Every Upcoming Video Game Remake And Remaster
If there’s one thing that you can count on when it comes to video games, it’s that a remake or a remaster is never far away. In 2024–and beyond–there are some interesting remakes and remasters on the horizon, ranging from PS2-era classics like Max Payne and Metal Gear Solid 3 to PC heavyweights that helped bring gaming further into the mainstream. We’ve rounded up all the known games getting a fresh lease on life below, and you can check in for updates as the rest of the gaming calendar is fleshed out over the months to come.
For a closer look at what you can expect in the future, you can check out GameSpot’s guides to the most anticipated PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch games coming soon.
Persona 3 Reload – February 2
Persona 3 walked so that Persona 4 and 5 could stylishly run, and fans of the series can soon try out this game for themselves when it lands on PC and console. Remade entirely in Unreal Engine 5, Persona 3 Reload includes stunning new visuals, tweaked gameplay more in line with Persona 5, and extra content for anyone looking to try out this remake.
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered – February 14
We don’t know when the next Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics will be revealed, but for now, you can relive the formative years of Lara Croft through this definitive bundle of the first three Tomb Raider games. All expansions and secret levels have been included, the core gameplay has been modernized, and if you’re feeling really nostalgic, there’s even a photo mode to play around with in case you want to create 2000s-era wallpapers for your PC.
Star Wars: Dark Forces remaster – February 28
There’s no shortage of excellent first-person Star Wars shooters these days, but back in 1995, Dark Forces was a revelatory experience. Almost 30 years later, you’ll be able to relive the adventures of Kyle Katarn as he joins the Rebel Alliance and infiltrates the Empire, as the remaster supports up to 4K and 120fps graphics, upgraded gameplay, and enhanced lighting. Video game restoration experts Nightdive Studios are behind this project, so expectations are high that the end result will be a fun and faithful (if non-canonical) return to a galaxy far, far away.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake – February 28
More than 10 years ago, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons arrived and left a lasting impression with its elegant tale of siblings juxtaposed against intuitive twin-stick gameplay. We’re expecting more of the same in the remake–Avantgarden is tackling this project instead of the original studio Starbreeze–only this time with a prettier Unreal Engine 5 glow-up and local two-player co-op. You can still lone-wolf your way through this adventure, but either way, expect to be emotionally devastated by the time you finish it.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – February 29
The next chapter in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Rebirth is teasing an even bigger deviation from the source material as it explores familiar territory and surprising new directions. We already know that the game is set directly after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake and will end at a pivotal moment in the storyline, but it remains to be seen just how big of a departure that moment will be. Cloud’s party is getting bigger with the debut of Cid and Vincent Valentine, a trip to fan-favorite locations like the Gold Saucer is on the itinerary, and gameplay has also been enhanced with new moves to master.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
Star Ocean: The Second Story R and both Octopath Traveler games are terrific examples of HD-2D games, and Dragon Quest III is the next game on Square Enix’s list to get that glow-up. Beyond that, not much else is known about the game or its release date, but Square Enix did tease that the winning combination of pixel art and 3D effects will be dazzling to see in action.
Front Mission 3
Front Mission 1 and 2’s remakes have been serviceable returns to that universe of mechanized warfare, but for US fans, Front Mission 3 is where the franchise truly began. Front Mission 3 was the first game in the series to launch outside of Japan, and like the previous two remakes, you can expect a graphically improved game, more content to explore, and tweaked gameplay.
Gothic
Some games age surprisingly well with time, while other games…less so. Gothic felt dated even back in 2001, with many reviews noting the stiff combat system and clumsy controls, but Alkimia Interactive is aiming to modernize the experience with some big gameplay enhancements. If you’re interested in checking out the roots of this dark fantasy series, Gothic Classic is available on PC and Nintendo Switch.
Max Payne 1 and 2
Butter them up, because Remedy Entertainment is on a roll lately. With Alan Wake 2 earning critical acclaim across the globe, the studio is preparing to return to its past with remakes of Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. That’s a whole lot of Payne. While Remedy sold the rights to the Max Payne franchise to Rockstar Games back in 2002, the two studios have teamed up to combine both games in a single package of hard-boiled narration, gritty action, and the genre-defining bullet-time gameplay–just like what took the industry by storm decades ago.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater – 2024
Long considered to be the definitive game in the series, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is getting the grand remake treatment and is currently scheduled for a 2024 release. Konami plans to bring the origin story of Big Boss into the modern age with “cutting-edge graphics and 3D audio,” while also retaining the elements that made the game so iconic all those years ago–namely, tight stealth, jungle warfare, and that banger of a theme song in this Cold War thriller.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Ubisoft’s remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has had a rocky development cycle so far, as the delays piled up and development shifted from Ubisoft’s India studios to its Montreal team. The good news is that while The Sands of Time has been indefinitely delayed, there’s an excellent spin-off available right now. If you’re in the mood for a Prince of Persia game influenced by its past and metroidvanias, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a great game to check out.
