The Game Awards is set to premiere on Thursday, December 12 at 5:30 PM PT. And while some might love seeing their Game of the Year win that most prestigious award, some also tune into the many world premieres. By balancing premieres with awards, it shows how this industry can respect the past while also keeping its eye on what is coming next. This year alone is set to have around 10 new reveals. And while most games that have been revealed have come out (like most games shown over the years) or are coming out soon (like Journey to the Savage Planet), some of these premieres have have impressive showings only to disappear from the public eye. So what Game Awards reveals are we still waiting on?
MIA Game Awards Reveals | In the Valley of Gods
Campo Santo, the team behind Firewatch, revealed In the Valley of Gods in The Game Awards in 2017 with a moderately sized trailer. Long silences aren’t unusual but they can be given the circumstances surrounding them. After Valve bought Campo Santo, the team members slowly started zapping any mentions of the game from their social profiles, which eventually led to studio Co-Founder Jake Rodkin releasing a statement that said that development was on hold. The team is helping create Half-Life: Alyx (which will be at this year’s show) and other projects. However, he did state that it “certainly feels like a project people can and may return to.” Alas, it sounds like it won’t be any time soon.
ALSO: Why Half-Life: Alyx’s VR exclusivity is a great, bold choice
MIA Game Awards Reveals | Witchfire
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter developer The Astronauts also revealed its next game, Witchfire, in a bait-and-switch trailer in 2017 that hinted at a calm exploration game before ratcheting up the adrenaline and turning into an action-packed trailer for a first-person shooter. The game hasn’t faded into the ether but it hasn’t been too loud about its progress. The Astronauts has been releasing detailed developer updates for quite some time and has even put some short, unlisted clips up on YouTube. But these frequent, tiny posts haven’t floated up to the mainstream and have given the impression of a game stuck in some sort of limbo. Hopefully, Witchfire can start building momentum and make its name known to more people as retro shooter throwbacks seem to go over quite well when done correctly.
MIA Game Awards Reveals | Bayonetta 3
After the reveal that the first two games would be making their way to the Switch, ex-Nintendo President and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé went on the stage to announce Bayonetta 3 in 2017. It was the briefest of teases and we’ve heard almost nothing in the ensuing two years. The Bayonetta 3 portion of Platinum’s website is even still barren after all these years. Development is allegedly going well in its unorthodox form, but we haven’t seen the fruits of that labor or even as much as a screen shot. Reggie will be at this year’s show but unfortunately, he probably won’t be able to give us an update on the next entry in the beloved action series.
MIA Game Awards Reveals | Dragon Age
Nearly two years separated from the disappointing Mass Effect Andromeda, BioWare seemed to try to quell some naysayers by unveiling a teaser trailer for the next Dragon Age game. But those 12 months since haven’t expanded upon that brief clip, resulting in another case of zero official news surrounding the upcoming RPG. Perhaps the studio is quite busy with its alleged Anthem overhaul and next Mass Effect entry but it still doesn’t completely explain the lack of official Dragon Age info in the past year. Although, according to Kotaku, the studio’s past turbulence is partly to blame. The reporting is most likely pretty solid, but that doesn’t discount how neither EA or BioWare haven’t said much else since aside from coy teases and vague earnings call release windows. BioWare could use a win as long as it doesn’t rush whatever footage it shows.
MIA Game Awards Reveals | The Pathless
The Pathless was one of the prettiest games to have a trailer at last year’s show but there hasn’t been a swell of concrete information that has followed its debut. Giant Squid, the studio behind Abzu, announced that the game was delayed into early 2020 along with putting out some updates that show how archery works, the mood of the soundtrack, and a post detailing that you can indeed pet the bird yet there are only a few snippets of videos on the game that show exactly what it is. Given Abzu‘s strengths, it’s likely a serene experience with colorful visuals that don’t quite require that a ton of trailers that detail its many mechanics. However, it would be nice to learn a bit more about the game’s narrative and systems before it comes out.
MIA Game Awards Reveals | The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Announced during the pre-show in 2018 (about 12 minutes after Josef Fares’ less swear-ridden return to the show), developer Crows Crows Crows showcased a trailer for The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, an updated version of the 2013 comedic walking simulator with new content, endings, and “whimsical adventures.” It was scheduled to hit PCs and consoles in 2019 but that, obviously, has not happened. Crows Crows Crows had nothing to say about this remaster until the end of November 2019 when it revealed that the game would be delayed to sometime “probably” before summer 2020 in the goofiest, most Stanley Parable way possible. So while it took a long time to get to the delay, at least the studio made some good jokes about it.
MIA Game Awards Reveals | The Last Campfire
While Hello Games is still toiling away on the space exploration game No Man’s Sky, it’s easy to forget that the studio also announced The Last Campfire at the event in 2018. This charming little adventure game was being positioned as a Hello Games Short in the style of a shorts Pixar plays in front of its movies (except for Toy Story 4) so it could “foster creativity and new voices.” Hello Games has also been short on information about this game as the Steam page still says it is coming in 2019, a unlikely possibility given how the year only has a few more weeks left in it. The descriptors are nebulous, meaning we don’t even know much about the title no matter how you slice it.
MIA Game Awards Reveals | Among Trees
Among Trees is yet another colorful game that debuted at 2018’s award show but hasn’t seen many updates since. New developer FJRD Interactive sold keys for a closed alpha, but not much else has hit the internet, which makes sense given how the alpha came with an NDA. We know it is a survival simulator where you can explore, build a cabin, and “live peacefully among the trees,” which sounds different from other, more violent entries in the genre. But we haven’t seen many of those systems in action, aside from some short videos and GIFs on Twitter and the game’s website. The Steam page still says it will hit Early Access this year so it could still happen as a limited amount of closed alpha keys started selling back in July.
[Image Credit: The Game Awards/YouTube]
