TrueAchievements team predictions for The Game Awards 2024
Here, we’ll run through everything we’re guessing we might see, whether it’s release windows for some of those major upcoming Game Pass games or some other big Xbox news. We’ve allowed ourselves some leeway for wild hopes, too, since we all have something we’d love to see brought to light sometime soon.
If you want to tune into the TGAs and see if our — and your — predictions are right, be sure to catch The Game Awards later this week on December 12.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree controversially wins Game of the Year
The Game Awards’ decision to include Shadow of the Erdtree in the Game of the Year category is baffling to me and caused a lot of debate among fans when the DLC pack was announced as a Game of the Year contender. Sure, it’s a fantastic expansion that adds a huge map packed with strange locales to explore and big beasties to conquer, but it is an expansion.
Not only do you need to own Elden Ring to play Shadow of the Erdtree, but you also have to work your way through a massive chunk of the game to be able to even start it. Geoff, you and your crew really should have a separate expansion category so you can free up a spot for a game that truly deserves it (cough, Dragon’s Dogma 2, cough) and have a place to celebrate all the fantastic DLC packs that have been released throughout the year.
I believe Shadow of the Erdtree will pick up the Game of the Year gong at this year’s awards (even though the fantastic Astro Bot should probably take it), and the debate surrounding whether or not an expansion can be considered a Game of the Year contender will reignite once more.
South of Midnight will get a March release date
There are a couple of rumors from different sources floating around about Compulsion Games’ upcoming action-adventure South of Midnight appearing at this year’s The Game Awards with a release date reveal.
To me, this makes a lot of sense. Out of all the big Xbox exclusives set for release in 2025, South of Midnight appears to be the furthest along. We’ve also seen a fair chunk of Xbox marketing for the game in recent months, all suggesting to me that a South of Midnight release date will be revealed at The Game Awards.
Fable release window
It’s been what, six months? Since Fable narrowed down a vague “it’s on the way” to the whole of 2025, and The Game Awards could be a high-profile spot to narrow that down a teensy bit more. Particularly since there’s a “Most Anticipated Game” category in The Game Awards nominations, and this would be a great opportunity to sort of wedge in and say, “hey, add one more to that list!”
I know there’s a distinct requirement for the Most Anticipated Game category and it’s all about potential to progress the gaming medium (GTA V, Ghost of Yōtei, and Death Stranding 2 all feature), and sure, I do just want to see more Fable. But since we’re all turning our attention to a brand new year of games, this would be a prime time to, well, see something more of Fable.
A last lunge from Ark 2
Listen, we all know that while Ark 2 was down for a late 2024 release, it’s rapidly running out of 2024, late or otherwise. We’ve seen hide nor hair of the Ark sequel for a long time but since these The Game Awards predictions allow us a more out-there pick along with a realistic one, I’m going to root for the underdog dinosaur and say, hey, Ark 2 might surprise us. Maybe?
I mean, a last-minute 2024 release would be wild, but maybe we’ll see something — a delay confirmation in a new trailer, a new look at gameplay, Vin Diesel stage-rushing Geoff Keighley — who knows, it’s all possible.
My predictions are often wildly off (still waiting for that Everwild release window from the Xbox Games Showcase earlier this year) so maybe Ark 2 will help turn that around. I mean, almost definitely not, but still — it makes these events even more tense when you go into them with a host of out-there hopes.
Xbox announces a new controller with haptic feedback
Earlier this year, Xbox president Sarah Bond revealed that we can expect to hear about new Xbox hardware “this holiday,” and The Game Awards are a great opportunity for a big announcement — I’m sure we all remember the shock of seeing the Xbox Series X revealed during the 2019 TGAs. The question is, what could the company be cooking up this time?
Phil Spencer has already revealed that an Xbox handheld is still “years away,” so it’s unlikely we’ll hear anything about that. Although it’s also unlikely we’ll hear anything about the next generation of Xbox yet, Microsoft hasn’t given us a full Xbox Series X|S mid-gen refresh like the PS5 Pro, only three new console variants, so I don’t know, maybe that?
There is, however, always the new Xbox controller that was leaked during the company’s battle with the FTC. Codenamed Sebile, the controller will supposedly include new haptic features, quieter thumbsticks and buttons, an accelerometer, and other improvements. The controller is the most likely reveal to hope for… or we could get an Xbox kettle to go with our fridge and toaster; who knows!
State of Decay 3 gets fall release window
Although I’ve been updating everything we know about State of Decay 3 with any nuggets of information I can find, we’re yet to learn when Undead Labs’ zombie survival sequel will launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
We did get a fresh trailer in June, and then in September, the team dropped support for the second game to focus on this next entry. According to rumors, development is going well and a release is planned for next year, so I’m hoping to get an October 2025 release window for State of Decay 3 during The Game Awards — it would be the perfect game for the spooky season.
As you can see, we’re hoping for some news on some of those big upcoming Xbox exclusives — it’d be nice, after all, to have a substantially chunky bit of news to update our round-up of everything we know about Fable, for example.
