Best Upcoming Games 2023

Want to stay up to date on new games coming out soon? Check out this list of the best upcoming games for 2023 and beyond!

With both long-running franchises and breakout indie games taking the world by storm, there’s no denying that 2022 was a great year for gaming.

So while many of us may still be clamoring to clear out our backlogs, the best new games of 2024 rapidly approach.

In this list, we’ll highlight the best upcoming games releasing on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms.

Make sure to check back for future updates and announcements regarding new 2024 video games!

Related:Best Upcoming PC Games 2023 (And Beyond)Best Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games 2023Best Upcoming PS4 Games 2023 (And Beyond)

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Due out in late January, Fire Emblem Engage is the next installment in the Nintendo-exclusive tactical RPG series.

Set in the continent of Elyos, the story sees you teaming up with past Fire Emblem heroes to defeat the powerful Fell Dragon.

This requires your character to gather the Emblem Rings scattered across Elyos while fighting their way through tactical turn-based battles.

The new “Engage” mechanic will let your character merge appearances with heroes to unlock new weapons, skills, and more.

Forspoken is an upcoming open-world action-adventure game currently in development at Luminous Productions, a new Square Enix game studio formed by members of the Final Fantasy 15 development team.

The game sees you controlling a young woman named Athia, as she explores a “world not her own,” comprised of snowy mountains, lush forests, and ancient ruins.

In the teaser trailer, we can see Athia possesses the power to make roots grow out of the ground and fire-breathing wolves are among the game’s enemy types.

Considering the developer’s affinity for JRPGs, it’ll be interesting to see them apply their talent to a new genre.

On the PC and PlayStation side of things, gamers can look forward to playing the upcoming game SEASON: A letter to the future, by Scavengers Studio.

Billed as a narrative-driven exploration adventure, the game casts you as a young traveler named Estelle on their first journey away from home.

Exploring vibrant and stylized environments affected by changing seasons, Estelle will record and photograph various characters she meets to learn more about the world.

It seems like one of the more relaxing upcoming games we have to look forward to, and there’s definitely always room for more of those!

Outside of movie tie-ins and the occasional mobile release, we haven’t really seen many games explore the magical world of Harry Potter.

That’s set to change when Avalanche and Warner Bros.’s upcoming open-world action RPG Hogwarts Legacy releases next year.

Set during the late 1800s, it casts the player as a new student at Hogwarts tasked with choosing their House and attending classes while exploring the school’s mysterious grounds.

Over time, they’ll learn to cast different spells, brew potions, tame magical beasts, and battle enemies while navigating a morality system based on their actions.

The next upcoming game on our list is Wild Hearts, a new multiplayer action RPG that comes courtesy of Omega Force and EA.

Reminiscent of games like Monster Hunter, this title sees up to 3 players hunting massive creatures in a fantasy world based on feudal Japan.

It boasts 8 unique weapon types that can be leveraged further by constructing permanent objects in the world.

Such tools allow the player to momentarily trap, stun, or otherwise weaken the monster for long enough to get in close and deal massive damage.

Initially announced as a 2018 release, Atomic Heart has had one of the more interesting development stories, with rumors suggesting it may not even be the same game anymore.

Categorized as a “first-person shooter with RPG elements,” the game is well into the process of development at studio Mundfish, a Russian-based indie game studio.  

Evoking memories of sci-fi staples like BioShock and Fallout, Atomic Heart takes place in an alternate reality where the Soviet Union’s research has led to a technical revolution.

Players assume control of a Soviet KGB officer tasked with infiltrating a secret facility that’s gone radio silent.

A follow-up to the hit Square Enix RPG Octopath Traveler is also anticipated to release at the tail end of February.

Centering on a new cast and setting separate from its predecessor, Octopath Traveler II will see players moving between eight separate characters.

Each one has its own storyline, playstyle, and rewards to uncover by completing their respective path action.

This ties in nicely with the sequel’s new day and night segments allowing you to play out each character’s story in different ways.

Skull and Bones‘ development has been plagued by numerous delays, reboots, and internal turmoil stemming from the game’s creative director leaving mid-production.

At the moment, the upcoming game’s release date points towards sometime in March 2023 for PC and consoles.

We bet many of you are looking forward to getting your hands on this one, and with good reason.

Some of its systems are genuinely interesting, such as using landmass for cover and territory control as well as camouflaging your ship by raising the enemy’s flag. 

Each day brings us one step closer to the release date of Nintendo’s upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild.

Officially titled The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel will see Link exploring both the land and sky portions of Hyrule with new powers.

This includes expanded object stasis manipulation and teleportation abilities that should make traversal even more delightful.

At one point in the trailer, we can see Link riding on a stone bird and skydiving down to the now-familiar Hyrule open world.

A sequel to Respawn and EA’s Star Wars Jedi series will be making its way to PS5 come mid-March of 2023.

Set five years after Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor sees Jedi Knight Cal Kestis seeking refuge while being pursued by the Galactic Empire.

Doing whatever it takes to survive, he’ll travel to new planets to gather allies, hone his skills, and take on bigger threats than ever before.

Survivor is expected to have much faster load times and potentially better graphics than its predecessor.

After all these years, we were just about ready to hang up our dreams of Dead Island 2 ever coming out.

However, in a strange turn of events, the zombie game will finally make its way into players’ hands come April 2023.

Taking place several months after the original Dead Island and Riptide, Dead Island 2 brings the undead fun to a now-quarantined Los Angeles.

Here, players get to explore a brand-new open world while mastering the sequel’s new combat mechanics and updated “rage” and crafting systems.

