2018 produced some of the best games we’ve ever had the pleasure of playing — from God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Black Ops 4. It’ll be hard to top last year’s titles, but 2019 won’t disappoint. Hopefully.
With highly anticipated sequels and compelling original affairs in the mix, we’re excited to see what developers produce this year. We’ve scoured the upcoming releases, and chose our picks for the most anticipated games set to arrive in 2019.
The Last of Us Part II
Our most anticipated game of 2019 hasn’t even been confirmed to release in the year – but we’re so ravenous for it that we can’t help but put it here anyway and hope it works out.
We picked the original The Last of Us as our all-time favourite game, and what we’ve seen so far of The Last of Us Part II only seems poised to deliver an even greater experience. Ellie is all grown up now and facing what seems to be some freaky cult, and Naughty Dog has put all of its additional expertise and skill into making this look pretty phenomenal.
Uncharted 4 lived up to the hype, after all, so why can’t The Last of Us Part II?
Platform: PlayStation 4
Due: TBA
Cyberpunk 2077
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is one of the best games on the current generation of consoles, so it’s no surprise that we have incredibly high hopes for Cyberpunk 2077, the next huge, open-world game from CD Projekt RED.
As the trailer shows, it’s a very different kind of world, swapping classic fantasy for… well, cyberpunk in the futuristic American setting of Night City. You can customise your mercenary however you please and take on a wide array of missions, all of which look incredibly cool.
Cyberpunk 2077 hasn’t been officially confirmed for 2019 yet, but given the extensive gameplay demo and hints of a release during the year, we feel pretty confident that it’ll arrive before 2020.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: TBA
Death Stranding
Developed by Silent Hill’s Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding is one of the titles we can’t wait to get our hands on. The first trailer debuted back in 2016 at E3, and it’s one of those games we can’t stop thinking about.
Although we’ve seen a total of five (quite bizarre) trailers released over the years, no-one’s quite sure what the story really entails yet. Norman Reedus plays the presumed protagonist in a post-apocalyptic, lush green setting. We’re most intrigued by the story (something Kojima gets right more than anything else), and cannot wait to see what this massive project produces. Even though there isn’t a definite release date yet — we’re optimistic.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Due: TBA
Kingdom Hearts 3
Arriving more than 13 years after the last core entry, Kingdom Hearts III finally continues the Disney-meets-Final Fantasy crossover that was so great back on the PlayStation 2.
If you haven’t followed the myriad portable spinoffs over the years, worry not: you ought to be able to pick up here as Sora and the crew explore worlds based on the likes of Toy Story, Big Hero 6, and Monsters, Inc, along with some familiar locales from the earlier entries. This role-playing quest should be suitably epic, and hopefully the story is at least a little more comprehensible than in previous entries.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One
Due: 29 January
Doom Eternal
The 2016 Doom reboot was pretty awesome, but Doom Eternal is ready to amp things up to an entirely new level.
There’s a whole lot of demon slaying going on here, with even more aggressive-looking action and a “meat hook” shotgun grappling hook attachment that lets you anchor into enemies and swing around the world. Even with that new element, Doom Eternal seems to keep the rapid-paced, run-and-gun dynamic that made the last game (and the classics) so much fun.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Due: TBA 2019
Anthem
Looking more than a little bit like BioWare’s take on Destiny, Anthem is a co-op, sci-fi shooter that drops you into a Javelin mech suit to try and save humanity from all manner of foul beasts.
BioWare has produced a fair few masterpieces in its time, although its last game – 2017’s Mass Effect Andromeda – had a hit-or-miss launch and quickly disappeared from memory. But what we’ve seen of Anthem still looks super-cool, with the aerial combat hopefully lending the game enough of a different tone to stand out from Destiny 2.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 22 February
Resident Evil 2
The legendary Resident Evil 2 gets more than just a fresh coat of paint in this proper remake, which sees the survival horror classic reimagined with modern flourishes.
It now has an over-the-shoulder approach like Resident Evil 4 and other recent entries, with dramatically improved graphics as Leon and Claire slay zombies in the Raccoon City Police Department and beyond. Resident Evil 2 also packs in some new content, keeping the spirit of the iconic original while providing fresh incentive to dive into this fabulous-looking remake.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 25 January
Dreams
Media Molecule cemented its legendary status with the first two LittleBigPlanet games, but the studio might top those creative classics with its next game, Dreams.
Like LittleBigPlanet, Dreams is built around the “play, create, share” philosophy – but it provides a much broader toolset to create your own wild, distinctive game experiences and send them out into the world for other players to experience. The impressionistic art style looks incredible, and the ability to paint your worlds with the PlayStation Move controllers is probably the best non-VR reason to bust them out in years.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Due: TBA 2019
Ghost of Tsushima
Just feast your eyes on this trailer above. Ghost of Tsushima looks utterly gorgeous, and it comes from a studio with a real open-world pedigree: Sucker Punch Productions, the folks behind Infamous.
Set in 1274, Ghost of Tsushima drops samurai hero Jin Sakai into the middle of a fight for his home, as the Mongol Empire invades the Japanese island of Tsushima. This gameplay demo shows off a bit of what we’re so excited about, with an incredible samurai duel set against falling leaves, dazzling terrain, and dreamy lighting effects.
Hopefully it has the story and gameplay to match the looks, but the first impression is massively good. Unfortunately, it’s not yet confirmed for 2019, but it’s been on the horizon for quite a while now.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Due: TBA
Tom Clancy’s the Division 2
The Division was one of the absolute best games of 2016, delivering a chilling vision of New York following a devastating outbreak – and populating the eerie space with plenty of alluring shoot-and-loot action.
