My Wallet Is About to Die, and I Couldn't Be Happier
For the past year or two, you couldn't scroll through a forum without seeing some doomsayer proclaiming the end of days for the games industry. "There are no more good games!" they'd cry into the void. Well, I hope those people have some savings, because the release schedule for the next three months is about to make them look delusional. After walking the halls of Gamescom last week, the energy was palpable, and now looking at the calendar, it’s clear why. We are staring down the barrel of an absolute murderer's row of releases, and my wallet is already weeping.
Credit: Cronos: The New Dawn
An August Surprise and a Brutal September
The onslaught begins immediately. Metal Gear: Delta drops into early access tomorrow, August 26th, so I guess I know what I'm doing instead of sleeping. But that’s just the appetizer. The first week of September is an act of pure, malicious scheduling. We're apparently getting both the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong and the mysterious Hell is Us on the exact same day, September 4th. As if that wasn't enough to cause a panic attack, Cronos: New Dawn follows up just a day later. It's a beautiful, terrifying traffic jam of games I desperately want to play.
The rest of the month doesn't let up for a second. Borderlands 4 is set to land on September 12th, and after hearing the devs talk about their more grounded approach, I'm genuinely intrigued. Just as we're getting our bearings on Kairos, Dying Light: The Beast arrives on September 19th to satisfy our zombie-punting needs. The month closes out with Silent Hill F on September 25th, a game carrying the hopes and dreams of every horror fan who's been impatiently waiting for more Silent Hill.
The October Onslaught and Beyond
Just when you think you can catch your breath, October rolls in like a freight train. Ghost of Yotei is slated for October 5th, ready to suck up every remaining second of our free time. Then, on October 10th, we get another Sophie's Choice: the massive-scale warfare of Battlefield 6 or the intimate terror of Little Nightmares 3. The legends just keep coming with Ninja Gaiden 4 on October 21st, followed by the highly anticipated Outer Worlds 2 on October 29th.
November even starts with a bang, dropping the intriguing-looking Cairn on the 5th to kick off the holiday season. It’s an absolutely relentless stream of quality titles. So, yeah, the narrative that gaming is in a slump can officially be put to bed. The industry isn't dying; it's just been reloading. Prepare for a long, glorious winter of no sleep and mounting backlogs. It’s a good time to be a gamer.