Awards were given at The Game Awards, but it was occasionally hard to notice as we were shelled with new trailers and announcements throughout multiple hours of chit-chat and musical interludes. This was definitely the biggest show Geoff Keighley has put on (a whole damn console was announced) and there's a lot to process: game announcements, expansion reveals, new release dates, and an armful of new gameplay and cinematic trailers.
Here's everything Santa Keighley brought us this year, at least where it relates to PC gaming:
Xbox Series X
The new Xbox is a damn PC, or at least it looks like one. It's got a rectangular chassis, as if you could pop open the side and reseat the RAM at any moment. We don't know the specs or pricing, just that it's arriving in late 2020. We note it here partially because it's uncanny how much it resembles an everyday computer, but also because the announcement came with the news that all 15 Microsoft-owned game studios are working on games for it. All of those are bound to come to PC too.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Here's one from left-field. Who would've expected a focused narrative game about mental illness to get a sequel? And who would've positioned it the first game to accompany to reveal the announcement of the Xbox That's A Compu—er, the Xbox Series X? Senua's looking mad in an empowering way this time around.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
It's still not technically confirmed for PC, but we recently learned that FF7 Remake's PS4 exclusivity window is one year long. Best case scenario, that puts it on PC March 3, 2021. Let's watch Cloud be angsty and swing that big-ass sword around in this stylish trailer until then.
Godfall
Godfall is a fantasy action RPG from Gearbox Publishing and Counterplay Games, coming to PC via the Epic Game Store in 2020. The trailer gives us some deep-voiced knights and gives us a good long look at their armor—Godfall is described as a 'looter-slasher' by the devs, and players will be slashing their way toward legendary armor sets. Not much word on what the story is about yet, but hey, that's some fancy armor.
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story
Ruined King is the first singleplayer League of Legends to be announced, a turn-based RPG from Darksiders Genesis developer Airship Syndicate. The game comes after Riot announced a new publishing label, Riot Forge, which will release games set in the League universe from other developers. In Ruined King, we'll play LoL champions and explore the city of Bilgewater and the Shadow Isles.
CONV/RGENCE: A League of Legends Story
There were not one but two singleplayer League of Legends games announced at The Game Awards. We didn't get a huge reveal of the second one, CONV/RGENCE, but we know it's a colorful singleplayer platformer developed by Double Stallion games. You'll play as Ekko, who has invented a device that can manipulate time, and face the "huge consequences" of doing so. No release date was announced, but it's coming to PC.
Gears Tactics
Oh, there you are! Gears Tactics was first announced in 2018 but was noticeably absent at E3 in 2019. But Gears' foray into the turn-based strategy genre seems to be back on track, with a new trailer and a release date: April 28, 2020.
Humankind
Humankind, the grand strategy from Amplitude Studios, obviously takes inspiration from the Civilization series. But you won't be playing a famed leader from history in Humankind: you'll create a leader of your very own. The trailer announces the avatar creation system and shows off a bit of land and naval combat, too. Humankind is due out sometime in 2020.
Maneater
The shark RPG (SharkPG?) is still swimming towards a release, and showed off a chompy new trailer. In reality, only a handful of people die from shark attacks each year, but that's going to change in Maneater. The trailer shows the shark dining on swimmers and scuba divers, leaping out of pools, and even having a snack on land. There's not a confirmed release date yet, but maybe it'll just leap onto PC when we least expect it.
Warframe Empyrean
A nice surprise for Warframe fans on PC: the long-awaited Empyrean expansion didn't just get a new trailer but actually launched on PC during the Game Awards. The expansion adds co-op spaceship combat for up to four players, and lets you customize your Sigma Series Railjack battleship.
Control Expeditions
Finally, we know what the Jukebox is for. Expeditions is a free update for Control out now. By spending Jukebox Tokens, Jesse can travel to different dimensions to take on somewhat randomized endgame challenges. Expeditions are timed combat arenas remixed with difficulty modifiers that dole out rewards based on the challenge. It sounds neat, but a bit much for a game that doesn't need an endgame. Oh well, maybe those powerful mods will come in handy when the first story DLC releases. The Foundation hits March 26.
