Hello! Welcome to the TrueAchievements announcement predictions for The Game Awards 2021. How are you all doing tonight? Wow, it is glorious to see you all congregated here at this article. You all look so jazzy. In this carefully crafted read, we have done something special for you, the TA audience — we have congregated the entire TA news team to offer their thoughts, hopes, and expectations (both likely and unlikely) on what goodies tomorrow night’s The Game Awards show may bring.Together, we have all parsed together our stray, wandering, mostly-platonic Geoff Keighley-related thoughts about the potential Game Awards announcements (not awards) into a series of predictions — something that most likely will happen, one that might happen, and one dream reveal — for your entertainment. Just so we are clear, this contains absolutely the most accurate prophecy and foresight on the internet, naturally. We can’t wait to look like geniuses with our 100% record of ludicrous guesses carefully considered, planned, and structured predictions. Okay, I’m done with the spiel… here are the TA predictions for The Video Game Awards 2021! LikelyHogwarts Legacy set to accio our attention?This is the prediction for an announcement that we believe is probably going to happen. Something as certain as Senior Writer Sean being a grumpy boy in the afternoon, Senior Writer Heidi being cheery the entire day, or Staff Writer Kes writing a strange introduction to an article.Heidi — AC Valhalla DLC More Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is my prediction for this one. We know that Ubisoft has already said that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will “benefit from a stronger and longer post-launch programme” than Odyssey, so the only thing that remains to be seen is when we can expect this other post-launch content. According to an updated 2021 roadmap, we can expect the wintery Title Update 1.4.1 this month — and recent reports suggest that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will see more DLC in December. For those reasons, I’m thinking we could see a trailer for the upcoming DLC during the Game Awards, or a trailer for a wintry seasonal event, or maybe a more detailed roadmap on the expansion reportedly planned for next year. Either way, I’m betting on more Assassin’s Creed Valhalla during the Game Awards! What do you think?Kes — A new Hogwarts Legacy trailerAnnounced at the PlayStation 5 reveal back in September 2020, Hogwarts Legacy has been absent from the limelight ever since. However, a few rumours poking about from the halls and moving staircases of the internet have suggested that Hogwarts Legacy will be returning for The Game Awards. You know what? I’m sold. This is a perfect time for publisher Warner Bros Games to finish announcing its slate of games from before the reshuffle after the Discovery merger. We know that Gollum is going to show up — also under the WB banner — and the Batman pairing of Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad have already been shown at a separate event. Potter is left on the self-filling long table with an announced, yet still mysterious, game. The event has more eyes on it than ever to reach a casual audience, so I think now is the time. The only other opening I can see is E3 next year, pre-Fantastic Beasts 3, but that is cutting it down to the wire for marketing teams if they want a co-release. Portkey Games needs to start proving that this game is not a cheap magic trick or a boggart, but a true conjuration. The Game Awards, therefore, is surely the one. ‘Tis prophecy, Luke — Kojima will show up, for some reasonThis one shouldn’t need a whole lot of explaining — Geoff clearly can’t get enough of Metal Gear Solid legend Hideo Kojima, and it’s rare to see one of these events roll by without the gaming auteur putting in some kind of appearance. This year, though, Kojima’s team doesn’t have anything announced that he could be there representing, although I wouldn’t imagine that would stop Keighley from putting an invite in the post, just like every year. Hey, if and when Kojima does rock up, maybe Geoff will have convinced him to give us a sneak peek at something new? Stranger things have happened, and there have been some massive reveals at this event in recent years. A new Kojima Productions game, then? Probably not, I’d say. The man himself, though? Bet on it.Sean — Xbox Game Pass announcementsBig, live gaming events just go hand-in-hand with Xbox Game Pass announcements these days, don’t they? We are 100% going to get some Game Pass news during The Game Awards this year, as Microsoft has already confirmed it. There will be four new games announced for Xbox Game Pass for PC that are coming to the service on day one. Nothing has been mentioned about the console side of Game Pass yet, but I expect we’ll be in for a couple of surprises on that front too. Tom — The Elder Scrolls Online’s next year-long adventureWhile I would have chosen to put this in the ‘Unlikely’ category, due to it being an unprecedented reveal, I also believe it to be quite a likely appearance. This year’s adventure has just drawn to a close with the recent Deadlands