20 Hottest Upcoming Games of 2019

After Christmas and New Year holidays you may feel blasé with all the games of 2018 you might have played. So why not look forward to what we anticipate in 2019? The future of the gaming industry may seem uncertain, especially with early access practice, but some release dates are already set, so we could form the list of upcoming games of 2019. Here they are, in chronological order, and what we think and expect of them.

January 25th: Resident Evil 2 Remake

PS4, Xbox, PC

The best definition of this survival horror about to be released by Capcom is “resequel” – a remake of the sequel that doesn’t reform the original Resident Evil in any way. The graphics will be revamped as well as the story, as the developers do their best to provide photorealistic visuals. The game will utilize over-the-shoulder view that original series only introduced in the fourth installment.

The characters and the setting remain, but the feel is completely remade to immerse you into the real horror atmosphere. It requires changing the soundscape, and the way zombies are hidden to make their appearance really terrible.

Both die-hard fans and neophytes will find this an up-to-date game with graphics up to all requirements of 2019. And the story… Yes, we all know it, but resequel as a genre may have an unexpected ace in the sleeve.

January 29th: Kingdom Hearts III

PS4, Xbox One

Another installment of the Disney-based hack-and-slash saga is set to hit the stores in January. Sora, the protagonist of the series, is here again accompanied by Disney characters Goofy and Donald Duck through the worlds of the latest Disney animated movies, like Frozen or Maleficent. Saving the cartoon worlds from the Heartless requires Keyblades, so you need to find them and then to use in a hack-and-slash manner. The game contains a lot of interludes that even let us accept it as an interactive Disney crossover by Square Enix.

Japanese audience will get the game a bit earlier, on January 25th, but hardly will they share too many spoilers for them gaijins. So all the Disney fans, beware and count down the days.

February 15th: Metro Exodus

PS4, Xbox One, PC

The third installment of post-apocalyptic survival game takes us to one more trip around inhabited subway tunnels. Its post-nuclear setting includes monsters, human gangs, mutants, and total destruction. The original location of Moscow subway now expands to the Asian part of Russia, and the story is much longer now. The characters from the previous installments, Artyom and Anna, are now married and have to protect their lives together.

The game combines levels to complete and sandbox locations, meant to rebuild the world, so the balance of creation and destruction is kept well. The original book series has attracted a large fan base, but the game series makes it grow even larger.

February 22nd: Anthem

PS4, Xbox One, PC

EA Bioware Studio has been preparing this futuristic title for long, and it’s been feeding us little portions of info on it, so we already want it. It’s a co-op action game set in the world half-destroyed by the force named Anthem, and you join the Freelancers, volunteering against it to protect humanity from the ancient mystical force.

Mech fans will appreciate it as soon as it’s out and probably won’t miss the chance to taste it earlier in demo access. The trailers look like hybrids of Iron Man, Terminator, and Aliens, and it offers really impressive pictures of technologies versus mystical forces.

February 26th: Dirt Rally 2

PS4, Xbox One, PC

The most powerful cars through the most dangerous locations, that’s your way to go in Dirt Rally 2. Just like it says on the tin, there won’t be much shine and glamour. You’ll have smoking tires, dirty windshields, thunderous engines and everything to the extreme. Yet there’ll be some work for your mind, as along with racing you’ll have to make your crew and build your career. And yes, online racing is here too. One of the most anticipated alternative racing games will lead you the way Forza Horizon fears to tread.

The game is to hit all the major platforms (except Nintendo Switch), also it will have both physical and Steam release.

March 8th: Devil May Cry 5

PS4, Xbox One, PC

Several years after the previous game events Dante and Nero are still demon fighters, with their own mobile agency, robotic arms, motorcycles, and the third character mysteriously named V who comes to hire them. The world needs demon hunters again, and the protagonists set off for a long journey.

Despite the release date gets closer, we still don’t know who V is and what his fighting specifics are. The plot remains almost unrevealed too. Capcom only announces V will be a playable character, and he will differ from the way Nero and Dante act and fight. But we know that the graphical part will be photorealistic like never before in the series, and for the hack-and-slash genre it may be very impressive.

