For obvious reasons, 2020 hasn’t been an ordinary year.
The declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic several months ago has thrown a spanner in the works of every industry from hospitality to entertainment and despite the financial uncertainty, Sony and Microsoft have both decided to forge ahead with the launch of their latest and greatest gaming hardware. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, despite the total lack of a release date or price for either console, are on course to arrive this holiday season in what’s so far been arguably the most muted hype campaign for a new generation ever.
In light of the recent confirmation that Halo Infinite won’t even be here in time for the Series X’s debut and PS5 suffering from a similar lack of must-have exclusives beyond Spider-Man: Miles Morales, excitement levels are far below what one would expect this close to launch. No doubt contributing to the current climate is a lack of conventions such as E3 to showcase what’s to come, though some, such as Gamescom, have gone ahead this year in a temporary digital format.
The show, hosted by Geoff Keighley, didn’t feature any jaw-dropping announcements, though it did at least confirm a number of titles, mostly cross-generation, that will eventually make their way to next-gen.
The full list is as follows:
- Little Nightmares II (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Unknown 9 (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- 12 Minutes (Xbox Series X)
- Sonzai (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Aragami 2 (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Blood Bowl 3 (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Override 2: Super Mech League (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Sword of the Necromancer (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Nour: Play With Your Food (PS5)
- Lost at Sea (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Ova Magica (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- Hyper Team Racoon (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
- BADA Space Station (PS5 and Xbox Series X)
Again, there’s nothing overwhelmingly exciting here, though some standouts include Bandai Namco’s horror adventure sequel Little Nightmares II and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Developer of the latter, Traveller’s Tales, recently confirmed over 120 characters that’ll be playable in the game, which will encompass all nine films in the epic sci-fi saga. See here for the full story.
Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are rumored to arrive this November.