The Game Awards 2020is happening tomorrow, Thursday, December 10, where not only will we see numerous games win awards in various categories, but we can expect to see plenty of unexpected announcements as well. Last year we saw some great reveals withthe Xbox Series X,Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga, andThe Wolf Among Us 2.
This year, we’re already aware of some announcements to come, includinga first look at the new mapforAmong Us,what we can expect in Season 3ofFall Guys, andthe reveal of Josef Fares’s newest gameIt Takes Two.But what surprises can we expect this year? Well, I have a few in mind, and these are my best guesses for what might be in store at The Game Awards this year.
Bayonetta 3 Gameplay Trailer
At The Game Awards in 2017, we got ashort logo reveal trailer ofBayonetta 3.Since then we haven’t heard a thing from developer PlatinumGames. I was confident going throughout this year thatBayonetta 3was going to be one of Nintendo’s major holiday titles, and here we are in December with nothing on it. Historically when PlatinumGames has worked with Nintendo in the past, it shows off its games a few months before its actual release.
We saw that last year with its fantastic action titleAstral Chain, and it is possible that weâll see it again withBayonetta.It would also be a little poetic if we saw the next reveal for the game take place where it was originally announced. I think at this point, everyone just wants to see what Bayo’s new design will be this time around.
A New Character Gets Invited to Smash
Arguably, the biggest surprise in the history of The Game Awards was Joker fromPersona 5being announced forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. No one expected it, everyone was confused, and it was the most talked-about part of the night. Even now, itâs a crazy thought to grasp. So far this year we have gotten two of the six new characters that are coming toSmashthrough the newest Fighters Pass, but we’re getting to the point now where it is hard to predict who will come next.
Personally, Iâm confident thatMonster Hunterwill take at least one of those slots in promotion withnext year’s Switch exclusiveMonster Hunter Rise, but there is no telling whether or not they will come before or after the game’s release in March.
Nintendo has done this before when it added Hero fromDragon Questto highlight the âat the timeâ exclusiveDragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age. Around the same time last year, I wrote that it wasthe perfect time to announce Sora fromKingdom Hearts, arguably the most fan-requested addition, but sadly we are still empty-handed.
Following those two characters, I really don’t know who else has a realistic chance outside of Jonesy or another character fromFortnite(please no). Geno, Crono, and Lloyd Irving are also all highly-wanted (and deserving) characters to add toSmash’s ever-growing roster, but there is nothing viable to suggest that they’re under Nintendo’s crosshairs.
The company didn’t announce a character during last year’s show, but who knows; anything is possible.
Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga
Xbox currently has many first-party titles in the works includingFable,Avowed,andEverwild, but at last year’s Game Awards, Phil Spencer debuted aCGI trailer of the next entry ofHellblade. It would be only fitting if we saw an update this time around. The way things are looking,Hellblade 2seems to be the next first-party title in line to come out followingHalo Infinitenext year. Now with developerNinja Theory under Xbox Games Studios, it will likely have a much bigger budget compared to the first entry of the series.
There are still so many questions regarding what the sequel will be about, especially with howHellblade: Senua’s Sacrificeended. It would be nice to get some of those questions answered during The Game Awards 2020.
Xbox Studio Acquisition/Exclusivity Announcement
Throughout the past few years, Xbox has beenacquiring several notable studiosincluding, more recently, theentirety of Zenimax/Bethesdaand all the other studios under their umbrella. Even with that massive purchase Xbox and Microsoft are still looking for more, and there have been rumors that Xbox has other plans in motion. Phil Spencer revealed the first look atXbox Series X at The Game Awardslast year, which proves that Microsoft isn’t afraid to drop big reveals at the show.
A few months back I said thatMicrosoft should acquire developer FromSoftware, and while I learned shortly after that the company legally cannot do so due to Japanese Trade Law, I still think an exclusivity deal could still be on the table.
Xbox needs a Japanese studio that will turn heads and FromSoftware is the developer to do that. Regardless, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see an announcement of this sort. Which studio(s) it will be, however, is a completely different question.
Halo Infinite Shows Off New Gameplay
One of the biggest controversies of this year was thedelay ofHalo Infinitewhich was initially set to release alongside the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in November. The game received big backlash followingfootage from a gameplay presentation this summer, with claims that it didn’t look like a next-gen title. 343 Industries confirmed this week thatHalo Infinitenow has a release window of Fall 2021, so now would be the prime opportunity for Xbox to do a re-reveal, hopefully allowing fans to feel what Xbox originally wanted them to feel when gameplay was shown earlier this year.
Xbox has had more than one announcement at The Game Awards in the past, so it isn’t crazy to think that we will receive numerous throughout the show.
Elden Ring Finally RevealedÂ
Outside of the incomingCyberpunk 2077, FromSoftware’s upcoming projectElden Ringis arguably the most anticipated game that has been announced in the past few years. As what fans think to be the next Soulsborne title from director Hidetaka Miyazaki,Elden Ringis a brand new IPin collaboration withGame of Thrones creatorGeorge R. R. Martin.First shown in 2019, fans have been clamoring for the smallest taste ofwhat they can get when it comes to the game.
The Game Awards is one of the biggest stages to reveal something to the fans who have been impatiently waiting for a first look. If not, well, I wouldn’t expectElden Ringnews anytime soon.
The Wolf Among Us 2 Gets A New Trailer
If you’re like me,The Wolf Among Us 2was far and away the best thing to come out of The Game Awards last year, and we haven’theard muchor seen a single thing about the game since. Following thefallout at Telltale, the original sequel toThe Wolf Among Us 2was canceled until the new owners of Telltale LCG Entertainment licensed the game to bedeveloped by AdHoc Studio, which was founded by former heads of Telltale. This gives me and many others hope for another incredible story in theFablesuniverse.
With its presence at The Game Awards last year, it would be great to see it again, only this time with an idea of what Bigby and Snow are up to following the phenomenal cliffhanger the original concludes on.
Breath of the Wild 2 Gameplay Reveal
The sequel toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis easily Nintendo’s most anticipated title right now, but we have yet to hear anything about itsince its original announcement during E3 last year. Nintendo hashistorically been friendly with The Game Awardsand the second major DLC,The Champions' BalladÂwasannounced during TGA’s 2018 show. It would be the perfect time to show lifelong fans what they can expect in Link’s next adventure for what seems to be a much darker Hyrule.
Hideo Kojima Reveals His Next GameÂ
Anyone who knows Geoff Keighley, creator and host of The Game Awards, knows that every year he likes to mention that he’s good friends with Hideo Kojima any chance he gets. That being said, it has been well over a year since the initial release of Kojima’s latest titleDeath Stranding.Thinking that Kojima was able toform his own studio, Kojima Productions, and create a game that is the size ofDeath Strandingin only three years is an insane accomplishment.
With that in mind, I’m confident that Kojima is well into the process of creating hisnext ambitious title, and that Keighley is anxious to get the opportunity to debut it at his show; and honestly, why would Kojima say no?
These are just some of my predictions that I think may drop during tomorrow’sThe Game Awards 2020live stream. What surprises do you expect to see during the ceremony when it goes live on December 10 at 6:30 pm ET? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to tune in and watch The Game Awards with theDualShockersstaff as we’ll be running a livestream when the show airs.
