For many people (sorry Australians) June marks the beginning of summer. That means a lot of things for different people - maybe the start of the rainy season, the end of school, or the beginning of warm weather. What June also means is the release of quite a few anticipated video games across all the different platforms! For gamers about to find themselves with a lot more free time, that’s the best kind of news. But for all gamers, it’s time to get ready for a new month of games!
With games across several different genres including simulation, racing, and action, June has a little something for everyone. And games that are great for gamers of all ages! A few games are sequels or parts of series, but even more are original titles. So what games should you be getting ready for play in June? Read on to find out in the 10 Most Anticipated Games for June.
10. Onrush
- System: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Publisher: Deep Silver
- Developer: Codemasters
- Release Dates: Jun. 5th, 2018
Onrush is a new, original racing game releasing for the PS4 and Xbox One. Its gameplay is done in arcade-style, letting players race against one another (or the computer) over a variety of terrains. You can choose from cars, motorbikes, and off-road vehicles to drive in the races. All of the environments feature huge hills to present a unique challenge and set the game apart from other similar games already in the market. During the races, players are encouraged to perform stunts as well as try to take other players out. Doing so earns the chance to use boost powers, which may well determine the result of the race!
Onrush seems like it will be the kind of game that casual racing fans can really have fun with. It’s easy to sit down and play just for w little bit if you want to have some fun. But It also has the chance for more serious players to devote time to get really good at it, especially performing stunts and navigating the hills. Onrush gives gamers that want something to play with friends to let off some steam or even have a party a new title to enjoy. Anyone can pick it up and learn how to play like most racing games, and it has the opportunity to be really interesting if you play it more and more. Racing game fans will definitely be interested in checking out Onrush when it releases.
9. The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset expansion
- System: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, MAC
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Online Studios
- Developer: ZeniMax Online Studios
- Release Dates: Jun. 5th, 2018 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
Our next entry on our list of anticipated games for June isn’t a full game, but rather an expansion to an existing one. The Elder Scrolls Online is based on the very popular and long-running series of games set in the Elder Scrolls world. That means it has plenty of content to draw from and a lot of places for fans to get excited about revisiting and exploring. In June, the newest expansion pack will be released. This will add to the Summerset Isles, which haven’t appeared in an Elder Scroll game since The Elder Scrolls: Arena. It will be available for purchase as a separate title to add to the original game.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset adds not just a new location to explore, but a lot of additional features and gameplay, too. Just a few of these include a new storyline and the ability to craft jewellery. Expansion packs are essential for keeping MMO players interested in a title as they always want new content, and Summerset does exactly that. For Elder Scrolls Online fans, it’s easy to get really excited about having a whole new place to explore soon! While especially exciting for hardcore fans that have already finished everything else, Summerset leaves all players of the MMO ready for new content.
8. Lego the Incredibles
- System: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Traveller’s Tales
- Release Dates: Jun. 15th, 2018
Lego the Incredibles will be the next Lego game to be released and is set for June in North America (sorry Europe you’ll have to wait until July). Like all Lego games, the gameplay is all about building things to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and progress through the story. Not only featuring the original and still-popular Incredibles story, it also will have the story from the long-awaited Incredibles II! That’s going to be two entire films’ worth of gameplay to enjoy again in Lego form, which gives a lot of exciting and fun storyline to play through.
Lego the Incredibles appeals to gamers across a wide range of ages. Both Lego and the Incredibles have both younger and older fans because of the long history of both names, which means the game is exciting not just for kids but also adults, too! Lego games can be quite challenging after all, and while kids certainly enjoy playing through them as best they can, adults can really have a fun time, too. With all the hype behind the much-anticipated Incredibles II film, it’s no surprise that everyone is excited for it to be included in Lego the Incredibles as well!
7. BlazBlue: Crosstag Battle
- System: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Arc System Works
- Developer: Arc System Works
- Release Dates: Jun. 5th, 2018 (US)
BlazBlue: Crosstag Battle is a 2D fighting game that is a crossover title. It features not only characters from the popular BlazBlue series, but also characters from Persona 4 Arena, RWBY, and Under Night In-Birth. BlazBlue: Crosstag Battle is going to have revamped gameplay that is different from how any of these games previously played, bringing something fresh and new to the table. It will also feature tag-in battles in 2 vs. 2 mode, allowing you to tag between your two favourite characters while your opponent does the same.
BlazBlue: Crosstag Battle is already confirmed to have 40 playable characters in it!! Gamers will be happy to hear that 20 of these will be available in the base version of the game. Another two, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, will be available as free downloads. The other 18 will be DLC available for purchase. That lets players pick and choose what characters they want from their favourite series, and gives fighting game fans a large number of characters to challenge and master. Fans of all of the included series as well as people that enjoy fighting games are likely to be hyped about the possibilities in BlazBlue: Crosstag Battle, and with so many characters, hopefully, it won’t get old too quickly!
6. Mario Tennis Aces
- System: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Camelot Software Planning
- Release Dates: Jun. 22nd, 2018
Mario Tennis Aces pits different characters from the Mario games against one another in exciting tennis matches. There are a lot of special moves to learn and master, including topspins and lobs. While these are the same as previous games in the series, Mario Tennis Aces have added a few all-new mechanics as well. These include zone speed and zone shots, which allow the ball to move in slow motion and can break opponent’s rackets, respectively. These kinds of moves are powered by an energy bar, adding a fun new feature to the sports game.
