It’s time to spin the rumor mill a little for this one. We have discussed plenty of times how packed 2023 is and how great of a year it’s shaping out to be for us gamers. I mean, we have already seen great games like “Hi-Fi Rush” and “Dead Space” and are eagerly waiting for other games like “Atomic Heart,” “Resident Evil 4,” and more. All of this is slated for the early half of the year, and as the year progresses, we’ll see more titles like “Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League,” “Alan Wake 2,” “Assassin’s Creed Mirage,” and “Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name,” just to name a few, alongside a lot more. These have been titles that are already slated for this year, but there’s one thing about the gaming industry that we all love, and that is the moment when new games get announced. Shows like E3, Gamescom and more are practically dedicated to new game announcements and, as we all know, are the most excitable times of the year. There are bound to be tons of surprises and tons of new IPs alongside new entries in existing IPs as the year has just begun, but with that out of the way, here are three games that we are almost certain will get officially announced before this year comes to a close.
Grand Theft Auto 6
This is a big one. Rockstar Games has already confirmed in a statement that the next entry in the beloved “Grand Theft Auto” series is in the works, but we haven’t gotten an official announcement or even a teaser trailer as of yet. Now, it’s no surprise that a new “GTA” game is coming our way; I mean, “Grand Theft Auto 5” will be a decade old in September of this year, so it’s about time we get a new one. That’s my number one reason to believe that we are sure to get an announcement for this game later this year. The fact that “GTA 5” is going to turn 10 is a great time to announce the successor, don’t you think? Despite Rockstar’s secrecy, the game has already seen a massive leak, as we all know and have probably heard, which showcased a lot of gameplay from an early build, and the setting this time around is Vice City. Leaks aren’t to be believed, but judging by how much of a ruckus this one has caused and how Rockstar’s parent company, TakeTwo Interactive, was quick to file lawsuits and take the leaker down and how public they were with all this matter, there’s no denying that this was a big deal for them. Leaks are bad for business, and whether you believe it or not, they are bad for players as well, but from what we saw, the game is very playable and is shaping up to be great. Look, despite Rockstar’s regression, the company knows its craft and is a master at executing it, so no matter when this game comes out, it’ll be a banger, to say the least, and will once again be a game that’s way ahead of its time. How the world, story, characters and setting shape out to be is something, we’ll know for sure when we see it get announced. My theory is that the game will see an announcement near the end of the year with a 2024 release date and then will see a year-long delay(such is Rockstar’s tradition, after all), and we’ll finally get it in our hands in 2025.
Mafia 4
From one open-world crime drama to another, it’s been forever since a new “Mafia” game, right? “Mafia 3” came out in 2016, and yeah, that game didn’t work so well, as we all know by now. Despite its shortcomings, the game’s story and character department were fantastic. The “Mafia” games, in general, focus on the organized crime side of things and are more character-driven dramas than they are action-packed, bombastic setpieces. If rumors are to be believed, then “Mafia 4” will take place before the events of the first game and will take us to late 1910s Sicily, where we will take control of the man Don Salieri himself before he came to America and became the patriarch of the Salieri family. This is an exciting concept, and I am eager to see how Hangar 13 pulls this off if it is true. There was another rumor floating around after “Mafia 3’s” release that stated that the next game would be set in the 1980s and would give us control of John Donovan, Lincoln’s best friend. In my opinion, this one makes more sense and is more believable, as the games usually jump two decades if we are to look at them chronologically, and since “Mafia 3” took place in the 1960s, it only makes sense for the next game to take us to the 1980s. Either way, this franchise is beloved by fans, and there’s no way that a new game isn’t in active development at this point, especially when you consider “Mafia: Definitive Edition,” which not only was a great remake of the first game but also showcased the improvements Hangar 13 have made to their game engine. This game is also under Take-Two Interactive, so it’ll be cool to see their two big criminal games get announcements for their next entries in 2023.
Untitled Superman Game
This is wishful thinking, I know, but trust me, it’s possible this time. Why? Allow me to start from the beginning. Developers WB Games Montreal released “Batman Arkham Origins” in 2013, which acted as a filler game between Rocksteady’s “Arkham City” and “Arkham Knight,” and it’s only purpose was to make sure that the hype keeps going and the steam doesn’t die down for Batman games. The studio was built for the sole purpose of making games from the world of DC, and not long after the release of “Arkham Origins,” the studio started working on multiple titles, with emphasis on multiple titles. Rumors stated of a Suicide Squad game which may or may not be true as Rocksteady’s next game is “Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League,” and having two games being developed for Suicide Squad side by side wouldn’t have been a wise move. Then there was a rumor about the next “Arkham” game, despite the series ending with “Arkham Knight.” This game was allegedly called “Batman Arkham Insurgency” and continued many years from where “Arkham Knight ” left off and gave us Damian Wayne as the new Batman in a ravaged and ransacked and somewhat post-apocalyptic version of Gotham. This version of Gotham was out of control since the death of Batman, and while this game also got cancelled (again, allegedly since we are talking about leaks here), the premise does sound interesting, don’t you think? This game was more than likely real, as you can easily find tons of concept art online. Now, with two games allegedly in development that allegedly got cancelled, that fits the bill for “multiple” projects, wouldn’t you agree? There were rumblings of a third title in the works, a Superman game that was in its concept stage and allegedly got dropped. This never fit well with me as making a Superman game is no easy task, but if someone is thinking of making it, then dropping it as early as in the concept stage is the equivalent of a fan dreaming about flying as Superman in Metropolis. This is not how professional studios will operate; they’ll at least try and make a proof of concept before moving on.
Fast forward to more recently, when WB Games Montreal released “Gotham Knights,” which was okay, I like the game, but it didn’t bode well with the audiences, and there’s no way it took them nine years to make this one game. Then, a little bit later, people spotted Linkedin posts for the studio, which practically told us that they had started active development for their next title. After that, we got a leaker who claimed with certainty that this next game is Superman; it has been in the works for many years and was always planned for a 2024 release date. He also claims that the game is far enough along in development that we are bound to see an announcement this year. Believing a leaker’s word without proof would be foolish, but here comes a curveball. Some time ago, Roger Clarke, the voice actor behind Arthur Morgan from “Red Dead Redemption 2,” out of nowhere tweeted about a Superman game and asked his fans what they would do first if they got an open-world Superman game. Fishy, don’t you think? What do you know, Roger, that you are hiding from all of us? All of this, in combination, is pointing towards one thing: there is more than likely a Superman game heading our way. We’ve got the technology, and if someone can figure it out, I’ll take a Superman game no matter how mediocre it may be; if it’s great, even better. It’s about time we get one, as this iconic hero has never shined in the video game department, and with modern technologies and more powerful hardware, one day soon, I am certain we are going to get a shiny Superman game. Maybe we’ll get an announcement during this year’s DC Fandome. Fingers crossed!
Final Words
All of this has been based on leaks and speculation, so take all of this with a grain of salt. The only one of these three that we know for sure is in the works is “Grand Theft Auto 6,” as we have official word from Rockstar Games about it. The other two are possible, but once again, there’s no certainty unless they get officially announced. I will happily take all three of these games, but please, for the love of all that’s holy, let the Superman game be real for once. We are bound to get tons of announcements during this year’s E3, Gamescom, Summer Game Fest, Game Awards, and other shows, so keep your eyes peeled for these three alongside a ton of surprises!