March 15th: Tom Clancy's The Division 2

PS4, Xbox One, PC

Tom Clancy’s name outlived both the author and the success of his book, first of all, because of his wise decision to provide it to game developers. It marks action games in political techno-thriller setting or spy adventures, and The Division 2 makes no exception. There’s still a dark zone in Washington, D.C., after the smallpox pandemic that ruined the existing American order. The survivors trying to restore the life they had now confront the marauders that benefit from the chaos. The game offers both dog-eat-dog survival mode and cooperative actions, as well as aggressive raids.

The release date is already set. But Ultimate and Gold Edition owners can access the game three days earlier to provide enough spoilers for the rest.

April 23rd: Mortal Kombat XI

PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

The most ubiquitous game on our list that leaves no one behind is another installment of the famous fighting saga, with all of its esthetics almost intact. At least, some fighters like Scorpions and Dark Raiden are already confirmed by the official trailer. We may miss Kung Lao and Reptile (as Eduardo Garza, responsible for voicing these, hasn’t been offered to work on them in the new installment), but let’s see the release.

The follow-up to the previous Mortal Kombat X (by the way, thanks for not “Mortal Kombat XS”) is highly anticipated, as the franchise remains a cult one in spite of ever-growing rivalry. The gameplay hasn’t changed much since (unlike the visuals, with much more impressive attacks and bloodsheds), and that’s the key to survival. Those into the 1990s won’t accept the change, and those born after seeing the franchise as a living relic, and everyone’s good with this status quo.

April 26th: Days Gone

PS4

The best description of this Sony exclusive zombie post-apocalyptic title is “The Walking Dead meets Sons of Anarchy”. Your character, Deacon St. John, joins the biker crew in the world infected by the zombie virus and struggles to make it through. The open world setting is here to explore, and it’s full of surprises and unexpected twists.

The exclusive by Sony Bend features unusual zombies. Known as The Freakers, they are fast, being, in fact, The Running Dead. They are so fast that it really takes a bike to confront them, and that defines the setting and the gameplay.

May 14th: Rage 2

PS4, Xbox One, PC

Post-apocalypse is the favorite setting for the games that remove the borders between civilization and wilderness, meant to unleash our instincts (and maybe to prevent this violent potential from flooding streets). Rage has been one of the most prominent post-apocalyptic games, logically made as an FPC, as you’re alone here, even if it doesn’t seem so.

Now the world is open to discover and full of what’s left after the civilization. Destroyed cities and futuristic weapons, aggressive ways and defiant fashion, cities in disorder and communities under severe leaders – all of these are here, in a game that would have been a cult movie of the 1990s.

(TBA) Bayonetta 3

Nintendo Switch

The story of the witch trying to recollect her past and fighting her way through with guns and spells was too much of a success to keep us from sequels. The third installment of the cult series has it all again, with better graphics, more enemies, more weapons and more spells. At least that’s what we know so far.

An exclusive to Nintendo Switch, this game may never make it to other platforms, or maybe it will, but much later and with but a shadow of the experience Joy-Cons provide.

(TBA) Last of Us 2

PS4

And again we expect a zombie survival horror in a post-apocalyptic setting, with the same characters from the first part, making their way through the world irreversibly altered. Your protagonist Ellie is still immune and even better fit to live in this infected world, but even this world full of dangers can show its even darker side. The developers don’t announce the plot, so expect surprises.

There will be a whole lot of violence and cruelty, and it’s not necessarily the dead you should fear. Though the infected ones are still there, having evolved into new subspecies, some living ones are even more dangerous because of the destructive cult they follow.

(TBA) Ghost of Tsushima

PS4

Japan of the XIII century is the perfect setting for any adventure stories. The Samurai is not yet the powerful military estate they became later; they’re shocked and smashed with continental invasion, and their noble habits are no help against Mongol wildness. The protagonist, a heroic samurai Jin, confronts Mongols on his own, entering the Tsushima Island where Mongols regroup to attack the Japanese mainland. He will find allies there, but they will cause a lot of trouble too…

In our multiplayer world, it seems mad to offer single player mode only in an open-world setting; but there must be some Bushido spirit in the publisher to make this brave decision. The game has its undoubtable pros, like photorealistic graphics and rich fight system. The feel of ancient Japan is great, with falling leaves, snowing, flowers and bloodsheds. So even just walking around between missions will be as solemn and immersive as a tea ceremony or contemplating over old Japanese paintings.