Riven
You couldn’t shake a CD-ROM drive in the ’90s without bumping into the mega-popular Myst, and any game following in its footsteps had some big boots to fill. Fortunately, Riven was a strong sequel, and years later, it’s making a comeback. Built from the ground up at Cyan, the studio has even employed developers from The Starry Expanse Project, a fan remake of Riven, to help with its version of the game.
Silent Hill 2
Bloober Team might have just as many hits as it does misses, but there’s hope that the studio behind Layers of Fear and The Blair Witch can faithfully recreate one of the greatest survival-horror video games of all time. Silent Hill 2’s 2012 HD port didn’t do the game justice, and it’ll be fascinating to see how this sequel builds on the original game when it arrives later in 2024.
Splinter Cell
Splinter Cell fans have been asking Ubisoft to bring the series back to life–as more than just a Ghost Recon cameo, at the very least–and those requests are finally being answered with a complete remake of the 2002 game. Development has remained in the shadows since the 2021 reveal, but Ubisoft has explained that it’s aiming to modernize the series while retaining its core DNA. Splinter Cell is being built in the Snowdrop engine, the same software used to create impressive-looking games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
What exactly is going on with Embracer Group’s planned remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic? The game has been beset with issues since it was first announced in 2021, with reports of an indefinite delay following the firing of two lead developers at Aspyr in 2022, Saber Interactive taking over development duties, and another report claiming that progress had ceased entirely. Embracer Group has yet to confirm any of these claims officially, and hopefully, the project hasn’t been banished to the far reaches of the galaxy just yet.
The Witcher
While new games set in The Witcher Universe are in development, CD Projekt Red is also working on a remake of the first game. Like several of its other in-development projects, The Witcher remake is being built in Unreal Engine 5. Fool’s Theory is handling the remake, with the creative direction being led by several Witcher and CDPR veterans.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – 2024
20 years after it was first released on the GameCube, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is making a comeback on the Switch. Like Nintendo’s other classic games, this new version will enhance the timeless design of the original game with sharper graphics and will make the adorable cardboard characters stand out more than ever.
Lollipop Chainsaw: RePOP – Summer 2024
Originally billed as a remake of the classic 2012 game, you might want to dial back your expectations for Lollipop Chainsaw: RePOP as the game will instead be a remaster. Producer Yoshimi Yasuda explained that this change in direction was in response to fan requests, and players can also expect to see shorter loading load times, improved hit detection, and enhanced graphical performance.
Braid: Anniversary Edition – April 30
Braid still holds up as a delightful platformer with time-bending mechanics, but visually, those handcrafted graphics have aged. Fortunately, the upcoming anniversary edition will feature brand-new painterly graphics alongside a slew of other audio-visual enhancements. Smoother graphics and improved sound are great, but the real draw here will be 15 hours of commentary from Braid creator Jonathan Blow and other developers, adding more insight into how this classic game was made.
Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse – Spring 2024
Fans of point-and-click adventure games featuring freelance detectives and an absurdist sense of humor, rejoice! Sam and Max are making a comeback in a remaster of the last game in the revival series from Telltale Games. Developer Skunkape has done an excellent job of bringing the first two seasons of Telltale’s Sam and Max games into the modern era, and for this latest project, you can expect the usual upgrades in this remaster as you explore the most dangerous environment in existence: the inside of Sam’s warped mind.
Beyond Good and Evil – 2024
It has been 20 years since Beyond Good and Evil first launched–and for anyone waiting for the sequel, it has felt even longer–and Ubisoft is preparing to celebrate the beloved sci-fi adventure that brings it up to modern speed. While the original Xbox listing for the remaster has since been deleted, according to its text, this new version will support 4K and 60fps visuals, upgraded audio, and improved controls when it arrives later in 2024.
Shadows of the Damned
Shadows of the Damned–Suda51 and Shinji Mikami’s weird 2011 game that mixed action with not-so-subtle genital references–is making a comeback in the future. And that’s about as much as we know, as developer Grasshopper Manufacture has kept a tight lid on this remaster since it was first announced. Long considered an underrated game full of tight action and absurd humor, it’s still great to see demon-hunter Garcia Hotspur gearing up for a second shot at the big leagues, as the original game was only available on PS3 and Xbox 360 at the time of its release.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – Summer 2024
More than a decade after Luigi returned to his part-time job as a paranormal exterminator on the Nintendo 3DS, the hapless plumber’s first ghost-busting sequel, Dark Moon, is getting ported over to the Switch in 2024. Luigi’s Mansion 2 increased the scope of the original game by throwing the lanky plumber into five different locations filled with pesky spooks, spreading the terror from a haunted mansion to an abandoned factory, research lab, and more.
