New Year, New Games: Titles to Look Out for in 2023
By Luke Condon
2022, while not the busiest year for gaming, marked a significant recovery for the industry after the pandemic-induced drought of new releases in 2021. This was demonstrated mainly by the success of several high-profile blockbusters like Horizon: Forbidden West, Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok, but indie developers also had an excellent year, with games such as Sifu, Stray, Cult of the Lamb and more performing particularly well sales-wise.
I’m happy to report that this upward trend is set to continue in 2023. Many highly anticipated titles that were previously hit with delays have finally broken out of development hell and are set to launch this year. What’s more is that 2023’s release schedule is nicely spread throughout the year, rather than being heavily concentrated around the holiday season or any other point in time, meaning that you’ll be able to enjoy games at your own pace all year long. Here's a small sample of what’s to come for gaming in 2023:
Starfield
It’s been too long since we’ve had a new Bethesda RPG to enjoy; their latest game, Fallout 4, released almost eight years ago. It can get a little confusing, as Bethesda Game Studios is just one part of the larger Bethesda Softworks, a group of companies that has been responsible for titles like Doom, Deathloop and Dishonoured in recent years. Nevertheless, BGS is by far the most influential developer under the Bethesda umbrella, both celebrated for their world-crafting abilities and scorned for their infamously bug-ridden game launches.
For the first time in living memory, Bethesda’s flagship series have been put on the backburner in order to give a new title a chance to shine. That title is Starfield, Bethesda’s first foray into outer space. Early looks at the game have been extremely promising; Bethesda seem to have taken criticism of previous games onboard, removing the voiced protagonist and reintroducing a more robust speech system, amongst other changes. With 1,000 planets to explore, Starfield seems set to provide gamers with a whole universe of entertainment when it releases during the first half of 2023.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
The original Spider-Man PS4 game likely holds the title of best superhero adaptation game of all time (sorry, Arkham Knight). A PlayStation exclusive, it blew fans away upon release in 2018, with fluid web-slinging mechanics and engaging combat systems that made swinging and sweeping your way through Manhattan an absolute joy. In 2020, a follow-up game was launched, this time focusing on Spider-Man’s young protégé Miles Morales, and while it possibly would have worked better as an add-on rather than a full game, it was still met with high praise.
The developers of Spider-Man, Insomniac Games, have been hard at work since then; in 2021 they managed to produce another acclaimed title by the name of Ratchet and Clank: A Rift in Time. Not the type to rest on their laurels, Insomniac unveiled their next two projects just a few months later: a sequel to Spider-Man, as well as an all-new Wolverine game. We’ve yet to hear anything else about the latter, but Insomniac’s parent company Sony have recently confirmed that Spider-Man 2 will come out in autumn this year. In the meantime, we’ll likely get a gameplay trailer and more details about the game’s plot; villains Kraven the Hunter and Venom are expected to feature prominently, and the story will likely also place significant focus on the new partnership between Spider-Man and Miles-Morales.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
This list’s indie representative has been in the works for quite some time. Team Cherry, a duo of developers from Australia, created the ‘Metroidvania’ platformer game Hollow Knight in 2017, and it soon became a cult favourite. The base game was bolstered over the following two years with four free expansion packs in total, adding new bosses, game modes and quests that enhanced an already-complete product. This post-launch support allowed Team Cherry to build an unwaveringly loyal fanbase, who have been patiently awaiting Hollow Knight’s sequel for years now.
Unfortunately, given the small size of Team Cherry, work on the new title has been slow (although they’ve now gained an additional member to become a trio). After an excruciating three-year wait following the sequel’s announcement in 2019, Hollow Knight fans were thrown a bone: a new trailer during the 2022 Xbox Games Showcase that confirmed Silksong will release in 2023. Players can look forward to taking control of Hornet, a supporting character from the first game, as she fights her way through the underground with an updated skill set and powerful items made using the game’s new crafting system.