We've just experienced one of the best years for new video games on record. You can look at the best games of 2023 and get a clear sense of where interactive entertainment is likely heading in the future. Big, ambitious concepts met with flawless, experimental execution. It's exciting, and more than a little daunting – particularly as we look towards the titles which will no doubt be Big in 2024. While I anticipate that the year will be packed with some truly fantastic experiences, I do have this lingering sense that we'll all need to work hard to swerve some fairly unrealistic expectations.
Development of modern video games is on something of a challenging trajectory right now, where the expense and experience required to see a AAA title through production is continually compounding. This means that while it's largely true that Baldur's Gate 3 will shape the future of the RPG – pushing developers to invest in denser, more reactive and cinematic play spaces – it's probably going to take between three and five years before we see the first waves of titles inspired by Larian's award-winning approach to game design, if not way longer.
Which is all to say that we won't likely see games as proudly idiosyncratic as Alan Wake 2 or as wildly expansive as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom this year. That's alright though, because I'm hoping that we'll finally begin to see more big-budget and independent games building off of success stories of 2018 and 2019 – experiences as experimental as Outer Wilds, as in-depth as Disco Elysium, as appropriated-scaled as The Outer Worlds, or as damned-smart as Return of the Obra Dinn. Should that come to pass, then 2024 should be one hell of a year in its own right.
Exploring the state of play
It kind of has to be though, right? If documents released through the Activision Blizzard acquisition court battles are to be believed, 2024 is effectively the halfway point of the current generation. The Xbox Series X and PS5 are expected to have a shelf life of around eight years, so we're at the stage where we should see first-party developers really begin to push the technology after spending four years grappling with the potential and pitfalls of each platform. That is certainly on the near horizon, as Microsoft Gaming positions Avowed and Hellblade, and as PlayStation continues to invest heavily in third-party exclusives like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Rise of the Ronin.
Interestingly, both the Xbox Game Studios and PlayStation Studios portfolios have scores of first-party games in development right now, although precious few have speculative release windows, let alone firm dates. Given the perpetual challenges developers are facing with leaks and illegal hacks – Rockstar and Insomniac being the most high profile victims in recent months – I'd like to think that publishers may take matters into their own hands and push for greater transparency. While this approach has its own problems, I would love to see studios given the freedom to be more vocal about development timelines, and more forthcoming with progress throughout the entire production pipeline.
Because while it's certainly great that Xbox was able to reveal games like Perfect Dark and State of Decay 3 on its own terms, for example, all we've had to go on for almost four years are single cinematic trailers and the occasional press statement – Ninja Theory has been pretty forthcoming throughout the development of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, and this could act as a model for others within the Xbox Game Studios network. Similarly, I'd love for PlayStation Studios teams to be given more freedom to talk to the public, particularly after the cancellation of The Last of Us Online after years of pre-production – what this means for Sony's wide investment towards live service remains to be seen, inviting wide (and often unhelpful) speculation. What we need now more than ever is a clear sense of what's coming, and a better sense of the intent behind company directions and initiatives.
That's especially true as the platform holders begin to introduce new hardware permeations. Sony recently released the PS5 Slim in selected territories, an economic revision that doesn't exactly rewrite the rulebook. Microsoft is reportedly preparing to release an all-digital Xbox Series X refresh with a new design, features, and controller. We aren't likely to see anything as drastic as the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X this time around, and if the big two aren't going to be expending energy trying to convince core players to recycle through hardware models, they need to do a better job at showcasing what's on the horizon – really getting players locked into the Xbox Game Pass Core and PlayStation Plus ecosystems.
And then there's Nintnedo. Always one to play by its own rules, the Switch is now staring down the barrel of a potentially challenging 12 months after what was arguably the strongest year in the console's lifecycle. Outside of the truly delightful Princess Peach: Showtime, the publisher has positioned a mass of long-awaited remakes and remasters – the returns of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door. The death knell for the Nintendo Switch is ringing, and it's likely that the successor to the system is on the near horizon – ideally, with the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4.
With all that said, I do think that 2024 is going to be fantastic for players – no matter your genre preferences or platform allegiances. There's a wealth of excellent looking upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox Series X games that you need to have on your radar, many of which we'll be exploring this month as we launch Big in 2024 – the 12DOVE new year preview, taking you inside the most anticipated games with exclusive interviews, hand-on previews, and all-new analysis. We are launching new articles every day throughout the month of January, so be sure to keep an eye out for those to get a better sense of where you should focus your attention.
