10 Upcoming Video Games that HAVE to Succeed

10 Upcoming Video Games That HAVE to Succeed

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 video games that have some high expectations to live up to.

“Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” (2024)

Over the last decade, Ubisoft has struggled to retain “Assassin’s Creed” fans. “Origins”, “Odyssey”, and “Valhalla” have chased away fans of the original games. You know, the ones where you have to be quiet and sneak around. Like an assassin. “Mirage” was a step in the right direction, but was simply too bland and basic in its upgrade system. “Shadows” is already showing how fatigued audiences are as fans spent years asking for an “Assassin’s Creed” set in Japan before Sony swooped in with “Ghost of Tsushima”. Couple that with all of the feudal Japan games that have been cropping up left and right, and Ubisoft might be too late.

“Dragon Age: The Veilguard” (2024)

BioWare has been on a really bad losing streak over the last several years. “Mass Effect: Andromeda” and “Anthem” were such colossal failures on account of mismanagement and reliance on the mythical “BioWare magic”. And with so many of the original BioWare staff having left after “Mass Effect 3”, many of us are skeptical about not just the next “Mass Effect” game, but “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf”. Not much has been said about “Dreadwolf” outside of typical marketing buzz terms, and the leaked gameplay from early 2023 a game trying to be more “God of War” than “Dragon Age”. If “Dreadwolf” fails, well, who knows what’ll become of BioWare.

“The Wolf Among Us 2” (TBD)

We do have some confidence in “The Wolf Among Us 2”. Not only is the game being worked on by former Telltale staff, it’s also being approached with great care for the story, characters, and health of its staff. What has us on edge, though, is the overall slow and segmented revival of Telltale across these different studios. How many of the original staff are still around? How many wound up at other studios? We’re sure the game will turn out great, but with other studios of former Telltale staff not putting much out aside from remasters and ports, we’re a bit nervous.

“Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2” (TBD)

“Bloodlines 2” has seen an incredibly tumultuous development to the point where it’s astounding how this project is still going. The game was originally going to be developed by Hardsuit Labs, but the studio was taken off of the project after key developers were let go. Publisher Paradox Interactive has since moved the project to The Chinese Room, a developer known mostly for walking simulators like “Dear Esther”, “Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture”, and “Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs”. Given the amount of trouble this game has gone through, something tells us this game isn’t going to be what we all want it to be.

“Skate” (TBD)

For EA to bring back “Skate” of all of their IPs is truly astounding. Not because they were bad games or even mediocre ones. It’s just that we went through an entire console generation without them. But in 2021, they did it. EA announced a brand new “Skate” game and even rehired some of the talent from the original three games. Thing is that we don’t know much about the game other than it will be free-to-play. Developer Full Circle has been sharing some behind-the-scenes developments, but we’re just hoping the release date is soon. We also hope the game will attract a ton of players since Activision decided to cut the cord from “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” just as the 2020 remake showed a promising future.

“Silent Hill 2” (2024) & “Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater” (2024)

Konami has been in some hot water with their fanbase after the lazy releases of “Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection” and the abysmal “Silent Hill: The Short Message”. There are now only two hopes for the company’s return to the gaming industry. Unfortunately, the “Silent Hill 2” remake is looking a little rough in combat, and the tight-lipped marketing is rather suspicious. As for “Metal Gear Solid Delta”, well, we hope this is Konami trying to understand what makes a great “Metal Gear” game. Recent history has told us to believe different, and if neither game lives up to their hype, it may very well convince Konami to leave the industry again.

“BioShock 4” (TBD)

We have known “BioShock 4” has been in development since 2019. We even got some leaked details via Colin Moriarty on his PlayStation Podcast, Sacred Symbols, way back in December 2021, many of its details being confirmed by insiders for other outlets. We have yet to see this game for ourselves, and to be frank, it’s giving us a bit of anxiety for the franchise’s future. “BioShock” has been gone for a rather long time, and this one will not have creator Ken Levine’s involvement as he is busy developing his newest game, “Judas”. We are confident in the team, though, as it is composed of former staff from Firaxis and staff that worked on the 2007 original “BioShock”. So, there’s promise, but there’s also the possibility of this not being as great as the other titles. If it bombs, it may be the end of “BioShock”.

“Black Myth: Wukong” (2024)

Some of us here at MojoPlays are excited to finally play “Black Myth Wukong”. Here’s the problem: this game drops more trailers than a Marvel movie. We first saw “Black Myth Wukong” way back in August 2020 with a TON of gameplay being shown off, about thirteen minutes total! Since then, the game has appeared at several conventions and sporting a brand new trailer every single time. We’re relieved to know there’s a release date for August 20, 2024, but if this game is anything below great, we feel a lot of players are going to feel cheated.

“Star Wars Outlaws” (2024)

Ubisoft has had a rocky reputation lately. Annualized franchises don’t see the high scores like they used to, and fatigue has quickly set in with fans. If “Star Wars Outlaws” is to show that our favorite galaxy has a future with Ubisoft, then the conglomerate is going to have to pull some neat ideas for it. So far, it does seem like a nice breath of fresh air away from lightsabers. However, we have to wonder how monotonous the checklists and side missions will become. Perhaps this will be a game for the “Far Cry” fans and not players from “Assassin’s Creed” or the Tom Clancy games.

Every Xbox Exclusive

“Fable”, “Avowed”, “Clockwork Revolution”, “South of Midnight”, “Indiana Jones” - any game under the Xbox umbrella needs to pray that they land a big, mega-hit because right now, who knows what may become of Xbox. In 2023, Xbox launched their first original IP in years with Tango Gameworks’s “Hi-Fi Rush”. According the Xbox, the game was “a smash hit”, though the company never shared sales numbers. Tango Gameworks even won a handful of awards for the game. Fast-forward to May 2024 when Xbox decides to close down Tango as it wants to “identify the opportunities that are best positioned for success”. Prior to its closure, Tango pitched a sequel for “Hi-Fi Rush”. If an acclaimed studio like them could shutdown, who’s to say any of Xbox’s acquired studios are safe regardless if a game fails or succeeds. All of the upcoming exclusives may have to start pulling in big, BIG numbers.

What game are you hoping lives up to your expectations? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!