This time of year is always the best time to update your wishlist or get updates on anticipated releases, and we've been inundated with game announcements over the last week. Regardless of how many trailers we've seen or release dates we've marked on our calendars, however, there are bound to be a few notable absences.
We've pulled together a few of our most anticipated no-shows from this year's Summer Game Fest and publisher showcases so we can sulk about what could've been. A long, long awaited metroidvania sequel, an undead icon, an unpronounceable fighting game—we were waiting, but they never showed up. Hopefully we won't have to wait until next year.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Kara Phillips, Evergreen Writer: We knew this would happen. I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but every showcase seems a bit disappointing when there's no Silksong news. Part of me isn't surprised at all since we haven't seen the game appear in 732 days, but that hasn't snuffed out the little glimmer of hope that resides in me each time I sit down to watch an announcement.
I think the anticipation for Silksong has outgrown a presentation like a Nintendo Direct or the Xbox Showcase, but that doesn't stop me from focusing on the 'what if' scenario. We're well overdue for a new look at Hallownest, and I'm certain that every other Hollow Knight fan is getting desperate for any sort of update. Maybe one day, but sadly today is not that day.
Soulcalibur 7
Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: Summer Game Fest was a surprising W for fighting gamers, but I still couldn't help but wish my immense copium for Soulcalibur 7 had manifested into an actual announcement.
It's the only remaining 3D fighting game series alongside Tekken and, in my opinion, the one that's a helluva lot more fun to play. Don't get me wrong, I love Tekken, but there's something about swinging a pair of tonfas or a big ol' claymore around that really hits the spot. With fighting games having a big moment right now, it would have been the perfect time to unveil a new chapter in the Soulcalibur series.
Unfortunately it didn't happen. Even worse, I can understand why. Soulcalibur 6 was dealt a bit of a naff hand, with no rollback netcode and an esports world tour that was cancelled due to the pandemic and never resurfaced. Coupled with the fact that its producer, Motohiro Okubo, left Bandai Namco in 2021 and it's not looking good for the series' future. My soul still burns, but I'm not sure if the same can be said for Bamco.
Resident Evil 9
Elie Gould, News Writer: After spending most of early 2023 being angry that Capcom was remaking Resident Evil 4 instead of making something new, and then almost immediately taking it back once the remake became one of my favourite games last year, I finally think it's time that we carried on with the story at hand and got to see what else Capcom has planned.
There was a couple of rumours floating around a few weeks back that Capcom was getting ready to announce Resident Evil 9 and although I knew it was likely too good to be true I still couldn't help but get my hopes up, only for them to be quashed again.
Resident Evil Village's DLC Shadows of Rose left the story teetering on an interesting cliff hanger as Ethan's daughter headed off with Chris Redfield to work on a new case, and while I hope to see a few of the old characters make a reappearance to round their stories off, as long as they name it something like Helix or Appendix to keep the roman numerals theme going I'll be happy.
Bloodborne's PC port
Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: I'm a big soulslike guy. I like giant dads in armour, I like swinging a big claymore, and I'm really excited to get my grubby mitts into the Elden Ring DLC. I have also never played one of the best FromSoftware games, because I haven't owned a PlayStation console since the PS2.
I'm used to PlayStation titles dragging their feet when it comes to their ports—but they've usually come eventually. Bloodborne's been out for nine entire years at this point though—and news of a PC port is completely absent.
I'm sure FromSoftware has been very busy with Armored Core 6 and Shadow of the Erdtree. I'm certain that expecting any kind of news about Bloodborne's PC port this summer was foolish and naive, as it has been for the past nine years. But someone has to keep the spark of hope alive, damnit. Ah well, at least there's Nightmare Kart.
2XKO
Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: Back in 2015, developer Radiant Entertainment released a playable alpha of a game called Rising Thunder, and it was really something special. It was a fighting game with real tactical depth, but a stripped back control scheme that meant you didn't need to spend hundreds of hours in the lab learning combos to have fun. Ever since then, I've been obsessed with that idea of a truly accessible fighting game that anyone can pick up and play.
So what happened to Rising Thunder? Well, the devs got bought up by Riot, the project was cancelled, and for nearly a decade now the team has been working on 2XKO, a new incarnation of the idea based in the League of Legends universe. It's a really exciting prospect—I genuinely think with Radiant's design chops and Riot's resources and reach, this could be a complete sea change for the genre—but wow it's been a long time coming now, and at this point I'm just desperate to see a substantial look at what they've made. Alas, not a peep last week. Hopefully there's a reveal at EVO still to come.
Beyond Good & Evil 2
Chris Livingston, Senior Editor: Similar to Skull & Bones and its series of nearly neverending delays (until it finally launched in February), it's mostly just morbid curiosity for me at this point. I mean, BG&E2 was announced way back in 2008, and it took another full decade before a cinematic trailer appeared at E3 in 2018. Since then we've gotten a few assurances it's still in development, but nothing concrete. That's 16 years of waiting, which makes Star Citizen's development time feel like a blip.
There's also a remaster of the original Beyond Good & Evil that Ubisoft accidentally announced in 2023 but didn't show at Ubisoft Forward this year, either. There's even a BG&E Netflix movie that was announced in 2020—which has also gone silent. I'm not saying Ubisoft should rush BG&E2 to the table before it's fully cooked, but at least give us a sign that it's still simmering.
Everwild
Lauren Morton, Associate Editor: Rare teased its next game Everwild back in 2019 and then shared a slightly longer trailer in 2020 but we've seen neither hide nor hair of it since. We don't know hardly anything about Everwild other than that it involves lush forests and fantasy animals and that it has a very 'harmony with nature' vibe. Rare's current art direction is very suited to making me fall in love with wild creatures so I'm ready to learn more.
Rumor is that it was internally rebooted a few years ago, so we probably know even less than that about it now. With such a reveals-heavy showcase from Xbox this year, I just kept crossing my fingers that its next co-op game would pop up on screen. Well, maybe next year.