DLC, it’s the first Game Awards show to be held since Microsoft completed its acquisition of Bethesda, and it’s also a great time to ride The Elder Scrolls hype train that has been rolling since Skyrim: Anniversary Edition left the station last month. I for one would love to see ESO receive some love this year, so come on Microsoft, let’s make it happen! UnlikelyIs a Fable return just a tall tale?These are our predictions for something that seems possible, but we aren’t quite willing to stamp our name on it as a dead cert just yet. This could be something like Editor Luke getting a full night’s sleep, or Staff Writer Tom playing a game on PlayStation. Heidi — Fable trailerFable was announced last year during the Xbox 20/20 event with a teaser trailer which somehow managed to squeeze a whole lot of magic, humour, and potential into under a minute of footage. Since then, we’ve heard largely… nothing. There has been a real dearth of Fable news over the last year, and that’s why it seems possible that the Game Awards could be the perfect place to redirect attention back to Fable, with a new, full-length trailer, or even a release date. Geoff Keighley has been hinting at what we can expect in The Game Awards, including “four or five things” at Elden Ring level — one of those things could be Fable, right? It feels like we’re due another look at the game, and The Game Awards could be the place to showcase what Playground Games has been up to — on that side of things, it seems possible, or even likely, that we could see Fable at the Game Awards. On the other hand, the lack of any Fable news for so long, and the level of secrecy surrounding it, makes this hope feel more than a little uncertain. Either way, I’m picking Fable as my “unlikely but I hope to see it anyway” pick — what do you think?Kes — PlayStation announces Last of Us FactionsI’m bringing the PlayStation to you, sorry about that. Sony has a strange connection with The Game Awards. The main reason I think that this is possible is that The Last of Us was revealed at the Spike Video Game Awards, which has the Keighley lineage. The Factions multiplayer game mode has been ripening ever since the release of The Last of Us 2, and with time between now and then, maybe this is the event. However, I genuinely don’t know if this is a 2021 or 2022 reveal. Job postings have suggested that the game is still in heavy development, and the only teasers from the studio have been acknowledgements of its existence. Sony has clearly been trying to keep as much of its exclusive slate of games under wraps until after the initial batch of PS5 games is done, too. So, I am a bit stuck. A reveal seems likely, I just don’t know if it is this year or next! Luke — Final Fantasy XIV announced for XboxWith Final Fantasy XIV’s latest expansion Endwalker having launched this week to bring the current chapter of the wildly popular MMO to a close, what better time to finally give us some news on the long-discussed Xbox version of the game? XIV is my most-played game of all time, and as well as wanting an even wider audience to be able to experience the top-tier MMO for themselves, I’d also appreciate the opportunity to play on other devices, too. If Square is planning anything along these lines, though, let’s hope it invests in some more servers… Endwalker early access started late last week for those who preordered, and the servers were rammed, leaving latecomers in queues of thousands waiting their turn to get in on the hot new action. That should be a pretty good indication of just how popular FFXIV is right now, and how big a deal an Xbox version — even this late in the day — would be.Sean — New Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II trailerThere have been rumours swirling about a possible new Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II trailer at this year’s awards, which definitely could be a possibility. The rumour comes from Jeff Grubb, who is pretty reliable with this sort of thing, so that’s why I’m putting a fair amount of stock in it. We also haven’t seen anything substantial on the game since its reveal back at The Game Awards 2019. Sure, we’ve had a few developer diaries from Ninja Theory, but nothing meaty. Hopefully, this year’s awards will give us a fresh look at what Ninja Theory has in store for Senua, and maybe some gameplay? Or is that too much to ask?Tom — Films and TV added to Xbox Game PassThis one certainly sits between the ‘likely’ and ‘unlikely’ categories for me, because let’s face it, is it something Microsoft needs to add to its subscription service? Probably not, no… but competition is getting fierce. Sony’s potential new service (which is said to include TV and movies), Netflix now operates a games division, Amazon, Google, the list keeps on growing. With Microsoft’s Films & TV app readily available on Xbox and Windows PC, it would be a simple affair to add it to the service and match the competition, although certainly a costly endeavour. I also accept that I might be one of the few that uses the Films & TV app for my full movie library, so wanting to see it added is probably a selfish notion… but you’d learn to love it, I think.The