Something Telltale
Telltale loves to announce something new at The Game Awards. Last year’s show saw the debut of their Guardians of the Galaxy series and 2015’s awards was the first time we saw the first season of Batman. It is unlikely that we’ll be treated to a brand new announcement, after the sad layoffs that happened at the studio earlier in the year, but we could get some updates on the games that have already been revealed.
The final season of The Walking Dead, which will see Clementine return as the playable character, was revealed at San Diego Comic Con in July and was given a release window of 2018. Also, the long awaited second season of The Wolf Among Us was revealed at Comic Con, and it was given the same vague release date.
Since the final episode of Guardians of the Galaxy has just released, and we’re over half way through season two of Batman, it is surely time for Telltale to reveal what game we should expect in the new year. It would be a surprise if we weren’t told which game was coming next, but we could even see an announcement about both release dates.
Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima and Geoff Keighley are best friends now and most of the Death Stranding crew are coming to present at the awards show. Kojima himself, Guillermo del Toro, and Norman Reedus have all been confirmed to be making appearances. There’s also a track record of Kojima showing Death Stranding, and his other games, off at The Game Awards.
At last year’s show, we were treated to another trailer. It was a cinematic one that acted more like a tone piece for the game rather than a gameplay or story reveal. It was just as weird and wonderful as before and starred Guillermo del Toro, who walked through a strange city and some tunnels holding a baby. It gave us no indication for what Death Stranding will be like, but it got us more excited nonetheless.
It is likely that we’ll see something similar again this year – something that will give us more of an idea about the tone of the game, and its style, rather than something that introduces the story. We could maybe even get new casting news, adding to the team that will already be present. Since the game hasn’t been in development long, it is highly unlikely that we’ll see anything story or gameplay related, but you never know when it comes to Hideo Kojima.
Rocksteady’s Next Game
We haven’t heard a peep out of Rocksteady since the stream of DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight finished releasing. Rocksteady themselves has been teasing a game that will make fans ‘lose their minds’ and there has been rumors circulating about a possible Superman game, continuing their streak of DC superhero games.
Rocksteady are no strangers to revealing something they’re working on at The Game Awards, either. The first trailer for Arkham City was premiered at the show, getting fans excited after the popularity of Arkham Asylum. Since it has been more than two years since the developer last released a game, it makes sense for now to be the time to reveal what is next. Whatever that next game is, it has got a lot to live up to after the excellent Arkham games.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Since the third game in the current Lara Croft series, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, was leaked in 2016, we’ve heard very little about it. The leak was nothing more than a sneaky cell phone picture of a developer’s laptop on a subway train and it gave us no information on the game itself.
It has also been more than two years since the last game in the series, Rise of the Tomb Raider, released, which is more than the 24 month gap between Rise and the 2013 reboot. It will likely release in fall 2018, if production is running smoothly, and if a reveal doesn’t happen at The Game Awards, it probably won’t be until E3 2018 that we hear about it.
Anthem
In the months running up to Mass Effect Andromeda’s release, we’d seen very little footage of the game. That was until the 2016 Game Awards, where EA showcased a gameplay trailer for the long-awaited return of the franchise. We saw the combat in action, got our first look at the female protagonist, and learned more about the game’s world. Now, with 2017’s show looming, fans are wondering whether we’ll see anything from EA’s next huge game, Anthem.
It was first revealed at E3 earlier this year and was given a release window of 2018. Should that still be the date, it would make sense for EA to show off how it is progressing before going all out at next year’s E3. It would be good to get players excited again, going into the new year, and it could take some of the attention away from the negative microtransaction cloud that has been in the news recently. EA has a history of showing off upcoming games at The Game Awards, and Anthem is their most high-profile.