Steel Hunters, Mecha Break, and an untitled project from the creator of Shadow Of The Colossus all have one big robotic connection.
The Game Awards certainly had a big showing for its tenth anniversary, between The Witcher 4 and even more Elden Ring, but a batch of games shown at the event shared a similar theme.
Giant mechs have never been as popular as zombies or superheroes in the overall zeitgeist and over the past decade, those who yearn for a robot power fantasy have been very underserved, beyond the odd exception like Armored Core 6 and 2016’s Titanfall 2.
Thankfully, mech fans will see their cravings satiated over the coming year or so, thanks to several games on the near horizon.
Steel Hunters
As shown during The Game Awards, Steel Hunters is a free-to-play hero shooter hinged around giant mech battles. It’s described as blending battle royale and extraction mechanics, where you take on other players and enemy AI.
Each hunter mech boasts its own playstyle and unique abilities, as you pursue objectives in matches to level up and acquire gear, culminating in a showdown at the extraction point. It promises destructible environments in Unreal Engine 5 too, if you simply like to watch things break.
Steel Hunters is developed by Wargaming, the studio best known for World Of Tanks. You can request access to a limited playtest on PC now, which runs between December 12-22. There is, however, no release date yet for the final version.
Mecha Break
Developer Amazing Seasun Games revealed a new trailer for Mecha Break during the event. Along with showcasing the frantic combat, it shows off the three modes available at launch: 3v3 battles, an objective-based 6v6 mode, and, similarly to Steel Hunters, a PvPvE mode where you fight bosses, collect loot, and conduct extractions.
The trailer also shows off weaponised gliders and customisable loadouts, although you might be distracted by the incredible amount of lasers and rockets blasting all over the place.
If you want more on Mecha Break, we interviewed the developers earlier this year about the game. We now have a release window too, with Mecha Break set to launch in spring 2025 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Untitled project from GenDesign
The studio behind Shadow Of The Colossus have swapped giant monsters for towering robot titans for its next project. While the game doesn’t have a name yet, the trailer shows a masked character climbing a robot, before its head detaches and flies upwards to avoid an incoming shockwave.
The involvement of Fumito Ueda and his GenDesign team will be the main selling-point for some considering his pedigree on Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus, and The Last Guardian. But beyond that, it’s another win for the mech lovers.
If you want more robot optimism, there’s been rumbles to suggest Microsoft is planning to re-release some of Activision’s Transformers games in the near future. These include Transformers: War For Cybertron, Fall Of Cybertron, Devastation, and Rise Of The Dark Spark, which were all released during the Xbox 360 generation.
Nothing has been officially announced but two Transformers’ ratings popped up on the Australian classification board in September of this year, suggesting something is in the pipeline. It feels odd they haven’t been announced already though if they do exist, considering this year saw the 40th anniversary of Transformers and a new animated film.
Elsewhere at The Game Awards, Naughty Dog debuted a trailer for its new sci-fi game (with a robot), while Split Fiction possesses a 50/50 sci-fi and fantasy split. They’re everywhere!
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