Summer Games Fest 2023 is drawing to a close which got us wondering, whatever happened to last years games?
Like this year, Summer Game Fest 2022 had a lot of exciting showings, but did any of these see the light of day? Or are they still in the works? We’ve selected a handful of games from last year’s line-up and we’re going to take a look at where they are now.
And if you’re already guessing “delayed”, yes, a lot of these titles have been subject to delays. We’d wheel out Shigeru Miyamoto’s famous quote but, as it turns out, he likely never actually said it. But we’d sooner see a game pushed back than arrive broken, put out by employees who have suffered through crunch after crunch.
So, in no particular order, let’s see what happened to these games:
Lightyear Frontier
This mech-based farming game definitely had our attention and we’re still looking forward to it. From developer Frame Break, it was set for a spring 2023 release but was delayed. As revealed by the Xbox Showcase Extended, it’s coming in early 2024 to PC and Xbox.
Soulstice
This eerie action adventure sees you exploring a ruined city, slashing away at foes. It was set for a late 2022 release and did, indeed arrive. Reviewing it, we awarded it 7/10, calling it “an action adventure game that you can really sink your teeth into.”
The Alters
Coming from 11 bit studios, the team behind This War of Mine, Frostpunk and the upcoming Frostpunk 2, this game sees a man trapped with his own alternate selves. We’re intrigued by this one, but 11 bit studios has remained tight-lipped. From what the studio has said, this is still in the works with a 2025 release window at the earliest. There’s been next to no new information released this year.
Hideo Kojima’s Xbox Game of Mystery
That’s not the games official title but at 2022’s Summer Game Fest Xbox Showcase, it was announced that Hideo Kojima was working with Xbox Game Studios on a game. A year later we’ve still had no hint of what that game is.
Flashback 2
A sequel to the classic rotoscoped platformer, apparently ignoring Fade to Black, this was set for a Winter 2022 release. It was delayed and is, fingers crossed, on course for a November 2023 release. As big fans of the original we’re seriously looking forward to this one.
Aliens: Dark Descent
This facehugger-filled action strategy is arriving this June 20th, landing on PC and console. It puts you in charge of a group of marines who definitely won’t die horribly. Honest.
Going through the rest, there’s a fair mixture – some have been delayed while others made their propose released windows. And some, such as Routine and Ereban: Shadow Legacy, are apparently still in development but updates have been thin on the ground.
However, covering last year’s Xbox Games Showcase, we did pick up on a few games that were notable by their absence. We wondered, for example, what Compulsion Games were up to. Thanks to this year’s Xbox Games Showcase we know: they’re working on the claymation-looking adventure, South of Midnight.
We also remarked on the absence of State of Decay 3, and this year we’ve still had nothing. There have been allegations of toxicity at developer Undead Labs so that may well have something to do with its uncertain status.
You can check out 2022’s Summer Game Fest coverage here. Is there’s anything you were counting on that’s yet to materialise? And if you missed out on this year’s Summer Game Fest news, you can find it here.
