It’s time for the most depressing list of the year – all the games we’ve heard nothing about in 2024. Games take a long time to develop, and this often happens while shrouded in secrecy, so several months or even years slip by without a peep. In fact, some of the games here were also here last year. It’s tough out there, gamers.
Some games from last year’s hall of shame have since revealed themselves to the world though, so all hope is not lost – at least for most of these. The criteria for the list is simple: the game must have been officially announced prior to 2024, then had no update throughout 2024. Whether it be trailers, interviews, press releases, or even financial quarterly reports (the only significant info we’ve had since GTA 6’s trailer in December ’23), a game needs to have had complete radio silence to be here.
A Proper Tomb Raider Game
Oh, Lara. Last year I wrote that we were in the biggest drought between mainline Tomb Raider games we’ve ever had, and that wait has only gotten longer. There’s still no real information on this outside of unconfirmed leaks that Lara will be a mentor to a group of younger explorers, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it.
Tomb Raider fans have been kept busy by the original trilogy remaster back in February, followed by the Monkey’s Paw curling all the way to a TR 4-6 remaster coming one year to the day next February, plus the Netflix TV show, Sophie Turner being touted for Amazon’s live-action show, and tabletop game reveal. I just hope I’m not writing this again next year, but the odds don’t feel in my favour.
There’s only one ‘trailer’ for The Elder Scrolls 6, released in 2018, and it’s just the logo over a nice mountain. That’s pretty much all we have to go on though, with the last significant update being the announcement that it was officially in development in 2023. Five years after the logo was released into the world. It’s possible Bethesda jumped the gun on this one.
With Starfield faltering, Skyrim looking impossible to replicate, and the momentum with Fallout following the Amazon Prime show’s success, it’s odd to feel like TES6 is a game in the wrong place at the wrong time. The general thought is that it will be great when it gets here. The general thought is also that it won’t get here until 2030. It might be on a few more of these lists yet.
Wonder Woman
It has been over 1,000 days since Monolith’s Wonder Woman was revealed at The Game Awards in 2021, and we have seen nothing of it since. We have heard a small amount, however – in November 2023 Warner Bros. confirmed it was not live-service, despite a job advert for the game seeming to imply that it was. Apparently it was linked to the Nemesis system, which the game was also confirmed to use.
Since then, all we’ve had is a report that development has been “troubled” and some minor concept art leaks. The website was updated last month, which had everyone expecting a trailer at The Game Awards, but we all know how that went. Maybe we’ll get an update before the clock reaches 2,000.
Star Wars Eclipse
Also revealed at The Game Awards in 2021, and the only news we’ve had on Star Wars Eclipse this year was its lead writer leaving to set up another studio. Prior to that, all we heard of it in 2023 was that it “still exists“. Quite the ringing endorsement. Back in 2022, Quantic Dream allegedly leaked plot points on purpose as a “controlled leak” to drum up hires.
This came as the game was struggling to recruit staff due to director David Cage’s troubling past both in the workplace (which he has always denied, for the record) as well as his issues writing nuanced social issues and women (for which he remains on trial in the court of public opinion). Back in 2021, insiders suggested 2027 was more likely. Now, even that seems ambitious.
Assassins Creed Codename Hexe
It’s no real surprise that we’ve heard nothing on Hexe yet, as Ubisoft is still preparing to release Shadows after delaying it into the traffic jam of next February. More than that, this has been the most intense pre-release cycle an Assassin’s Creed game has ever endured as Ubisoft has struggled to defend Yasuke’s presence with its backfoot corporate stance.
Hexe always seemed the more interesting idea – Ghost of Tsushima has already beaten the series to the samurai punch, but a Bavarian medieval witchcraft game is far more intriguing. Back in 2022, series producer Marc-Alexis Cote described Hexe as “a very different type of Assassin’s Creed game”, and I’m still interested in hearing what that means, eventually.
Wolverine
We’ve technically never had a substantial Wolverine update since it was teased in 2021, but it doesn’t feel that way. A massive Insomniac leak in December 2023 saw hours of unfinished footage pour out into the world, as well as Insomniac’s roadmap for the next ten years – all Marvel save for one Ratchet & Clank game.
These leaks continued to be mined and more gameplay plus an unfinished trailer emerged in February of this year, and then in October, the creative lead left for Perfect Dark (a game which made the cut last year but spared itself with a SGF trailer this year). Those don’t really count as updates, so like Wonder Woman, it feels in the spirit of the list anyway.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
The ultimate game in the spirit of the list, we have been expecting a Silksong trailer at every trade event, every award show, every individual console showcase right down to betting the farm on it showing up at the low budget and understated Nintendo Indie World. Though it has had a minor “we’re still working on it!” update this year, we have still seen nothing of a game that was conceived as DLC, announced in 2019, and given a belated launch window of early 2023. It doesn’t technically qualify, but no game fits the intention of this list more.
I don’t see any sense in hurrying the team, but the pressure of expectations grows heavier with each passing month. Its hype has grown into a beast too big to control. It’s not Team Cherry’s fault, as the devs have sought to downplay the anticipation at every turn, but it’s hard to imagine any game being worth the wait fans seem to believe they have endured.
Several Things From The Game Awards 2023
To round things off, let’s take a look at last year’s closing ceremony. The Game Awards can either set the tone for the year, with trailers for games coming out very soon, or offer us a glimpse at a far flung future. Expect The Witcher 4, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Project Robot, and Okami Sequel to be here next year.
