2020 was a fantastic year for gaming. As well asall of the great games that it brought with it, there were plenty of pleasant surprises as well.Numerous long dormant franchises returned from the deadanda brand new generation of consoles also entered the fray. As a result, 2021 has a lot to live up.
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Things have already gotten off to a pretty decent start, withthe first few months of the year ushering in some pretty big news. That said, there remain plenty of titles that fans would love to see announced before the year is out. Even if only a few of them are, 2021 will still have been an incredible year.
10Resident Evil 4 Remake
Following thefantastic remakesof the second and thirdResident Evilgames,RE:M4KEseems like something of a certainty. Even so, with the team currently focusing much of their attention onthe upcomingResident Evil Village, an announcement is still to be made. That doesn’t mean that it’s not happening though.
There have been numerous leaks aboutResident Evil 4 Remakealready, withthe latest suggesting that it could be arriving in 2023. Of course, until Capcom provides the world with anything official or the leakers can obtain some irrefutable proof of their claims, it’s all just hearsay for now.
9Silent Hills
At this point, whether it comes in the form of a new entry or simply a remake of the original game doesn’t really matter. Fans just want moreSilent Hill. Despiteregular rumors claiming that at least one new game is already in development, however, the lack of any official announcement perhaps suggests otherwise.
P.T.gave fans an idea ofwhat a modernSilent Hillgame might look likeand they couldn’t get enough of it. Although the project was ultimately scrapped, the positive response that the demo receivedshould have been more than enough to convince Konami to make it happen. Perhaps it was, but until something concrete is announced, fans can only wait.
8Shenmue IV
Waiting is something thatShenmuefans know all too well, with almost two decades having separated the releases of the series' second and third installments. While the lattermay not have quite lived up to everybody’s expectationsthough,the fanbase remains desperate to see where Ryo’s journey will take him nextand will be hoping that the wait to find out is a little bit shorter this time around.
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DespiteShenmue 3’s lukewarm reception, the series has arguably never been in a better place.There’s aShenmueanime on the horizonand a renewed sense of hope amongst the community. Better still,Shenmue 3’s producer,Cedric Biscay, recently announced that he and Yu Suzuki are currently pitching a fourth game to developersand so, with any luck, there’ll be an announcement sooner rather than later.
7Yakuza 8
It might seem like only yesterday thatYakuza: Like A Dragonreleased, but the game has actually been available in Japan for well over a year now. Given that the team at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has typically released a newYakuza-related titleevery 12 to 18 months, the next one could be just around the corner.
During a recent livestream celebrating the franchize’s 15th anniversary, series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi mentioned that a newYakuzagame is already in the works. He didn’t elaborate on whether it would be another spinoff title or the next mainline entry, but due to how much of the environments and assets are recycled across entries, the latter is a strong possibility.
6Street Fighter 6
The fifthStreet Fightergame released more than five years ago now and, despite a rocky release period,it has gone on to become one of the series' better installments. Although Capcom has done a fairly decent job of keeping the game fresh with regular updates though, it’s definitely starting to show its age.
A newStreet Fightergame is inevitable at some point, but when exactly it will arrive remains something of a mystery. There have been several leaks though, with one of the latest suggesting thatCapcom has three versions ofStreet Fighter VIalready planned out. With any luck, an announcement to confirm this will arrive sometime soon.
5Mortal Kombat 12
One of the franchises that benefited the most fromStreet Fighter V’s early teething problems isMortal Kombat, with the series seizing on the opportunity to cement its place asone of the very best in the fighting genre. With that in mind, it would make sense for the team over at NetherRealm Studios to strike while the iron is hot rather than waiting for the competition to make up ground.
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New installments in the series have typicallyreleased around three or four years apart, so 2022 is probably the earliest fans can expect a newMortal Kombatgame to arrive. The last two have been announced within ten months of their eventual releases though and so a 2021 announcement could definitely be on the cards.
4Chrono Break
To many people,Chrono Triggeristhe greatest JRPG of all time. It featuresan incredible story,a wonderful cast of charactersand one of the best combat systems to ever grace the genre. With the recent success ofFinal Fantasy VII Remake, now seems like the perfect time for Square Enix to finally dust off theChronoseries.
This could come in the form of a remake, although a true continuation of the series seems to be a much safer bet.Chrono Breakwas once planned to be that game and was briefly in development around the turn of the century. Things didn’t quite work out, but many of the team behind the original game remain eager to continue Crono’s story, as too do fans of the series.
3Grand Theft Auto VI
Sadly, it’s not looking too likely that Rockstar will be announcing a newGrand Theft Autogame anytime soon, especially with thenext gen ports ofGTA Vstill to arrive. Once they’re out of the way though, the company might start to open up a bit more about the game’s long awaited sequel.
This year will mark the eighth anniversary ofGTA V’s release, which is by far the longest Rockstar has ever gone without releasing a newGTAtitle. In fact,the four mainline titles that precededGTA Vreleased over a span of just seven years, which really does go to showhow overdueGrand Theft Auto VIreally is.
2Half-Life 3
A list of most wanted games just wouldn’t be complete withoutHalf-Life 3and, for once, fans of the series can at least be a little optimistic thatthis might finally be the year. At least if recent events are anything to go by, anyway.
After more than a decade of dormancy, the release ofHalf-Life: Alyxlast year shows that the series is still very much in the minds of those at Valve. What’s more,its critical and commercial successmay be enough to convince them thatnow is finally the right time to bring Freeman back into the fray.
1Super Mario Odyssey 2
Although the recently releasedSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furyshould be enough to hold fans over for a little while longer, what they really want is a brand newMariogame. The last one came in 2017, making the period since the longest without a newMariotitle sincethe window between64andSunshinemore than two decades ago.
Despite constant speculation thata direct sequel toSuper Mario Odysseyis in the works, however, Nintendo remains tight-lipped regarding the future of everybody’s favorite plumber. That he’ll return at some point is all but guaranteed, but when exactly that will be, only the decision makers at Nintendo really know.
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