Not a 2024 E3 Prediction List

There are a few reasons why this isn’t an E3 prediction list: First, there is no E3 anymore, but also we didnt want to try and make predictions because inevitably they don’t age well. But June is basically the Super Bowl for gaming still with conferences aplenty with Nintendo, Xbox, Summer Game Fest, Devolver among many others and we get as excited as the next person. Instead this is a list of things that we would like to see happen and they can be lumped into two categories: Update/Sign of Life or Release Date.

Release Dates

Metal Slug Tactics - Release Date

The Metal Slug series has been around since 1996 and has mostly been run and gun, but has dabbled out of the genre into things like Tower Defence during that craze. Metal Slug Tactics was taking the series into the turn based tactics genre with a hint of roguelite elements thrown in. It was originally revealed back in 2021 and then eventually got a 2022 release date. In August of 2022, it was delayed into 2023 as more time was needed to complete the game. Then at the very end of 2023, Dotemu made a post on social media stating that the game is still alive and will be coming in 2024.

Most recently Dotemu have been responding to many different people on social media when asked about Metal Slug Tactics and their response has been frequent and the same: The game is coming very soon. On May 21 and May 23 Dotemu replied “expect news very soon”

With the most recent uptick in acknowledging that the game is coming soon and how long we have known about it, it would be great to get a release date for the second half of 2024.

Replaced - Release Date

Sad Cat studios debuted their first game Replaced back at E3 2021 with a 2022 release date. Since then, it was delayed out of 2022 due to the war in Ukraine and then at the end of 2022 resurfaced at the game awards with a 2023 release date at the end of the trailer.

The studio has been fairly quiet since then, and considering it was one of the games listed on the infamous next 12 months poster for Xbox, 2024 has a glimmer of hope. There isn’t anything that we can point to as to why it would happen, but considering that they felt strongly enough to give Microsoft the ok to include it as a game that would release by June 2023 (like Silksong), the hope is that development is in the home stretch.

Flintlock - Release Date

Flintlock looks like an indie God of War spiced. You have a main protagonist and a side companion who is always around and can greatly aid you during your journey

A44 is back with another souls-lite after their debut title Ashen released in 2018 and Flintlock looks to be an improvement in every aspect: traversal looks fluid, visuals look stunning, world is fantastical, and depth of gameplay.

The game is checking a lot of boxes with deep gameplay, armor sets, crafting, side quests, caravans, combo systems, skill trees for you as well as your fox enki and a focus on making the orchestral score as much a part of this game as the visuals

Flintlock already has a tentative Summer 2024 release date and there are only so many months that fit that bill. Flintlock does seem like it would be a perfect game to release in the summer when things are slightly quieter, giving this game a proper chance to shine.

Silksong - Release Date

Obviously, Team Cherry’s follow up to the ultra successful Hollow Knight is highly anticipated and for good reason. First, Silksong was revealed back at Nintendo Summer Direct back in June 2019 and then in June 2022 it was at the Xbox Summer Showcase with news of release within 12 months. Clearly June 2023 came and went, but Team Cherry does have a penchant for summer announcements. Considering that both Nintendo and Xbox will be having a summer showcase in addition to the Summer Game Fest Conference.

Silksong has risen above indie status a long time ago and although the silence might leave people a little frustrated, it hasn’t diminished the hype for the game. Silksong has gotten to the point that anything less than a huge event announcement would seem out of place. It’s one of the most anticipated games and has been for years, indie or not and need a huge showcase to match its hype level.

It was over a year ago on May 9, 2023 that we got an update from head of marketing, Matthew Griffin, who stated that “first half of 2023 was planned and expect more details once we get closer to release”

This is not a prediction, but it would be great to finally see a release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong. After all, it was just finally listed on the Xbox Store on April 1st after all these years and it has been getting rated across almost all ratings boards.

Windblown - Release Date/Early Access Date

Windblown, the follow up to Motion Twin’s first major game Dead Cells stays with the roguelike genre, but this time from an isometric perspective, optional co-op and the speed cranked up, which is saying a lot because Dead Cells felt fast as it was. Back in 2019, Motion Twin handed off development on Dead Cells to Evil Empire so that they could work on something else. After many years developing and supporting Dead Cells, Motion Twin wanted a new challenge.

Windblown was announced at The Game Awards back in December 2023 and currently has a tentative release date for Early Access for the second half of 2024. Considering that Windblown has been doing many closed alphas, it would seem like it would be a good time to do a beta to test out some systems on a larger scale before launching into early access similar to what Hades 2 just did.

Motion Twin has been fairly active on social media and with only half of 2024 left, some type of release window for the early access would be great.

Katana Zero DLC - Release Date

Katana Zero was a indie darling back in 2019. Work on Katana Zero began in 2013 and released in 2019. Almost immediately work began on DLC, which quickly ballooned to over 3x the original planned size, is more like Katana Zero 1.5 and is still free for owners of Katana Zero.

With Devolver Direct happening and the first game being published by them, there is always a chance that it could finally reveal itself after these years. Usually the developer, posts on social media around the anniversary and this past April showed a gameplay clip indicating the DLC is very much still alive. The clip that has over a million views might not show much but it was more than enough hope that is required to keep hope alive.

There is a possibility that similar to Silksong and Crowsworn, the scope of the game kept growing past initial expectations and even adjusted expectations. Even though owners of the original game are still supposedly getting the DLC for free, it might have become a full fledged sequel over the course of these years.

A surprise release date would be great, but even a more in depth sign of life instead of a post on social media or a short clip.

playdead - Sign of Life

Back in 2016, almost a decade ago, playdead released their second game, INSIDE, which was another masterpiece from the studio. Their first game, LIMBO, released in 2010, which makes it clear that this is a studio who is not interested in rushing anything until it’s right.

Not only have playdead made the decision to move to 3D for their third game, but major changes at the studio have happened since the release of INSIDE. Co-founder Dino Patti left to co found Jumpship. Their first game, Somerville, felt like it was heavily inspired by the work of playdead, but it was missing a lot of crucial elements including polish, but it was also missing that intangible feel that are only experienced with their games, a curios unease. Gameplay Director Jeppe Carlsen and programmer Jakob Schmid left to start Geometric Interactive. Their first game, Cocoon was incredible, but it didnt feel like playdead.

All that we know about playdead’s third game is that it’s a third person sci fi set in a remote corner of the universe, it will be made using Unreal Engine 5 and its being published by Epic Games. Looking at the stills that are sporadically on their site, there is one thing that remains obvious: even with all of the people that left, the soul of the studio still remained, which likely stems from founder Arnt Jensen as just these images alone are powerful and haunting. Expecting a release date after years of silence would seem silly, but seeing a teaser trailer and a year would be incredible.

Plucky Squire - Release Date

Back at the Nintendo Summer Direct in June 2022, All possible futures, a studio founded by former Pokémon lead art director James Turner, announced their first game, The Plucky Squire. The trailer gave the feeling that only comes around once every few years.  That feeling that was felt when Cuphead was first shown. That feeling of something so charming, unique and special.

The company has constantly doubled down on The Plucky Squire releasing in 2024 and with Devolver having a showcase in June, it would be shocking if this possible future didn’t have a release date for Plucky.