Prologue
This is PlayerUnknown's next game and the first as part of his new experimental unit within PUBG Corp. We don't know much about it based on the 30-second teaser except that it's first-person, takes place in an extremely wet forest, and will feature Stress™. It's also super graphically impressive, and since exploring new technologies and new means of interaction was one of the stated goals of Brenden Green's new team, we're not surprised it looks so nice and weird.
The Wolf Among Us 2
Telltale was hit with massive layoffs and reduced to a skeleton crew, but the new management is still making games in collaboration with AdHoc Studio, which was founded by former Telltallers. All we have is a short teaser depicting a cigarette, a dirty hotel, and some neon, but all of it bodes well.
Fast & Furious Crossroads
Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez visited the show to announce a Fast & Furious game coming to Steam in 2020. Developed by Slightly Mad Studios, and published by Bandai Namco, it looks pretty fast and moderately furious, and maybe a little bit dated. But it's got cars and guns and explosions, so maybe that's what's most important.
The Elder Scrolls Online is going to Skyrim
TESO's Season of the Dragon is approaching its conclusion, and we've learned where we're headed next. To Skyrim. Details of the Skyrim expansion won't be fully revealed until January 2020, but it's still exciting news and it's bound to be a big new chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online.
Naraka: Bladepoint
24 Entertainment, a Chinese studio, revealed a trailer for its slick and stylish multiplayer melee action game. We're a little fuzzy on how it all works—there are block and parry systems but no actual block or parry buttons. The trailer also shows players grappling, swinging, climbing, and wall-running all over the place. It's expected to arrive early in 2020.
New World
We played a bit of New World earlier this year, and it's an interesting one—it doesn't seem 'revolutionary,' as so many MMOs brand themselves, but smartly-designed. At The Game Awards, Amazon revealed a new cinematic trailer and a release month: May 2020. Before the reveal, we had a chat with the game's director, which you can read here.
Nine to Five
This is the first project from Redhill Games, the studio formed by Remedy boss Matias Myllyrinne. It's a team-based tactical shooter in a 3v3, 3-round format with shifting objectives. No release date has been announced, though an alpha is expected sometime in 2020.
Magic: Legends MMO
We knew a Magic: The Gathering MMO was coming, but today we got the name—the generic 'Magic: Legends'—and the first cinematic trailer. Magic: Legends is being developed by Perfect World subsidiary Cryptic Studios, which is known for Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, and City of Heroes. Hopefully we get a clearer picture of what it's all about soon.
Weird West
A couple former bosses from Arkane, the studio that developed Dishonored and Prey, teamed up to form their own studio, Wolfeye. We got a look at what they've been working on: a top-down western adventure called Weird West. 'Weird west' is actually a film, tv, and comic subgenre that combines westerns with occult or horror themes, and that certainly looks to be the case with the game, too. It feels like a great match for Devolver Digital, which is publishing it.
Apex Legends Holo-Day Bash event
From right now up until January 7, Apex Legends players can enjoy a holiday party in the form of a new game mode that—miracle of miracles—isn't battle royale. Winter Express, as it's called, is a 3v3v3 point capture-the-train mode with respawns. Festive limited-time premium cosmetics can be purchased or crafted, too.
Sons of the Forest
No, these sons are just small trees, they're grey, mushy mutants. A sequel to the hit survival game The Forest is coming, but this one looks like it'll focus a lot more on story.
Dark Alliance, the D&D action RPG
Holy shit, this trailer. Imagine all your favorite D&D archetypes with GoPros strapped to their faces and weapons while they cut open baddies to some hokey-ass power metal. Some of us hope this all some botched marketing and not the intended tone of the actual game, while others are cackling at its absurdity. We'll probably argue about this one.
