Game on: Announcements, dates of exciting games galore

Come 2022 new game announcements are more likely monthly than annually and companies like Sony and Nintendo hold their events.

By Aditya Deshbandhu

As I start this article let me just take you on a trip down memory lane to 2017 when most new games were announced at either the E3, Gamescom or the Gamers Developers Conference (GDC) and when media events were annual. We players had just three events to follow and compile lists of interesting games from.

However, come 2022 new game announcements are more likely monthly than annually and companies like Sony and Nintendo hold their events. Keeping track of all the new information is quite a challenge and thus, this week we recap some of the biggest game announcements from Nintendo’s Direct Live and Sony’s State of Play events.

From the Nintendo Stable

There are two big announcements from the Nintendo event, the first being the trailer for Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, from early impressions, I feel that the style from Arceus legends will remain as Nintendo tries to merge all three aspects – the Pokémon training academy, the classic gym and elite four journey, and open world exploration into a single game. I look forward to the three new starters and partnering with some exciting new monsters come November 18.

The second announcement is for a game with a 2023 release date and a successor to Breath of the Wild. The next installment in the iconic Legend of Zelda franchise will be called Tears of the Kingdom and its first glance looked brilliant. If Nintendo can manage to make this game run smoothly on the Switch’s aging Nvidia Tegra, I will be a Nintendo fan forever. But I guess I am one already?

The Sony Side of things:

The Sony’s State of Play began with the showcase of God of War Ragnarok’s “story trailer” and a limited collection controller that will be available on the day the game launches i.e. 9th November. With Plague Tale Requiem also set for November, the end of the year suddenly seems busy again.

Sony’s big announcements were however for the future as it announced Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge and Demeo for its VR2 platform and then went on to showcase two entirely new games in Synduality and Pacific Drive.

And just when you thought Sony was done it went a step ahead and announced that its ambitious Project Eve from the Korean Studio Shift Up not only had a release window of 2023 but also a new name Stellar Blade and if the trailer is anything to go by this could be a visual extravaganza. But then so was Bright Memory Infinite, and I am limiting my excitement with this one as I am not falling for that once again.

Sony also used the platform to announce that the makers of Nioh are in the process of making an open-world Samurai game called Rise of the Ronin set for a 2024 release date. Tekken 8 was also unveiled at the event.

There’s simply too much to keep track of and stay excited for on both Sony and Nintendo’s fronts that it would be remiss of me to overlook Ubisoft’s announcement of five new Assassins Creed games last week. What likely seems the franchise’s trajectory for the next decade, the first of the games Mirage is set in the middle east and could be set for release in 2023.

There were also codenames of other forthcoming titles revealed as Jade, Red and Hexewere announced. Red caught my eye as it is set in Japan and will allow players to play as a ninja/shinobi. A dream that’s been long in the making for gamers worldwide.

That’s it from the recap folks, a lot to be excited for and a busy November that’s suddenly not so far away.