5 Disney games I’d like to see during the Summer of multiple game fests
The Summer is nearly upon us and while E3 is pretty much dead for reals, we have many, many showcases and events to look forward to where we will see some new and hopefully exciting games starting with the PlayStation Showcase last week and depending on how you might define Summer going all the way up to the Tokyo Game Show in September. Granted, some of these, especially those taking place later in the year such as Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show will possibly just show things we saw earlier in the Summer already but several big shows frontload the season with most coming in the next two weeks.
With that in mind I’ve selected 5 Disney games I’d really like to see revealed during these events. We’ve already seen a big trailer for Spider-Man 2, so that won’t be included. Wolverine was a no-show at Sony’s big showcase so no chance of that being shown before The Game Awards or possibly a post-Summer PlayStation event thing so those won’t be included. There are a dozen known in-development or heavily-rumored Star Wars games so I’ll limit the amount of those on the list. Finally games we already know plenty about and are due out very soon (i.e. Disney’s Illusion Island, pictured at the top) will also not be on the list. For the most part, it’s games that have been announced but we’ve seen nothing of or have been radio silent for a while. So let’s get started!
#5. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Aside from a CGI trailer about a year ago, we’ve heard and seen nothing on the first Avatar game since 2009. There seems to be a whole slate of games (mostly mobile) based in the world of Avatar in the works with Ubisoft’s effort being the biggest. But Ubisoft also seems to be a company reassessing itself amidst a lot of turmoil in the company right now with many projects being scaled-down, pushed back, or outright canceled.
Avatar is clearly a huge franchise and it would be cool to see someone take that really colorful world and make some cool games with it. Ubisoft’s own showcase, Ubisoft Forward, takes place June 12th, and honestly, if we don’t see Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in full display and with a solid release window, odds are the game is in big trouble. This also leads to my next entry…
#4. Untitled Ubisoft Star Wars game
The Ubisoft announcement that they were making a Star Wars title was the first signal of the end of Electronic Arts’ exclusivity on making Star Wars games, now a ton from many developers seem to be in the works. But this announcement was way back in 2021, and we have not heard or seen much. The good news is that as recently as last week, reports are going around that the game might be out by May of next year, which places good odds on it being shown at this year’s Ubisoft Forward.
The bad news is those same reports seem to be saying the game isn’t progressing as well as they’d like so is this yet another Ubisoft title that gets delayed into oblivion or just gets shoved out come hell or high water and hope for the best? Either way, really hoping for a serious update soon.
#3. Untitled Bethesda Indiana Jones game
A thirty-second teaser with the classic music and this image. And that’s it. That is all we have seen of Bethesda’s announced take on Indiana Jones since it was announced in 2021. This seems pretty simple, Bethesda loves fighting some Nazis, and Indiana Jones loves fighting some Nazis while recovering ancient artifacts, those two flavors should pair wonderfully.
Also, The Xbox Showcase is on June 11th and they need some big games to justify having a showcase that is separate from what is obviously their big 2023 release, Starfield, which is literally getting its own showcase all to itself. Seems like a perfect time to unveil the new Indiana Jones game, even if it’s possibly multi-platform due to prior agreements (which is possible based on the timing of Microsoft buying Bethesda but we don’t really know for sure). I’d be more excited to see the first footage of this than anything I can currently think of that would be at the Xbox Showcase.
#2. Untitled Respawn Star Wars Strategy Game
Electronic Arts’ exclusivity deal on Star Wars games may have ended but they are still going full steam ahead on making them and we definitely have Respawn to thank for that so it’s no surprise the studio is heading up several titles currently in development. For me, the most interesting by far is a Star Wars strategy game. Odds are it’s not turn-based, which would be my preference but I’m always interested in developers taking an IP and doing something unexpected with it. Details are sparse but Respawn is red hot right now and I don’t expect this to be their first blunder. This could show up during Summer Games Fest or even make its first showing at the Xbox showcase if it’s far enough along. Either way, really want to see something on it soon.
#1. A new game featuring core Disney characters
Disney Dreamlight Valley has been loads of fun. Disney Illusion Island looks like it’s going to be great. Disney Speedstorm… also exists. But the point is that amid the flood of Marvel & Star Wars titles, we are actually seeing some games featuring original Disney favorites on platforms besides mobile for the first time in years. Let’s keep that going. More games with Mickey and crew would be great but we could also expand that quite a bit.
Disney has a huge roster of wonderfully memorable characters that have great potential in video games so I’d love to see more efforts be they huge AAA titles or smaller studios just making fun little games we can enjoy here and there. Loads of possibilities and it would be nice to see something that balances out their more action-oriented IPs every few months or so.
That’s it for today, but next month should be pretty packed as on top of all those showcases we have a new Alien game hitting near the end of the month so got plenty to look forward to. See ya real soon!