Now the sequel is coming to continue that trend while expanding on the original premise. The Division 2 shifts the action to Washington D.C. and looks to provide a wider array of terrain, along with eight-player raids and character subclasses that let you specialise in unique ways. And the first year of add-on content will be free for everyone. Hopefully that keeps the online community alive and engaged in a way that Destiny 2 failed to out of the gate.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 15 March
Sekiro: Shadows die twice
What’s this? A ninja-themed action game from the director and developer behind Dark Souls and Bloodborne? Yes, that sounds like something we’d be into.
Even with that pedigree, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice doesn’t just swap scenarios while keeping the familiar gameplay intact. Here, you’ll wield a katana and attack enemies to find an opening to strike the killing blow, plus it lacks character creation and role-playing elements. Even so, if it can nail that intriguing twist on the surely-challenging combat, then we expect that Sekiro will be another essential FromSoftware experience.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 22 March
Halo Infinite
Halo 5: Guardians was a bit of a letdown, but Microsoft seems intent on turning a new leaf with Halo Infinite, which debuts a new game engine and brings back Master Chief as the focal point.
That’s… pretty much all we know at this point, other than it’s coming for both Xbox One and Windows 10, ending years of Xbox-exclusivity for the main shooter entries. The new engine looks pretty fantastic based on the brief demo above, but it doesn’t give a sense of how far along development is. And a 2019 release isn’t confirmed yet, although a rumour around E3 suggested a staggered release with single-player out in 2019 and multiplayer to follow in 2020.
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
Due: TBA
Mortal Kombat 11
It’s back! NetherRealm Studios’ iconic fighting favourite returns in 2019 with Mortal Kombat 11, which promises to deliver inventive new ways to utterly destroy your opponents.
The first trailer doesn’t show any big tonal surprises: it’s still wildly violent and gory, with Fatality moves that will surely walk the line between disturbing and hilarious. The trailer hints at some character changes, however, and the studio has promised fighter customisation along the lines of that seen in the great Injustice 2.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Due: 23 April
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
Respawn Entertainment has thus far made a couple of stellar Titanfall games, but its next project will take players to a galaxy far, far away – yes, that one.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order will tell an original tale set after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and it’ll spotlight a Padawan who survived that film’s grisly Order 66 massacre. Purported leaks suggest that it takes place five years after the film and claim that story details could come from the Star Wars comics.
The above promo video from 2016 shows a bit of motion capture and hyped-up talk around the game, but there’s no official footage just yet. We’re expecting that around E3 in June.
Platforms: TBA
Due: End 2019
Gears 5
We don’t know for sure whether we’ll see Halo Infinite in 2019, but Microsoft has had Gears 5 on the calendar for a while now – and it looks like a pretty appealing twist for the series.
After the fun but predictable Gears of War 4, it’s nice to see Gears 5 introduce not only a heroine to lead the usually dude-heavy franchise, but also pack a lot more colour into what Microsoft says are the largest environments yet. We still expect cover-based blasting at the heart of the experience, but here’s hoping Gears 5 is the shot in the arm the series needs.
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
Due: TBD 2019
Days Gone
Days Gone‘s tagline is “This World Comes for You,” and based on what the trailer shows… yeah, that actually seems about right.
Sony’s PS4 game feels like it’s been on the horizon forever, since the first E3 2016 showing that dumped seemingly hundreds of frantic zombie-like enemies loose on your biker hero. The rest of the game has been fleshed out gradually over time, and we came away from our E3 2018 hands-on feeling pretty optimistic about where it’s going.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Due: 26 April
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
If you didn’t play it, Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the absolute best games you can play on Xbox One (and pretty great on PC too) – and the sequel certainly sits on our 2019 wish list.
The original was both stunning and heartbreaking, and early trailers for Ori and the Will of the Wisps suggests much the same, with the first teaser promising tears and the second showing off some slick gameplay. It’s still a side-scrolling platformer with a bit of a Metroid influence in tow, but now it promises a new combat system and a bunch of customisation options.
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
Due: TBD 2019
Rage 2
id Software’s original Rage was hyped as a Doom or Quake-level sensation in the making, but the actual game ended up being a bit flat. The studio aims to avoid that fate this time around with the clearly amped-up Rage 2.
Featuring an injection of personality and Mad Max-esque enemies to blast through, Rage 2 also brings in some super-powered abilities that let you run rampant through the wasteland. It has a heavy vehicular focus, which looks fun, and the open-world veterans at Avalanche Studios are helping to hopefully make this world a lot more interesting than the last game’s.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 14 May
Devil May Cry 5
DmC: Devil May Cry was a pretty divisive game – we loved the reboot, but a lot of the old fans couldn’t grapple with the drastic makeover. Luckily for them, the original series is back in action.
Devil May Cry 5 features a trio of distinctive playable heroes – Nero, his brother (and original series lead) Dante, and new character V – each with a unique style as you hack and slash and blast your way through scads of demons. The early reaction has been very strong; between this and Resident Evil 7 (and the upcoming RE2 remake), it seems like Capcom’s classic franchises are back on track.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 8 March
Far Cry: New Dawn
No joke: less than a year after Far Cry 5, Ubisoft is back with another standalone game in Far Cry: New Dawn. In truth, though, it’s like a sequel/spinoff hybrid that’s apparently robust enough to be sold as a fresh experience.
New Dawn takes place 17 years after Far Cry 5‘s true, explosive ending, spotlighting a pair of twin sisters who are thriving in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Hope County. Along with other bandits, they’ll surely lead you to a good time around this elaborate open world, which is filled with all sorts of enemies, weapons, vehicles, and animals to engage with. Far Cry is always a blast; hopefully the quick turnaround doesn’t dampen its impact this time around.
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Due: 15 February