The next entry in the Street Fighter franchise is slated for a June release and looks to be injecting new life into the legendary fighter.

This includes an expanded roster of fighters like Luke and Lily alongside classic characters like Ryu and Chun-Li.

All have received a new design that pairs nicely with Street Fighter 6‘s new bold and colorful graffiti-inspired art style.

On the combat side of things, the game introduces a new Drive Gauge system designed to spark player creativity when stringing together combos.

It’s been a long road for Diablo 4 so we’re eager to see what Blizzard has to offer after a string of controversial releases from the company.

Maintaining the dungeon-crawling identity of its predecessors, the game sees you navigating through procedurally generated maps in pursuit of loot.

Along the way, you’ll battle formidable foes using five playable classes that have appeared in previous Diablo games.

Diablo 4 marks the return of PvP battling alongside new quests, combat mechanics, and open-world environments.

Mina the Hollower is the next title out of Yacht Club Games, best known for the indie platformer Shovel Knight.

Much like its predecessor, the game centers on action-platforming gameplay with similarly retro-inspired visuals.

In it, players take on the role of the titular Mina, a skilled inventor and “Hollower” who travels around Tenebrous Isle to investigate a mysterious power outage.

Along the way, she’ll encounter a host of foes that must be dispatched using Mina’s trusty whip and burrowing ability.

The announcement of Metal Slug Tactics caught many by surprise, considering the franchise is exclusively known for its retro run-n-gun games.

However, if the trailer’s any indication, developer Leikir Studio has a bonafide hit on their hands that draws heavy inspiration from games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem.

Additionally, the upcoming game will reportedly include some roguelike elements that will keep gameplay and progression feeling fresh and exciting.

While we’ve yet to see just how well Metal Slug meshes with tactical RPG gameplay, we’re willing to take the risk and find out when it releases later this year.

Carrying on with our list of the best upcoming games, the STALKER series is known for getting nitty-gritty with its approach to post-apocalyptic open worlds.

While they’ve always been reminiscent of games like Metro and even Fallout RPGs to some extent, the series suddenly disappeared after just three releases.

STALKER 2 will see players venturing into “The Zone,” an irradiated wasteland surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site.

The area stands out for its high radiation levels, which causes scavengers to develop supernatural abilities that affect traversal and combat.

Reminiscent of modern action games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, Stellar Blade is an upcoming game about a survivor who must fight unknown creatures on a post-apocalyptic Earth.

Combat is modeled after combo-heavy action games and sees you taking down enemies using a combination of spectacular attacks, parries, and dodge maneuvers with her blade in tow.

The game will also focus on platforming sections that force the player to master the terrain by scaling walls, sliding tactically around enemies, swinging from ropes, and much more.

On PS5, Stellar Blade will take advantage of the DualSense controller’s built-in haptic feedback but is also expected to release on Xbox consoles and PC.

Bethesda announced Starfield back in 2018 with a teaser trailer and we haven’t heard much aside from some small leaks of info leading up to an update during E3 2021.

We now know the game will be releasing exclusively for Xbox and PC and coming to Game Pass on launch day.

Similar to previous Bethesda RPGs like Skyrim, Starfield will see players embarking on an epic open-world adventure, only this time in space.

There’s still some mystery surrounding what mankind is turning to the stars in search of, though if we had to wager, it probably has something to do with aliens.

It’s been exciting to see developer Arkane branch out from the Dishonored series and explore new ideas and themes with games like Prey, Deathloop, and now Redfall.

The company’s Austin-based studio is currently working on an open-world co-op shooter centered on a team of survivors battling supernatural forces.

Players will be able to choose their character from a diverse cast with unique abilities before setting off to liberate the small town of Redfall, Massachusetts from vampires.

Considering Arkane Austin has primarily focused on single-player affairs, it’ll be interesting to see how the team approaches a co-op shooter in a post-Left 4 Dead world.

Even though Bethesda is more occupied with Elder Scrolls: Online, they still like to occasionally remind us Elder Scrolls VI is coming.

That being said, we haven’t received an update since 2018, so it’s likely Bethesda will have something to show before the year is through.

Current speculation suggests ES6 might be set in the Skyrim-adjacent region of High Rock based on the announcement trailer depicting a mountainous northern province.

It’s also rumored that the ongoing conflict with the Thalmor may be a key element in the game’s plot.

While it may not be the long-rumored Fable 4 sequel we had in mind, a new Fable game is confirmed to be in development at Playground Games, best known for the Forza Horizon.

Intended to be a reboot for the series, Fable will retain the spirit of the original trilogy, which saw players engaging with magical creatures throughout fantasy-inspired locales. 

Other than a cinematic reveal trailer, we don’t have much to go off of in terms of gameplay or even story.

The game is still a long way off but is expected to launch on Xbox Series X, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.

Avowed is a brand-new IP from developer Obsidian that’s currently in development. It’s described as a first-person RPG set in a fantasy-inspired world called Eora.

In it, you play as an unknown hero who wields a sword and casts magical spells using some really cool-looking hand gestures.

It’s not surprising to see Obsidian racing to make another RPG considering it’s their bread and butter: New Vegas, KOTR2, Pillars of Eternity, etc.

Thematically, Avowed gives off a much darker tone than we’ve seen Obsidian explore in the past, so it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with. 

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Justin Fernandez

As a fan of both indie and triple-A games, Justin finds joy in discovering and sharing hidden gems with other passionate gamers. In addition to reporting on the latest and greatest titles, he manages GamingScan’s social media channels.

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