Big Predictions for the Biggest Night in Games
Correction: Don’t expect to see The Last of Us Part II Thursday night, as Naughty Dog recently tweeted that they don’t be showing anything from the title at The Game Awards. (Whoops on my part!) 1 prediction axed, 4 remaining.
Original Story: The holiday season has begun, bringing with it a new awards season for video games. While countless sites (ours included) will undoubtedly be offering up their opinions on the best games of the past year, there is perhaps no end-of-year ceremony that is bigger, better, or more influential than The Game Awards.
Regardless of how you feel about The Game Awards, it is hard to dispute its lasting effect on the games industry. Geoff Keighley’s annual show—initially known as the VGAs (and, in 2013, as the VGX) back when it was produced in tandem with Spike TV—has brought plenty of memorable moments over the years, from world-premiere reveals of games like No Man’s Sky and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to touching and zany moments with developers and creators, to hilarious fan montages.
The Game Awards 2018 airs Thursday, December 6 at 8:30 ET, and Geoff Keighley is promising plenty of surprises. With 2019 on the horizon and no shortage of rumors and mysteries to be pondered as we head into the new year, here are five bold predictions as to what we can expect to see at this year’s Game Awards show:
1) Warner Bros.’ AAA Harry Potter Game Officially Unveiled
At the beginning of October, leaked footage of an unannounced video game was circulated on Reddit by a user with the now-iconic name “VapeThisBro.” The footage, astoundingly enough, seemed to be from a trailer for an upcoming Harry Potter game. Despite being hastily recorded off-cam, the footage nevertheless caused an internet frenzy thanks to the trailer’s impressive visuals, explosive combat, and underlying hints of a massive open world to be traversed.
While the development studio behind the trailer was not shared as part of the leak, people quickly connected the dots. Avalanche Software, known primarily as the development team behind Disney Infinity, was purchased by Warner Bros. several months after Disney cancelled Disney Infinity and shuttered the studio. An old job posting from 2017, upon closer inspection, seemed much more on-the-nose than it already had seemed, and after Eurogamer corroborated the leak with its own sources, it finally began to sink in for most regarding the magnitude of Avalanche Software’s next project.
Yet in the months after the trailer being posted and subsequently pulled, Warner Bros. and Avalanche Software have remained dead silent. Why continue to cover up what’s already been blown wide open?
I believe that Warner Bros. has been waiting patiently to show off the game for some time now. The leaked footage was already in the form of a trailer, so it seems fair to assume that it was intended to be watched by large audience of viewers. While GDC, PAX, and E3 would all be viable places for Warner Bros. to show off the game in 2019, I can’t imagine that Avalanche would have crafted a lengthy trailer—of a undoubtedly dated build, no less—months before actually debuting the trailer.
So yeah, we’ll be seeing the latest Harry Potter at The Game Awards, you can bet your bottom dollar. May be a teaser, may be the uncut leaked trailer, or may be something entirely new: In any case, though, I suspect we’ll hear the words “Wingardium Leviosa” uttered before the night is done.
2) Death Stranding Gameplay Further Detailed
It’s no secret that Geoff Keighley and Hideo Kojima are buddies. The two have shared a lengthy friendship—one strong enough for Keighley to have made it a point to honor Kojima during the 2016 Game Awards, after Kojima was famously cast out of his directorship at Konami and prohibited from attending the 2015 ceremony.
With the two’s relationship in mind, it seems like an easy bet that Kojima will come to The Game Awards 2018 with something new to show for Death Stranding. We’ve already received back-to-back trailers at The Game Awards—one in 2016 and another in 2017—and after an E3 2018 trailer that raised far more questions than it answered, the time seems about right for Kojima to grace us with his twisted, complex, cerebral mind once again.
Now, can we finally get a release date for the game?
3) Naughty Dog Debuts a Pulse-Pounding New The Last of Us II Trailer
Much like Kojima, Naughty Dog has a solid relationship with Geoff Keighley and The Game Awards. The announcement trailers for both Uncharted 3 and the original The Last of Us both debuted during the Spike VGAs (in 2010 and 2011, respectively). And while Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us II were both announced at other events, Uncharted 4 made sure to stop by the Game Awards in 2015 and… well, I think you know where I’m going with this.
The Last of Us II is due for a new trailer after its ridiculously intense showcase at E3. Like Death Stranding, the game is also still without a firm release date. Unlike Death Stranding, however, I think we have a remote chance of seeing a release date revealed on Thursday alongside a new trailer. If not an exact month and date, then at least a “2019” to get PlayStation fans excited. After all, it’s not like we don’t all already know the game is releasing in 2019 anyways.
4) Nintendo Teases What’s Next for the Switch
With the launch of undoubtedly Nintendo’s biggest release of 2018, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, nearly upon us, it’s time to start looking at what 2019 has in store for the Nintendo Switch.
Past Nintendo announcements at Keighley’s shows have ranged wildly in quality, from the stealth release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s second DLC pack to… Cranky Kong being playable in Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze. Even still, Nintendo’s Game Awards reveals have seen an up-tick in quality in recent years, and I see no reason why that shouldn’t be the case on Thursday night.
Will we see Metroid Prime 4, or even a Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch announcement, as the internet adamantly suggests? I have no idea. At this point, anything is fair game for Nintendo. While I wouldn’t expect anything along the lines of a colossal “Breath of the Wild 2!” announcement, just about anything else seems surprisingly within the realm of possibility.
Personally? If it’s not Metroid, then I’d love to see an official Skyward Sword HD announcement or, even better, confirmation of DLC worlds for Super Mario Odyssey. Heck, maybe even the reveal of the first paid DLC character for Ultimate to coincide with the game’s launch. Or—big or!—a new Paper Mario game.
Even if we just get some new Luigi’s Mansion or Fire Emblem footage, though, I’ll be a happy camper. The future for Switch looks bright, indeed.
5) Half-Life 3 Finally Confirmed
I have no stake in the ongoing “Will Valve ever make another sequel?” debate. It’s no secret that Valve has dialed back its game development arm over the past decade, and while plenty of Steam enthusiasts, Portal lovers, and Gabe Newell worshipers are understandably frustrated at this point with the company’s recent direction, Valve games have just never been big enough a part of my life for me to care. (I do, however, love the pressure that Epic has put on Valve with this week’s announcement of a much more developer-friendly PC games storefront.)
Half-Life 3 is special, though. Even if I wasn’t a huge fan of what I played of it on 2007’s The Orange Box, I have unquestionable respect for those who have stood by Gordan Freeman for so many years. Half-Life has become so integral, so entrenched in the history of gaming, that it’s hard not to root for fans who have been begging for a new entry, after all these years.
Fans may finally get their wish on Thursday. Last month, Geoff Keighley dropped two interesting tweets celebrating the 14th anniversary of Half-Life 2 and 20th anniversary of the original Half-Life that simply seem too out of left field to be taken with a grain of salt. Sure, he recently contributed to a Noclip documentary on Half-Life that releases next Monday… but still! The Game Awards on Thursday with a Half-Life documentary featuring Keighley just a few short days after? One heck of a coincidence.
Will we see Gordon on Thursday? It’s a total long shot, and chances are, absolutely not. But that’s what gaming is all about. The long shots. The miracles. The “all in” moments of hype and excitement, culminating in a sudden moment of revelation and jubilation, all in one lively evening.
2018 has been a phenomenal year for games, and let’s not forget that fact. With any luck Thursday night, let’s hope 2019 will be even better.
Agree with my predictions? Disagree?
Let your voices be heard in the comments below, and tune into The Game Awards Thursday night to see all the world premieres firsthand for yourselves!