(TBA) Metroid Prime 4

Nintendo Switch

Little do we know about what Metroid Prime 4 will feature and when the release date is set. There are some things for sure: Kensuke Tanabe is still directing the project, and Nintendo confirms it works on it. But what we should expect is still mostly unrevealed. The official trailers show no gameplay and not even a hint of what it will look like.

This secrecy will certainly break up as we get close to Metroid Prime 4 release date. But so far we know nothing but the names.

(TBA) FIFA 20

PC, PS4, Xbox One

The anniversary installment of the official FIFA game may be the last one to be released on physical carriers. In fact, there may be no release at all; subscribers will just get an update after an update, with minor changes streaming (in both meanings) together, quantity to quality.

So what FIFA 19 players may see is just a large DLC portion, with new rosters, updated teams and changed faces, including some new ones. Gameplay and control changes may come in minor portions, too.

But it’s not quite clear whether EA Sports will make such a step. No wonder if they ditch previous generation consoles support to implement this innovation, so PS3 or Xbox 360 users might experience some financial urgency.

(TBA) NBA 2k20

In fact, there is even less info on this installment, except for the fact that NBA 2k20 is an anniversary one too. So THQ will probably roll out something really game-changing. But what we have so far is endless wishlists on Reddit and fan sites. The official news is yet to be announced, but so far we can only use some assumptions and forecast what’s inevitable.

That is: updated rosters and player lists, more visual similarity, improved mechanics and physics, and (if THQ follows the trend) DLC instead of physical release. An exception may be made for exclusive premium packs with posters, T-shirts and all the fan stuff that can’t be digitalized. Fans also anticipate improvements in terms of virtual currency for microtransactions (as they’re obviously here to stay).

(TBA) Death Stranding

PS4

The world has changed drastically, in its very core. It’s raining time and it causes things to accelerate or slow down. Death has become reversible, but it affects the timeline of where you return to. People are bound by visible connections. That’s the minor list of the strange features you’ll encounter in Death Stranding, maybe one of the most unusual games to expect in 2019. The time is literally out of joint, and your character is born to set it right.

The story is long and branched, and it features celebrities like Mads Mikkelsen, Norman Reedus, Guillermo Del Toro, and others, captured and dubbed to look and sound natural. A great first release for the independent Kojima Productions after the famous Hideo Kojima left Konami! And one of the most unusual games on our whole list.

(TBA) Doom Eternal

PS4, Xbox One, PC

Doom is here again, and its 2016 reboot is successful enough to restart the franchise. Doom Eternal will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the series, and insane is the word. Hell rises against you, with no time to waste while any of those demonic creatures are alive. The realm of destruction makes you feel like what is dead may never die, but still, there’s much to eliminate, and that’s your mission.

There’s no principal change to expect from the follow-up; we’ll rather get more of the same, with more impressive visuals, more feverish fantasy, and some inevitable Easter eggs (if there is Easter in hell).

(TBA) Battlefield V: Battle Royale (Firestorm)

PS4, Xbox One, PC

Though the game has already hit the stores, everything is better with Bluetooth Battle Royale mode. In this famous game, it will be called Firestorm; but the rest (as far as we know) won’t be much different from other BR projects.

Like the genre supposes, there won’t be any paid content providing any advantage. There will be cosmetic add-ons changing but the appearance of the character, but they won’t impact the abilities. The update itself is expected to be free for all Battlefield V owners.

The date is not set yet; it’s been delayed already, and now EA has nothing to promise.

(TBA) Cyberpunk2077

PS4, Xbox One, PC

The action RPG by the creators of The Witcher is the most mysterious game on our list. It’s not even clear whether the game will be released in 2019 at all. The trailers already show the dystopian California of the future and your character as a mercenary in this harsh environment.

The trailers confirm it’s worth the wait: imagine dystopian B-movies of the 1980s made with all the technical power of the 2010s, and you’re in. There’s still no hint even of approximate release date, so we’re not even sure to put this highly anticipated title on our list. But damn, we want it in 2019!

The further we get, the more upcoming games of 2019 we expect to hit the market. Is there anything you can’t wait to launch? And what will be the next Battle Royale to set the trend? Come on, share what you think!