A new year means new games. And new hypemachine cycles in which to sell those games, am I right? By now, you’ve seen it all in every game ever released. You’ve read the interviews where developers gush over just how authentic the Perforate 2.0 Engine is in Ace McStab Yo Face 5: Days of our Knives, you’ve watched a trailer where big bold font tells you that a kajillion weapons await you on a hostile planet and something something blockchain. Yawn.

As well constructed as Red Dead Online is, its current incarnation is still one that needs a mountain of fine-tuning to get it feeling just right. The solution? Several, as Rockstar Games revealed on their blog how they intend to whip Red Dead Online into shape.

Gaming’s power couple is officially over. In a new blog post, Destiny developer Bungie revealed today that it has begun to part ways with publisher Activision, ending a partnership that began in 2010 and saw the release of Destiny, its first sequel and numerous expansions. “We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on Destiny,” Bungie wrote on their site.

We want to be bold, we want to be brave and we want to throw our own hats into the ring with a few ideas of our own, that will see the gaming industry undergo some radical change this year. Are we even remotely psychic? Not a chance, but we’re feeling pretty confident that none of these predictions will come back to bite us in the ass. None of them.

With one of the best years in recent gaming memory over with, it’s time to look forward and towards a new horizon of upcoming releases. Whether it’s action, puzzles or straight-up brutality, 2019 has plenty of offer even the most jaded gamer on the planet. So with that in mind, here are our top ten picks for the games that …

2018, in so many ways, is a year marked by controversy. Many great games, mind you, but a level of silliness and backward business practice so astronomically confounding – so very boggling to both mind and wallet – that most of us are still reeling from the impact; or cringing from the taste on our tongues. Luckily then, that particular dumpster fire has more or less sailed. 2019 is geared to deliver a stellar lineup in general. But gaming’s titanic trio in Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo respectively are left in something of an unsure position as they either look to the future, try to find their place in the present or both.

Inch by inch, death by death, progression felt like a path to power that players had to truly earn in From Software’s Dark Souls series. It was well worth it though, as trekking back to locations that you had suffered to survive through many hours before, provided players with a satisfying walk in the park once they’d earned new skills …

In the “1-Shot demo,” players step into the boots of rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy as he arrives at Raccoon City Police Station in the ultimate worst first day on the job. Leon must survive vicious zombies and solve puzzles to find safe passage out of the station. With an entire building of flesh-eating nightmares lurking between Leon and his escape while the clock ticks down, players need to be sure they’re killing more than just time.