Summer Game Fest, not-E3 season, or whatever we're officially calling June's hectic stretch of blockbuster showcases and events these days has been and gone, bringing with it a wealth of wonderful new games, new trailers, new release dates and more. With everything still to come this year, and everything promised for 2024 and beyond, it really feels like a great time for video games.
But what about the things that didn't show face over the last few weeks? Where were those games that we expected to see across the shows – or at least thought might appear – but instead left us hanging? We're firm believers in the fact that games are ready whenever those working on them say so, but that doesn't mean we can't be disappointed and/or surprised when our most-anticipated ventures fall silent. From Ark 2 to Stalker 2, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and everything else in between, here's our list of the biggest MIA games of the E3 2023 schedule.
Grand Theft Auto 6
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Everwild
Haunted Chocolatier
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
Beyond Good and Evil 2
BioShock 4
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Perfect Dark
Rumblings of a Perfect Dark reboot began back in 2018, but it wasn't until the Game Awards 2020 that the modern reimagining of the classic sci-fi shooter from 2000 was confirmed. We've not heard all that much about the so-called "secret agent thriller set in a new-future world" since, besides the fact that it'll be on Game Pass from day one, and that developer The Initiative is bringing the game to life with the help of Crystal Dynamics – the same team behind the Tomb Raider reboot. So much has changed in the landscape of video games since the first Perfect Dark's debut on Nintendo's N64 console, of course, but this modern slant on Joanna Dark's adventures promises to be an "eco sci-fi" tale that's set in the near future, suggesting it might explore some very real themes of climate change. Given how long Perfect Dark has kept us, um, in the dark, an appearance during Summer Game Fest or elsewhere in the not E3 2023 schedule felt possible, if not likely. But it wasn't to be.
Stellar Blade
Skate
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC
Hades 2
State of Decay 3
It’s been over three years now since State of Decay 3 was first unveiled, and we’re no closer to learning any new information about the sequel now than we were back then. Undead Labs is seemingly still plugging away at the new game, and it’s being developed in Unreal Engine 5 with the help of Gears of War developer The Coalition. However, State of Decay 3’s no-show might have something to do with reports of toxic studio culture and mismanagement, which claimed Undead Labs didn’t even want to announce the sequel in 2020.
Star Wars: Eclipse
Metroid Prime 4
Wonder Woman
If you thought information about some of these other games was scarce, Wonder Woman from Warner Bros. Games and DC is queen of the hill when it comes to lack of updates. Basically everything we know about the upcoming Wonder Woman game stems back to its initial announcement in early December 2021. We know it’s going to be a single player open-world action game featuring an original story that uses the much-lauded Nemesis System from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War. And that’s… it. That’s the entirety of what we really know. Given how long fans have been clamoring for Monolith to introduce the Nemesis System to another franchise, it’s almost surprising – and concerning – that we have yet to see anything further from Wonder Woman.
Kingdom Hearts 4
Death Stranding 2
Indiana Jones
We haven't seen hide nor hair of the new Indiana Jones game since the beginning of 2021 so if for no other reason than that I'm surprised we didn't get a tease or an update. Although given that was a few months before Microsoft bought Bethesda, who knows what's happened since. That said, it's still two years later and there's been nothing mentioned since the reveal. And it was a minimal reveal at best - little more than an announcement. It looks like the game will feature Rome, and be set around 1937 placing the game after Ark & Temple but before Crusade. But that's literally guesswork from a clue strewn 'we're making it' teaser from Bethesda. I'm not just desperate to know more about it because it's India Jone, either - the developer is MachineGames. It was previously behind the most recent Wolfenstein games and has shown a fantastic flair for creative design and writing I can't wait to see applied to Henry Jones Jr's adventures.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
All things considered it feels rude to wonder where Stalker 2 is as the Ukraine based developer GSC deals with a full scale war, but it was a conspicuous absence at a time when everyone shows off their stuff. That said, between an actual war, constant attacks by Russian hackers and a generally beleaguered development that started in 2010 (surviving financial issues, a prior cancellation, and a widely disputed, ultimately suspended kickstarter for a 'spiritual' successor from an ex-studio member) the fact that's it's still happening at all should be good enough news. Currently listed for a December 2023 release date on Steam, let all just send best wishes to the team and imagine what Stalker 2's quasi mystical survival shooter will be like when it finally arrives.
Ark 2
Here are some new games for 2023 and beyond to add to your wishlist
