We’ve reached the end of 2024, so now is the perfect time to take stock of the last 12 months. As always, we made some predictions back in January, so now we need to check which ones came true and which ones were nonsense. Editor Sammy Barker and deputy editor Liam Croft jointly took the top spot for 2023, but who takes the lead this time? Let’s take a look.
Sammy Barker, editor
“Kingdom Hearts Helps Disney Conquer the Darkness in D23.”
Unfortunately for Sammy, Kingdom Hearts 4 didn’t make an appearance at the D23 2024 show, so we don’t get points for this prediction. It wasn’t that bad though – we should expect an update on this game soon. Well, let’s hope so.
“Zenless Zone Zero completes the holy gacha trio on PS5.”
As our gacha expert expected, Sammy was right on the money. Zenless Zone Zero has indeed become another hit for the HoYoverse, and the details that it is a PS5-exclusive console have also turned out to be true – for now, anyway.
“Stellar Blade becomes a cult classic on PS5.”
This is a arduous prediction to make, as it will probably take some time before it can truly be considered iconic. However, Sammy should probably get the point at this point, as Stellar Blade gained a following and while it did quite well critically, it was somewhat forgotten during awards season. Well, that about fits the bill then – we’ll give it to him. It’s Christmas after all.
2/3 points
Liam Croft, deputy editor
“Sony returns the favor with the best PlayStation presentation in years.”
While Sony put on some decent shows this year, it’s demanding to call any of them “the best in years.” There were certainly some highlights from some of the 2024 shows, including the announcement of Astro Bot and Ghost of Yotei, but it’s demanding to deny that either presentation was better than in previous years.
“Silent Hill 2 is coming this year and it’s better than expected.”
Liam saw this back in January. There were definitely concerns about Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake before it came out, but as reviews dropped, it became clear that the team had succeeded. Receiving great reviews from critics, the PS2 classic truly gets the remake it deserves.
“Naughty Dog announces one of its new single-player projects.”
Surprisingly, at the last possible moment, Liam was proven right about this prediction. During The Game Awards 2024, Geoff announced one more thing: the announcement of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the next game from Naughty Dog. It doesn’t get any clearer than this!
2/3 points
Robert Ramsey, deputy editor
“Sony will release a new game from the PlayStation classic service.”
The phrase “classic PlayStation property” is a bit vague, but we don’t feel like that happened. Sony actually gave us an excellent Astro Bot, although it doesn’t fit Rob’s description, so we’ll hold off on that. I’m sorry, Rob. Maybe next time.
“Tekken 8 will get a guest DLC character from Final Fantasy.”
However, this prediction turned out to be exceptionally precise. Rob’s suggestion of a Final Fantasy character in Tekken 8 worked, but he even went as far as to suggest it could be Clive from FF16, and that’s exactly what we got. Way to go!
“The inevitable expansion for Baldur’s Gate 3 will be the highest-rated release of 2024 (on Metacritic).”
Oh, honey, it’s all falling apart again. Baldur’s Gate 3, however, did not receive this “inevitable” expansion. While the game has received countless updates that complement and improve the massive RPG, an actual expansion is nowhere to be seen.
1/3 points
Stephen Tailby, deputy editor
“Third-party hits will ensure Sony has a quiet year for PlayStation Studios.”
It’s demanding to say; Stephen is actually talking about in-house teams here, rather than externally developed games like Rise of the Ronin and Helldivers 2. In that sense, he’s somewhat right, and while Astro Bot is an absolute hit, there hasn’t been much more excitement from internal teams at this year. Maybe half a point here.
“Sony will announce and release at least one PlayStation Studios game for PSVR2 in 2024.”
Uh oh. Stephen has put a little too much faith in Sony here, and while the company’s work on PSVR2 isn’t finished yet and it’s still receiving a steady stream of games, there hasn’t been a single PS Studios game on the headset in 2024. Never mind. !
“Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Will Not Be the Total Disaster Many Thought.”
The less said about it, the better, really. This was complete disaster.
0.5/3 points
Aaron Bayne, video producer
While Sony has released one or two up-to-date IPs with Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin, we’re not sure if they’re exactly what Aaron had in mind. He seems to be talking specifically about up-to-date first-party series like the freshly announced Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and of course we’re not getting anything up-to-date on that level in 2024. We’ll give it half a point considering he got some up-to-date IP addresses, but maybe not the ones Aaron was looking for.
“PS5 Pro will be announced and launched this year.”
Ding, ding, ding! Nice one, Aaron – the PS5 Pro has actually been announced and released in 2024. It launched in November for the eye-watering price of $700/£700 and boasts an improved GPU, AI-powered supersampling, and better ray tracing, so all PS5 games a little brighter.
“2024 will easily be a decent year for PSVR2.”
You know what? This has it was a pretty decent year for PSVR2. Especially in the second half of 2024, there are some great games coming to PSVR2, giving you plenty of good reasons to dust them off. In particular, we can recommend Toy Trains, Spin Rhythm XD, Vendetta Forever, Arizona Sunshine Remake, Metro Awakening and Trombone Champ: Unflattened – all very good virtual reality experiences.
2.5/3 points
Khayl Adam, news reporter
“Baldur’s Gate 3 will receive a corresponding expansion, announced and released in 2024“
I’m sorry, Khayl, he has no bones. Baldur’s Gate 3 never saw a 2024 expansion, so take a large thumbs down on this prediction. Both you and Rob were convinced of this and you both failed. Lesson learned: never trust Larian Studios. (This is a joke.)
“PlayStation Portal turns out to be a surprising success story for Sony.”
You can’t argue with that! The PS Portal has truly proven to be a success, and its value has increased even further this year with the introduction of cloud gaming. Now not only can you connect to your PS5 via Remote Play, but you can also simply upload your chosen software directly to the portal. We imagine this device will continue to do well for Sony for the next few years.
“The focus is back on single-player, and live service games are starting to fade away.”
Interesting prediction, that one. Khayl is talking specifically about Sony here, and if we zoom in on the platform handle, we’ll notice that there was quite a bit of it solemn the ups and downs of GaaS games in 2024. Helldivers 2 continued to be a huge success, but Concord was such a disaster that it was erased from existence just days after its release. Astro Bot was a beacon of hope at the end of the year, and two of Sony’s large announcements for 2024 – Ghost of Yotei and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet – are single-player titles, so Khayla’s predictions may have some truth.
1.5/3 points
This time our winner is Aaron Bayne! Congratulations on your great prediction skills. Have a mince pie or something like that.
We’ll be making some predictions for 2025 in the up-to-date year, so keep an eye out for them. For now, celebrate our varying degrees of success in the comments section below.
