Our Video Game Predictions For 2018

Assuming we don’t all die in a nuclear holocaust, what will video games bring in 2018? This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, it’s time for some predictions.

First Kirk and I talk about the news of the week (13:46) including Gravity Rush 2 fans, an innocent man dying to a police swatting call, and Logan Paul’s bleak controversy before making our big predictions for the year to come (34:16). Then we talk about our Games of the Year 2017 (57:20), share some behind-the-scenes details on how Kotaku picked its GOTYs, and discuss a few games we’ve been playing.

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For those of you who just want to see the predictions without listening to the entire show, here they are. The rules: No delays, nothing super obvious, nothing subjective, nothing based on inside info, no Switch ports.

JASON

1. We will get our first rumors of PS5/Xbox Two (legitimate outlet, either console)
   
2. Nintendo will FINALLY put together a Netflix-like Virtual Console, a separate service from the currently announced program
   
3. Kingdom Hearts 3 will actually come out and it will have at least two Pixar worlds
   
4. Someone will try selling a game for more than $60
   
5. Blizzard will announce a new Diablo
   
6. We will see at least 2 new PUBG clones
   
7. Nintendo will announce a sequel to Breath of the Wild in a different world with the same mechanics and physics, sort of like Majora’s Mask to OOT
   
8. At least one big YouTuber (over 500k subs) will quit the platform for something new
   
9. Another company will announce a dedicated gaming handheld system, to capitalize on the Switch’s popularity
   
10. Valve will be sold
    

KIRK

1. At least three open world games will launch with no minimap
2. Trump will be involved in a video game-related controversy, in real life or on Twitter
3. At least one major 2018 game will be marketed specifically as having no loot boxes
4. Sony will announce PSN name changes
5. Bethesda will announce The Elder Scrolls VI for fall 2018.
6. At least one established major multiplayer shooter [Call of Duty, etc] will add or launch with a Battle Royale mode
   
7. At E3, Ubisoft will announce The Division 2 for a fall 2018 release.
   
8. A YouTuber will commit a felony on YouTube and go to jail for it
   
9. Bungie will overhaul the Destiny 2 Eververse in some significant way
10. A major video game publisher (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision) will suffer a major publicized data breach
    

For the whole discussion and lots more, check out the full episode. As always, you can find Splitscreen on Apple Podcasts and Google Play. Leave us a review if you like what you hear, and reach us at splitscreen@kotaku.com with any and all questions, requests, and suggestions.