DreamMore Mass Effect at TGA, or is this prediction just a Space Oddity?These are the god-tier announcements — the ones we have imagined feverishly while staring out the window, gazing at the majesty of the TA office car park. All those cars, parked in such a well-regimented line… it just inspires, you know? These are our video game announcement dreams!Heidi — Everwild trailer and release dateEverwild took everyone by surprise when it was announced back in 2019 with a gorgeous trailer, but we then didn’t see anything of it until eight months later when a new trailer arrived in 2020. Both trailers, while visually stunning, didn’t give anything away on the story, or what the gameplay might look like, and we were left wondering about Everwild for quite some time. Indeed, apart from a little dev discussion, we haven’t seen anything of Everwild for a while. The Game Awards seems like a good time to bring the spotlight back to a game that we haven’t heard from in a year, when all eyes in the gaming world will be watching. Then again, I would feel more confident in this pick if there hadn’t been a rumour floating around after the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase that Everwild was being “restarted from scratch” and was targeting a 2024 release date. 2024 — ouch. On the other hand, there has been no official word to confirm or deny this rumour, and the trailers we’ve already seen seemed pretty solid — basically, I am perfectly willing to talk myself into a state of denial on this one, as Everwild getting a new trailer or possibly even a release date would be my dream prediction.Kes — Skull & Bones re-revealA fairly damning report on the development of Skull & Bones suggests that since its initial reveal in 2017, with several years under its tricorn, things have repeatedly fallen apart under different game directors. A supposed lack of leadership from the top brass, outdated design, and chopping and changing of core gameplay elements have seemingly left the game in a mess. It appears the game is finally pulling up the rigging and setting sail on full development as of around a year ago, though more delays have been incurred. So, Skull & Bones absolutely has to be this young sea-lout’s dream prediction, seeing as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is one of my favourite games ever. Pirates at TGA, please!Luke — Monster Hunter World 2 revealEver since Monster Hunter World surprised everyone with its remarkable success and became Capcom’s best-selling game of all time, a direct sequel has been pretty much an invetibility. The big Capcom leak last year suggested that a new game, simply referred to as ‘Monster Hunter 6,’ was in development, targetting a 2023 launch, and if that’s the case, it’s probably still a little too early to expect our first look at a new game. Moreover, with Monster Hunter Rise coming to PC next month and an expansion due next summer, it seems unlikely that Capcom would want to overshadow the latest game in the series with a new announcement just yet. I’m pretty sure we’ll see this at E3 next year (maybe along with a tease of Street Fighter VI — that’s a one-two punch I could get behind), but there’s always the outside chance that we may catch a glimpse a little sooner…Sean — New Mass Effect trailer, teaser, anything…I extremely doubt we’ll see anything Mass Effect-related at this year’s TGAs, but a boy can dream, right? BioWare dropped Mass Effect 5’s first teaser trailer during The Game Awards 2020, and it gave fans like myself so many things to pore over and theorise about. Is that Commander Shepard’s armour Liara is holding? Who are the crew with Liara? Is that even Liara? Does Andromeda have anything to do with this new game? There are so many questions that need answers, and I’m so down for it. I can’t get enough of the speculation and theories! For N7 Day this year, we had a new teaser in the form of some new artwork that very clearly depicts a Geth. I’d love it if we had another cryptic teaser trailer at the TGAs this year, even just some new artwork — something, anything to get the juices flowing once more. Tom — Ubisoft joining Xbox Game Pass UltimateOkay, this is mentioned as a prediction for almost every large-scale event, and one I’m sure many Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would like to see happen. While it could easily be argued that Ubisoft is far too large a presence to worry about subscription services, the changing meta of player engagement and the rapid growth of cloud gaming might just be the catalyst that pushes the company to consider the new market. With the rumours of Sony creating its own service to rival Game Pass, I believe we might just be on the precipice of a new ‘battle of the bank accounts,’ as both companies attempt to sway publishers with lucrative deals. Ubisoft is the one to watch most closely, though, at least right now, due to the publisher already having its own online library on PC: Ubisoft Connect.That’ll do it for our predictions! Did you agree with any of our picks? Vehemently disagree? Don’t forget to leave a comment with all of your own predictions…
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