We’re over halfway through 2022, and what a first half it was, with a month of February so loaded with big games that it was hard to see how the traditionally busy Christmas period would be able to compete.
And if we’re honest, it’s almost certainly not going to, with a lot of the juiciest AAA games already delayed into 2023 and very few on the horizon that look poised to snatch the game of the year gong away from Elden Ring when the time comes.
But that’s not to say there’s nothing to look forward to. While we’re not going to get the likes of Starfield or the (still untitled) sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild this year, there are still some very exciting games, big and small, on the 2022 slate.
Read on for our rundown of the games you should be looking out for in the second half of the year. And remember, all dates are subject to change.
Platform: PS5, PS4, PC
As Disney once taught us, everybody wants to be a cat, and in this third-feline adventure game that’s exactly what you get to do. Set in a seedy cybercity, Stray puts you in the paws of a cat trying to survive and ultimately escape from the dangerous streets it calls home. You’ll be doing plenty of sneaking about both at and above ground level, befriending some of the city’s oddball and presumably cat-friendly residents along the way.
Everything we’ve seen in trailers so far points to Stray being one of the sleeper hits of 2022, and if you’re a member of the new PS Plus Extra or Premium tiers, you get it for nothing.
Due: July 19
Platforms: Switch
Nintendo closed its February Direct livestream with the announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which is coming to Switch in September. A new entry in the critically acclaimed RPG series had been rumoured for ages, and now it’s official.
Set in the hostile world of Aionios, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will connect up Xenoblade Chronicles and its sequel, so if you want to be up to speed before launch you’ll need to get playing. Luckily both games are available on Switch so are very easy to track down.
Due: July 29
Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC
It hasn’t been that long since British developer released OlliOlli World, one of our favourites of the year so far, but it has another game coming towards the end of the summer, and from the moment we first saw Rollerdrome in action it shot right to the top of our most-wanted list.
The game is a violent third-person arena shooter in which you battle opponents on rollerskates and perform tricks as you shoot them in the face. Think Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater meets Unreal Tournament and you’re getting close. We’re yet to play the game, but if Rollerdrome feels as good in the hands as OlliOlli World then we’re in for a treat.
Due: August 4
Platforms: Xbox, PS5, PS4, PC
With a relative lack of AAA first-party offerings from Sony and Microsoft in the second half of the year, Saints Row has the opportunity to really stand out. The famously daft open-world GTA-like hasn’t been to everyone’s taste in the past, but the series is getting a sort of reboot and leaning hard on character customisation, letting you create the “Boss” of your dreams to rise to the top in a city of crime.
With no new GTA in sight, Saints Row could be the chaotic sandbox you’re looking for.
Due: August 23
Platforms: PS5
With Joel and Ellie’s live action debut just around the corner, it’s perhaps a smart move from Naughty Dog to remake the game that inspired it now. Not to be confused with 2014’s The Last of Us Remastered, The Last of Us Part I is a ground-up remake of the post-apocalyptic action-adventure game regarded by many as an all-time great, so it’ll both look and play more like the sequel from a few years ago.
If you’ve already played The Last of Us, there should be more than enough in here to consider a replay (even if the £70 price tag does sting a bit), and if you haven’t, this will almost certainly become the definitive version of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece.
Due: September 2
Platforms: Switch
When it was first announced that Mario was linking up with Ubisoft’s freakish Rayman spin-off series, Rabbids, for a turn-based strategy game back in 2017, we really didn’t know what to think, but Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was surprisingly brilliant. The upcoming sequel looks like it builds on the first game’s solid foundations for an even wackier adventure, this time in space.
Sparks of Hope’s combat system combines free movement and traditional turn-based tactics for a strategy game that both looks and plays like no other. And you can even have Bowser and Mario on the same side for once.
Due: October 20
Platforms: Xbox, PS5, PC
The Batman: Arkham series is widely regarded as one of the best in the history of video games, but with original developer Rocksteady Studios busy making its long-awaited Suicide Squad game, what’s going on with Batman? Well, in WB Games Montreal’s upcoming co-op action RPG he’s unfortunately dead, so it falls to fellow DC heroes Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and Red Hood to continue the Bat’s legacy and keep fighting those belligerent baddies.
Set in what the developer is calling the biggest open-world Gotham ever and playable solo or with a friend, we’ve got high hopes for Gotham Knights, even if we’ll miss the Caped Crusader.
Due: October 25
Platforms: Switch
Pokemon Legends: Arceus reinvented Pokemon games at the beginning of 2022, and now the mainline series is going open-world too. Unlike Arceus, which was set way back in history when encountering a giant smiling dragon in the wild was still considered unusual, Scarlet and Violet return to a more familiar modern-day Pokescape.
As usual, your ultimate goal is to become the best Pokemon trainer in the land, but there will be a proper open world to explore as you go, and you’ll be able to bring friends along for the ride.
Due: November 18
Platforms: Switch
In typical Nintendo fashion, the Splatoon series has somewhat reinvented the multiplayer shooter. OK, so you’re still shooting the other team with a wacky assortment of weaponry, but the main goal here isn’t kills, rather covering as much of the map as you can with your team’s ink – and looking fashionable while you do it.
It’s a brilliant basis for a game that Nintendo has been iterating on since the first game in 2015, and Splatoon 3 promises more stages, moves, weapons, modes, and of course threads, than ever before.
Due: September 9
Platforms: PS5, PS4
Is it really coming this year? We have to be hopeful given the dearth of first-party exclusives elsewhere in the second half of the year, and Sony is certainly still saying the next God of War game is going to arrive in 2022. We haven’t seen a whole lot of the game yet, but we know it will tie a bloody bow on the series’ Norse era, as Kratos and Atreus try to survive Ragnarok, also known as the end of the world. How’s that for father and son bonding?
Don’t be shocked if this ends up slipping not-so quietly into 2023 with all the other big games, but we’re keeping everything crossed.
Due: TBC 2022
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox, Switch, PC
The legendary hedgehog’s 3D outings have been a famously mixed bag – and that’s putting it kindly. But fans will be hoping that Frontiers turns out to be one of the good ones, and it’s certainly interesting.
The Starfall Islands are the setting for the first open-world Sonic game, giving Sega’s mascot more space than ever to run really fast. From what we’ve seen in the trailers, it looks like Sonic Frontiers will have plenty of traditional 3D Sonic platforming stages, but it’s how these are weaved into a more expansive world that we’re intrigued to find out when we eventually get our hands on the game.
Due: TBC 2022
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox, PC
Sci-fi horror is all the rage in games at the moment, and The Callisto Protocol is occupying the big December release spot, because what could be more festive than getting mauled by a drooling alien?
In this third-person horror you play as Jacob Lee, a prisoner of the maximum security penitentiary, Black Iron Prison, located on Jupiter’s Moon, Callisto. It’s already a less than ideal situation for Jacob, but things get a lot worse when the human inmates begin to turn into monsters hunting him in the dark. Luckily, our hero eventually gets his hands on a gravity gun that presumably somewhat levels the playing field.
Due: December 2
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox, Switch, PC
Don’t like rats? Steel clear of this one. The sequel to 2019’s excellent A Plague Tale: Innocence is another veritable vermin-fest, as we once again follow siblings Amicia and Hugo, who after fleeing their plague-ravaged home find themselves in another desperate struggle for survival.
Expect supernatural powers, tense stealth gameplay and, if we haven’t made it absolutely clear, more on-screen rats than you’ll have ever seen.
Due: October 18
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