While 2023 has some very key exclusive releases for both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, what’s happening next year seems pretty unclear as of yet, after PlayStation’s underwhelming showcase, and ahead of Xbox’s in two weeks, which is splitting time with Starfield, its fall 2023 release after a year-long delay.
The most surprising thing about the PlayStation show was that it essentially gave almost no clues about exclusives coming in 2024. Spider-Man 2, they maintain, will be out this year and won’t be delayed. They did show off Phantom Blade 0, a show-stealer, but with no indication of when it would be out. Marathon was shown from the now Sony-owned Bungie, but that’s A) multiplatform and B) probably not going to be doing anything other than alpha tests in 2024, if that, as the final game seems a long way off.
As for Xbox, their biggest game will be out this year, Starfield, which is likely much larger than even the other big games we already know are coming…eventually like Fable, Perfect Dark and Avowed, given that it’s a sprawling, mainline Bethesda RPG. There is some rumbling that after the extremely poor release of Redfall, it could be delayed further, but I think they’ll stick with this date after already famously being delayed a full year.
It may not be that prudent to comment on Xbox’s 2024 until the showcase itself, but it is genuinely hard to imagine that with essentially all we have from those three main games, Fable, Perfect Dark and Avowed, have been the tiniest of teasers, they’re about to release in 2024. The same goes for something like Xbox’s Kojima project. My best guess for a somewhat major game that is due out in 2024 is probably Hellblade 2, which I doubt will be this year as some think. Forza Motorsport 8 was initially slated for 2023, but that feels like it could be pushed.
However, if PlayStation does have an off year in 2024 after releasing the likes of Final Fantasy XVI and Spider-Man 2 this year, that could be a good opportunity for Xbox if they can get one of those major, long-gestating games out then. It really is hard to imagine promised future games from Sony coming out in 2024 when they weren’t even teased at all this week. Things like the next Horizon game, the Wolverine game, Ghost of Tsushima 2, wherever God of War goes next, Naughty Dog’s next big project (though Factions, it’s multiplayer offering could be out in 2024, I suppose). None of those seem terribly likely to arrive in 2024.
It is possible that Xbox has been keeping work on some of its bigger titles quiet, but the thing is, even if something is announced as launching in 2024, there’s a good chance it will be delayed out of that window. Redfall and Starfield were both delayed out of 2023, Starfield by a full year even after listing a specific 2022 release date. Halo Infinite was delayed a full year when it was supposed to be a Series X launch title. Not that PlayStation games aren’t delayed as well, but we have seen some very big delays on very big projects from Microsoft the past few years. And at least two of the games mentioned did not launch well despite that (you can debate Infinite, I suppose, but Redfall certainly didn’t).
The feeling I get is that after some big games this year (Spider-Man was the best-selling PS4 game, Starfield is Bethesda’s biggest game since Fallout 4), 2024 may end up somewhat barren as a result. We’ll know more after the Xbox showcase, but Sony did not give much reassurance about their slate.
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