MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Here are the key upcoming events and releases to mark in your calendar for January 2023.
CES 2023
January 5th – 8th, 2023
The biggest tech event in the world returned to Los Angeles, wowing attendees with all manner of new innovations as well as refinements on the tried and tested. People came to the annual CES event from all over the world to network with other people from the tech and gaming industries, which is why it remains a event to keep at least one eye on.
Awesome Games Done Quick
January 8th – 15th, 2023
As was usual for Awesome Games Done Quick at this time of year, speedrunners performed their best runs of games in front of thousands of viewers for a good cause. This year, the speedsters raised funds for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. AGDQ 2023 was an online only event, as the organisers decided that the state of Florida was unsafe for its community.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
January 12th, 2023
If you’re a big fan of classic 16-bit titles like Mega Man X, Strider and Shinobi, or just enjoy the styles and sounds of the SEGA Mega Drive and its games, then you should probably check out Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider and its stylish brand of 2D and 3D action gameplay. Eurogamer called it “a fine example of retro done right”, which is a sentiment very much shared by the MCV team.
Monster Hunter Rise
January 20th, 2023
The fantastic Monster Hunter Rise is no longer a Nintendo Switch and PC exclusive, and has arrived on Xbox and PlayStation for gamers that enjoy hitting dragons with swords. If you have an active Game Pass subscription, you’ll be able to play the latest release at no additional cost, which isn’t something to sniff at, either.
Fire Emblem Engage
January 20th, 2023
Nintendo has brought back Fire Emblem for another outing on Nintendo Switch, with a new story that somehow involves bringing back the series’ previous protagonists like Marth. Fire Emblem Engage puts more emphasis on tactical combat than social scenarios for the first time in a while, so it should be especially fun for fans of the older entries in the series.
Pocket Gamer Connects London
January 23rd – 26th, 2023
Pocket Gamer is hosting another series of conferences throughout the year. For the first they were at The Brewery in London, once again bringing people together under one roof to talk about video game development of all shapes, sizes and platforms.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life
January 26th, 2023
Marvelous’ Story of Seasons (Bokujō Monogatari) franchise is gracing us with another remake of one of its beloved titles in Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. The original farming and life simulation game is largely considered one of the best ones in both its own series and its genre, so if the remake lives up to its expectations, it should be good fun.
Dead Space
January 27th, 2023
For all its launch day performance issues on PC, The Callisto Protocol was an excellent tribute to Dead Space and a fine game on which to end 2022. The problem, like all cover versions, was that when your audience is so familiar with the original tune, the abundant similarities create almost as much dissonance as the few differences. Given that the original line-up has moved on, the protagonist has been given a voice and the game world will be more open than the 2008 original, we wonder if the song will remain much the same for EA’s Dead Space remake.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
January 31st, 2023
Adventures that put new ‘what if?’ spins on popular characters are all the rage these days, so SpongeBob and his new-ish friend Balloon-Patrick have decided to get in on the fun in The Cosmic Shake, a brand-new adventure from THQ Nordic that picks up where 2020’s SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated remaster left off. With a familiar gameplay style in place, and lots of “Wishworlds” to explore, this one looks like a lot of fun.
