The quick rundown of the Biggest Game News for the week ending May 19, 2023:

• Mortal Kombat 1 reveal trailer has hit. Along with it, a release date of September 19, 2023.

• Grand Theft Auto 6 may be coming in 2024 — but it’s all speculation based on a financial report. Take-Two, the parent company, predicts a huge rise in profit in 2024.

• PlayStation’s not-E3-but-kinda-E3 video showcase is May 24 at 1PM PT. No official details are known, but it’s likely we’ll see plenty of Spider-Man 2, amongst many other PS5 and PSVR offerings.

• Overwatch 2 PVE got the chop this week. While there will be PVE components that remain seasonally, Blizzard has merged the team and essentially cancelled the “big” “multi-year” PVE project, which was to feature hero missions and unique skill trees.

• Lord of the Rings MMO announced by Amazon Games and aims to be the “biggest, best MMO” out there.

• Diablo 4 hype culminates with a Bille Eilish-backed launch trailer. Packed with gameplay, a look at mounts, world bosses and…blood. A lot of blood.

Mortal Kombat 1 Revealed

Mortal Kombat 1 is the new successor, but not a sequel. In an amazingly-hype trailer, NetherRealm and Warner Bros. reveal the sequel to MK11 will be returning to a past with young characters and the Fire God Liu Kang. See the 4K trailer reveal for yourself. It releases September 19, 2023. (Be Warned: It’s insanely violent. As you’d expect with the series.)

GTA 6 Could Release in 2024 (Speculation)

In an earnings report, Take-Two said earnings could rise as much as 50% between March 2024 and April 2025, versus the previous year — going from $5.3 billion to $8 billion. Doing some quick math…let’s see GTA 5 has sold over 180 million copies. Other than Minecraft, no games come close to how big it is. Elden Ring has sold about 20 million copies in a year. Imagine how big GTA could be.

For reference, between 2023 and 2024, earnings only rose about $1 billion. It would take a lot of huge titles and acquisitions to triple that in a year. Still, Take-Two’s boss dodged questions that GTA 6 was needed to do that.

PlayStation Showcase (“E3 Press Conference”) 2023

E3 may not be happening this year, but it’s not stopping Sony from timing a major reveal showcase ahead of what Xbox, Summer Games Fest, Ubisoft and others are doing in early June.

Set your reminders for May 24 at 1PM PT. It’s likely going to be full of brain-bursting hype, given Sony’s PS5 is in its 3 year with tons of momentum. Plus, it’s impossible to imagine Spider-Man 2 won’t steal the show alone.

There are unverified but long-running rumors about a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake showing up.

In terms of pure speculation, we could also see a Bloodborn Remake. Where the hell has one of Sony’s biggest PlayStation hits been? The critically acclaimed Souls-like is hard to look at in its old form. A remaster would have been easy. 2+2 = Remake? Maybe. And this would be a good year to show it, nearly 3 years after the completely-overhauled Demon’s Souls Remake was released for PlayStation 5.

Overwatch 2 PVE’s Plug Gets Pulled

In a developer update video, Blizzard pulled the curtain back and admitted its PVE hero mission plans were too ambitious. While it does have plans for story lore and PVE mission integration in Season 6 and beyond (starts Q4 2023), the “big PVE” experience is no more. That team was integrated alongside the PVP team as one big, cohesive team.

In an interview with GameSpot, the executive producer and game director for Overwatch 2 admitted they just got to a point they clearly had trouble supporting PVP, which is what people are playing. But, also, that PVE was just so big and demanding, they weren’t sure how many more years it’d take to get done — but likewise, how they’d continue to support 35+ heroes with tons of new, unique PVE talents ongoing.

If you were looking forward to the PVE her missions, don’t watch the 2019 gameplay again. You’ll probably cry, heartbroken, like I did.

Lord of the Rings MMO Announced

Amazon Games is committing to a huge, Lord of the Rings open world, massively multiplayer online game based on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Studio head Christoph Hartmann did an interview with IGN saying it was a big deal.

Diablo 4 Launch Trailer

Blizzard’s massively-anticipated action RPG, demon-slayer Diablo 4 is out June 6, 2023. And the company has been surfing the hype for months.

Its launch trailer shows off tons of new gameplay with the haunts of Billie Eilish’s vocals to back it. Savor it, my little demons — you’ve still got weeks of salivating to do.

That’s a wrap for this week. If you enjoyed it, consider supporting me on Twitch (if you have Amazon Prime, it’s FREE) for now and let me know if it was useful.

-Fran Mirabella III

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