Death Stranding 2
It's honestly shocking that we didn't get so much as a whisper of Death Stranding 2 at Keighly's show, considering Geoff and Kojima are BFFs. It might still be in early development but Hideo spent years teasing… nothing specific for the last game with a space whale and a designer astronaut before we got so much of a glimpse of anything. That eventually led to a trickle of strange trailers heavy with symbolism and imagery but light on details - it's easy to forget now just how much conspiracy madness surrounded the game right up until release. Given all that, and just how much Kojima loves a show, it's amazing we didn't see anything more at not-E3. The one trailer we've had was packed with WTF? - teasing the death of BB/Lou, the return of Tory Baker's villainous Higgs and more - so it's ripe for more what does it all mean madness.
Indiana Jones
We haven't seen hide nor hair of the new Indiana Jones game since the beginning of 2021 so if for no other reason than that I'm surprised we didn't get a tease or an update. Although given that was a few months before Microsoft bought Bethesda, who knows what's happened since. That said, it's still two years later and there's been nothing mentioned since the reveal. And it was a minimal reveal at best - little more than an announcement. It looks like the game will feature Rome, and be set around 1937 placing the game after Ark & Temple but before Crusade. But that's literally guesswork from a clue strewn 'we're making it' teaser from Bethesda. I'm not just desperate to know more about it because it's India Jone, either - the developer is MachineGames. It was previously behind the most recent Wolfenstein games and has shown a fantastic flair for creative design and writing I can't wait to see applied to Henry Jones Jr's adventures.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
All things considered it feels rude to wonder where Stalker 2 is as the Ukraine based developer GSC deals with a full scale war, but it was a conspicuous absence at a time when everyone shows off their stuff. That said, between an actual war, constant attacks by Russian hackers and a generally beleaguered development that started in 2010 (surviving financial issues, a prior cancellation, and a widely disputed, ultimately suspended kickstarter for a 'spiritual' successor from an ex-studio member) the fact that's it's still happening at all should be good enough news. Currently listed for a December 2023 release date on Steam, let all just send best wishes to the team and imagine what Stalker 2's quasi mystical survival shooter will be like when it finally arrives.
Ark 2
If there was one game that could have done with showing up, it's Ark 2. After revealing yet another delay for the open-world survival game, Studio Wildcard drew further ire from the Ark community by revealing that a once-implied free Unreal Engine 5 glow-up for Ark: Survival Evolved would now be part of a paid bundle. You could skip the jump to Survival Ascended, though even that is tricky as official servers for Survival Evolved will be shut down – saves will be "uploaded for players to re-host on their own servers or play in singleplayer", however. Studio Wildcard has set expectations soundly over Ark 2 this year, saying that gameplay, screenshots, or videos won’t be shown off. Still, given the mood among fans, the team could have done with showing something.
Here are some new games for 2023 and beyond to add to your wishlist
