With two new flagship consoles on the horizon, and a slew of brand-new games coming to them and making the most of the hardware, now is an exciting time to be a fan of video games. However, while there is plenty coming out in the next six months to get ready for and play, there’s always a part of us that is looking even further ahead, to announcements and teasers that get us even more hyped for the future.
E3 might have been cancelled this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still get hyped together for the games of tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. In fact, many livestreams are continuing to take place, sharing what developers and companies around the world are working on for the future in virtual showcases. We’ve compiled a short list of some hotly anticipated games that, while not on the immediate horizon, are worth waiting for.
Skate
It’s been over ten years since the release of Skate 3 on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, a game that pioneered with its open-world skating simulation and multiplayer social aspects. Recently, skating games have been undergoing a little bit of a resurgence, and so it felt about time that EA revisited this much-loved franchise.
Fans have been clamouring for a sequel or revisit to the series for years at this point, and every time EA had something to announce they were always there on social media, with ‘Skate 4’ this, and ‘Skate 4’ that. Well, after all this time, and coincidentally right after Activision have announced their remake of the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, EA has answered their hardcore skater fans’ prayers. They revealed at their recent EA play event that they were bringing back the series in some capacity – whether it’s a remake or sequel is yet to be seen – but it will take some time, as the project is still very early in development. Perhaps we’ll be able to see some grinding gameplay at next year’s EA event!
Did you know? – With games in development that span multiple years and are of a huge scope, sometimes it’s hard to predict what will happen with the console market, and often developers will have to pivot onto new consoles as they come out to make sure their game is still relevant when it eventually sees the light of day. Porting and transferring games to different consoles and platforms can be a difficult task, and this explains things like game porting services from Abstraction, a company that specialises in realising a company’s vision in a wide range of different formats.
The Elder Scrolls 6
While it’s almost undeniable that Skyrim is one of the greatest video games of all time, and one that will be forever replayable for years to come, Bethesda have released it on an incredible amount of platforms and in a variety of different forms at this point, from PC, to Nintendo Switch, to even in virtual reality. It’s about time for a new Elder Scrolls game, and if you’re not someone that can get their satisfaction from an MMO in the form of TES: Online, then you’ll be looking out for the next instalment in the main franchise.
At this point, The Elder Scrolls 6 is some ways out, and all we have seen about it is a splash screen showing some text. That was revealed over two years ago at this point, and they stated that it would be ‘years’ out then. Sadly, that seems like it is very much still the case. We have also yet to hear more about Bethesda’s project Starfield, a SciFi RPG, and that’s going to be out before TES6, which means it will be plenty of time before we even see some gameplay. Nevertheless, the mere knowledge that a large-scale Skyrim successor will one day grace our presence is good news, and it’s a white whale to look forward to in the future.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
A fascinating narrative-driven game that pits players as the tragic and pitiful Gollum/Smeagol combination, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum from Daedelic will surely offer a unique twist on the Tolkien universe, different from something that we’ve seen before in Middle Earth games. Based on the books rather than the films, the development team have discussed in Edge magazine how they have taken inspiration from some Tolkien drawings and paintings, and want to follow some of the intricacies of the book differently to how the popular Peter Jackson film trilogy did.
We’ve already seen some screenshots and concept art of the title, discussing how systems and combat will work from the perspective of the feeble former hobbit that is Gollum, and it also shouldn’t be too long before we can get a closer look at this one, with it set to launch at some point in 2021 on modern consoles.
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