The major games still due in 2022, including a few potential dark horses

November and December are the prime reminiscing months, a time to give out GOTY awards and think about what the past year meant for PC gaming.  They're also when we start looking more closely at the next year, namely at whichever huge game got delayed into it. This year, that's Starfield, a pretty huge game.

None of that stops new games from releasing in late fall and early winter, though, and there are some potential bangers still on the 2022 release calendar. I think three of them in particular could turn out to be bigger than the gaming scene as a whole realizes right now:

• Marvel's Midnight Suns is weird, but in a compelling way. That's what I thought when I played a bit of it earlier this year, and I wasn't sure others would agree, but now I'm feeling validated—Fraser called it "unusual," but said he's "loving" it. I could be pretty big if it manages to attract both Marvel-likers who wouldn't normally be into a Firaxis tactics game and Firaxis-likers who wouldn't normally be into a Marvel game.
• Space colony management sim Ixion isn't a game I've heard a ton of chatter about, but the industrial space art is appealing, and Chris liked its brief demo. It could quietly become the strategy game that fills up our dark winter nights.
• Choo-Choo Charles looks like the kind of thing that could turn out to be a janky game streamers amuse themselves with for a week or a new horror phenomenon.

Those games stick out the most to me, but they're hardly the only games left to be curious about in 2022. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide could turn out to be one of our favorite games this year, at least once we get through this long beta period. And if the holidays get you in the mood for space horror (don't they always?), you'll want to note that the Dead Space creator's new mutant gore crawler is out in December. Below are all the big PC games releasing before the year's end:

The big PC game release dates remaining in 2022

Evil West | November 22
This singleplayer and co-op shooter from the studio behind the Shadow Warrior reboots sounds like it was designed by Mad Lib: The setting? Old west. The enemy? Vampiric hordes. Your weapon? Lightning punches.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | November 30
You can play the Vermintide studio's new Left 4 Dead-ish co-op shooter early if you preorder, but the beta isn't the full game. The parts of it we have been able to play have been a lot of fun, though—here are our thoughts so far.

Marvel's Midnight Suns | December 2
I hope someone who's read nothing about the XCOM developer's new Marvel game plays it, just so I can read their reaction. If you want to know what you're getting into—it is not just superhero XCOM, far from it—check out our latest impressions.

The Callisto Protocol | December 2
This new game from one of Dead Space's creators is so much like Dead Space I started confusing it with the Dead Space remake after previewing both. It's even more brutal and gory than that classic, though.

Ixion | December 7
A space station colony builder that kicks off with the moon being blown up. Could be a good one to get wrapped up in over the holidays, replacing nighttime sugar-plum visions with hull breach repair and power management.

Choo-Choo Charles | December 9
This train engine is here to choo-choo and chase you around with his horrible spider legs and sharp-toothed grin, and he's all out of choo. We interviewed the creator of this horror game after it got a ton of attention in 2021.

High on Life |December 13
The guns talk, and they sound kind of like Rick and Morty characters, since this game comes from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland. Will it be annoying to have our guns yapping at us? Maybe, but it might be funny and the shooting actually looks pretty fun.

The Settlers | 2022?
This reboot of a classic '90s RTS series was delayed multiple times, but will release just in time to still be considered a 2022 game. Chris played it earlier this year—when we thought it would release in March—and had a good time. The Epic Store's December 31 release date is probably a placeholder, so we'll see if it actually comes out.

More games coming this year

• November 21 — Cats and the Other Lives
• November 21 — Climber: Sky is the Limit
• November 22 — Ship of Fools 
• November 22 — Gungrave G.O.R.E
• November 29 — The Knight Witch
• December 7 — Chained Echoes
• December 15 — Blacktail 
• December 30 — Warhammer AoS: Soul Arena