2022 still has a few big games up its sleeve. God of War: Ragnarok chief among them, with a new set of Pokémon games to keep the family happy too. But it’s definitely that time of year where we start looking ahead to what the new year holds, and 2023 is shaping up to have quite a lot in store. 

From Harry Potter to Spider-Man with a dash of high fantasy and bank robbery inbetween, 2023 is going to have something for everyone. There will even be plenty of new games released at 2 pounds deposit casinos like on this URL.

But we’re not here to discuss casino games today or no deposit 50 free spins bonuses, we’re looking at the kind of games we can expect to see on consoles and PCs. So without further delay, here are five of the games due in 2023 that we’re most looking forward to.

1: Hogwarts Legacy

Regardless of whatever J.K Rowling’s getting up to on Twitter these days, the Harry Potter franchise is still beloved the world over. Hogwarts Legacy has been promising to take players back to that one-of-a-kind world all over again, even if that release date does keep magically vanishing every now and then. 

Set in an open world version of Hogwarts during the 1800s, players will be able to explore all their favourite Wizarding World locations. By the sounds of it, the game will even have mounts – meaning you’ll be able to take to the skies on broomsticks or some of those apparently fantastic beasts if you feel like it. 

It sounds like what we’re dealing with here is an action RPG – much like, say, The Witcher or the most recent Assassin’s Creed games. There’s definitely going to be skill trees and dialogue choices, but this time they’ll be magical. Will Hogwarts Legacy live up to expectation? The Wizarding World’s recent successes have been… limited, to say the least. But this game is in with a half-decent shot at being entertaining. 

 

2: Final Fantasy XVI

Technically the sixteenth instalment in the increasingly inaccurately titled Final Fantasy series, next year sees the return of the world’s favourite JRPG. It looks like FFXVI is going to take the series’ current dark downward turn to a full conclusion, weaving a dark fantasy tale that involves more usage of the word ‘Crystal’ than ever before. 

The interesting thing about XVI in particular is that it’s being developed by Square’s Creative Business Unit III. This is the same team that develops the wildly successful MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. As a result, the two worlds already seem to share a few similarities – this is far from a bad thing, though, as FFXIV is a really high standard of what a Final Fantasy game should deliver. 

With Naoki Yoshida producing (the man behind FFXIV’s dramatic rise to success) and a bevy of Square’s greatest talents onboard, this could be something really special. 

 

3: PAYDAY 3

Payday 3 will see the series’ original crew of bank robbers return to their life of crime. For what reason we’re yet to discover exactly – but it’s probably just money, right? The time certainly seems right for a new Payday game. These cooperative shooters are all the rage at the moment, and the first two did very well. 

When it comes to playing games for real money, most of us are pretty limited in options. We can’t just rob a bunch of banks and make out like bandits. But we can have a little taste of that experience in Payday 3, which is reportedly set in an absolutely massive recreation of New York City. 

Koch Media have committed 50 million Euros to the game’s development, which apparently includes over 18 months of post launch support. Payday 3 will be a live service game, meaning there’ll be plenty of skins and upgrades to buy for real money. A couple of years ago, this would have been concerning. But these days it’s literally just the standard. 

 

4: Dead Island 2 

Appropriately for a game about zombies, this game has risen from developmental death several times. For a bit of perspective, the first Dead Island game was released in 2011. The latest release was 2014’s Escape Dead Island, which obviously didn’t make that much of an impact. 

So why has such a highly anticipated title taken so long to get a concrete release date? The first Dead Island was a hit, released at the peak of the zombie craze. Well, the sequel has been stuck in a punishing development hell since 2014. Techland were originally billed to develop it, but ditched it in favour of Warner Bros’ Dying Light

It was passed to Yager Development, who got stuck in with development until Deep Silver booted them off in 2015. Yager would go on to file for insolvency later that month. Sumo Digital, a UK-based studio, were the next to carry Dead Island 2’s cursed treasure chest, soldiering on through a quiet couple of years in which Deep Silver had to keep reminding everyone it was still in development. Development then passed to an internal Deep Silver studio, who have apparently managed to get the game to some sort of releasable state. 

Honestly, though Dead Island 2 is much anticipated, its route to completion is extremely concerning. How is something that’s been passed around this many developers going to turn out well? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. 

 

6: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 

Without a doubt, next year’s biggest release has to be Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by developers Insomniac. The first game made a huge impact on the PS4, delivering arguably the biggest web-slinging adventure on console yet. It’s since seen PS5 remasters and PC ports, keeping the game fresh in mind over the years. 

Fans are also anticipating some sort of hint as to what Insomniac’s Wolverine game will entail – it’s set in the same timeline as the Spider-Man games, and will undoubtedly give fans of the universe a completely fresh perspective.

The game will carry on from Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which saw Miles step up to the plate as his own individual superhero. The premise is extremely promising, bringing fan-favourite villain Venom into the frame alongside Kraven the Hunter. We’re not entirely sure how gameplay will be divided, as fans will definitely want to get a bit more time hands-on with Miles Morales’ powerset. More details are sure to follow after this year’s Christmas release rush, though.