Mario Tennis Aces has a lot of flexibility for different kinds of gamers to add to its appeal. It allows for single and multiplayer local matches, as well as online multiplayer. It also has a story mode for people that want something more than just playing regular tennis matches! Playing online lets gamers unlock more characters and outfits, giving you the motivation to keep playing more and mastering more techniques and moves. Mario Tennis Aces even has a mode that lets you swing your controller to simulate swinging the tennis racket. And all of this is done while playing as your favourite classic Mario characters - and there are quite a lot to choose from and unlock. For both Mario fans and sports game fans, Mario Tennis Aces promises to be a lot of fun.
5. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
- System: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
- Publisher: Nihon Falcom, Nippon Ichi Software
- Developer: Nihon Falcom
- Release Dates: Jun. 26th, 2018 (Nintendo Switch)
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is an action RPG that first launched back in 2016 in Japan, and later released in English on PS4 in 2017. Now in June 2018, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is coming to Nintendo Switch! You play as Adol, a boy who becomes shipwrecked on the cursed Seiren Island. As he tries to survive and find a way to escape the island, he teams up with a wide variety of other characters that he meets in his travels. All the while, he is also investigating a mysterious girl named Dana that appears to him in his dreams and what her connection is to Seiren Island, too.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana received quite good reviews when it was initially released, and a lot of the complaints were dealt with in updates since. That means that Switch gamers can look forward to an optimised version of the game being released for their platforms and they don’t have to deal with the bugs! Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana has an original story and fun RPG gameplay that includes and open-world environment and plenty of crafting to keep players entertained and happy. It also has multiple main characters you can play as, each with their own unique play styles. It’s the only true RPG coming out in June, and luckily it’s one we already know is a good one!
4. Jurassic World Evolution
- System: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Publisher: Frontier Developments
- Developer: Frontier Developments
- Release Dates: Jun. 12th, 2018
Jurassic World Evolution is a business simulation game that is based on the film Jurassic World from 2015. It allows you to take control of your own dinosaur theme park, researching and breeding dinosaurs, and showing them off to the public all while trying to make a lot of money. Of course, there’s more to it than just the dinosaurs themselves; you have to worry about the guests and employees too! That means building other rides and attractions as well as creating great enclosures for the dinosaurs to keep them happy. And true to the movies the game is based on, there are sometimes emergency and dangerous situations you have to face. Will your park be a great success despite the odds or will you also fail at having a safe and productive dinosaur park?
Jurassic World Evolution is, of course, most exciting for fans of the movie series. However, beyond that, it actually has a very large appeal to business simulation fans. Gamers that remember the great old days of titles like Zoo Tycoon can get excited just reading about Jurassic World Evolution; it has a lot of the same elements but with even more! It has a few cool features too, like going into the first-person mode to maintain the fences, and taking photographs of your dinosaurs to gain publicity. Jurassic World Evolution has a lot going on to balance but the more you play, the more you can unlock and the more challenges you can overcome! And maybe you can even keep the casualty rates a bit lower than in the movies.
3. New Gundam Breaker
- System: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
- Publisher: Bandai
- Developer: Crafts & Meister
- Release Dates: Jun. 22nd, 2018
New Gundam Breaker is the latest in the Gundam Breaker game series. It’s a fighting game with a heavy emphasis on the customisation of your fighting mech. Based on the gunpla models that are quite popular, you use the broken pieces of your defeated enemies to build your own gunpla which you then use to fight. New Gundam Breaker features a lot of Gundam models that fans of the series will know and recognise. It will have both a story mode as well as a three vs. three battle mode. And if you’re reading this and assuming it will only have a Japanese release, fear not! June 2018 will see an English release of the game.
New Gundam Breaker is especially appealing to Gundam fans of course, but it can get any fighting game fan excited too! After all, few fighting games offer the intense dedication to customisation that this game does, let alone using your defeated enemies to upgrade yourself. So even if you have never been into Gundam before, it may well be worth checking out New Gundam Breaker when it releases. The game being released in English is also a huge reason to get hyped; instead of having to import a copy and struggle through the Japanese, you can pick it up and play easily. New Gundam Breaker has a lot of people excited, and for good reason. It looks awesome!
2. The Crew 2
- System: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: Ivory Tower
- Release Dates: Jun. 29th, 2018
The Crew 2 is a sequel to the 2014 game The Crew. It’s an open world racing game set in a scaled down but still huge version of the United States. You take the role of an unknown rookie racer who wants to be well-known for operating multiple kinds of vehicles. That means as you race your way across America, you can drive not only cars but also boats, airplanes, and motorbikes! The Crew 2 features a lot of different gameplay modes, including off-road, street racing, and free play. The last of these lets you free roam the game’s huge environment to your heart’s content. The others feature single and multiplayer options.
The Crew 2 is an exciting racing game mostly because of the chance to freely make your way across America and have a great time in the continuous open world environment. On top of that, it allows you to switch between the different types of vehicles you can control seamlessly. Each of these vehicles features a different kind of controls to learn and master, so just because you can drive a car it doesn’t mean you can use the same controls for an airplane. This keeps the game exciting and pleasantly realistic while still being fun. The Crew 2 also features both competitive and cooperative gameplay, so whichever kind of experience you’re looking for, you can find it.
1. Vampyr
- System: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
- Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
- Release Dates: Jun. 5th, 2018
Vampyr is an all new and completely original game. The setting is London 1918, during the outbreak of the Spanish flu. You play as a doctor named Jonathan Reid, but he is no average doctor; he also recently became a vampire. Thus Reid finds himself at odds between following the Hippocratic Oath as a good doctor and following his newfound lust for fresh blood. Whatever you choose to do and however you choose to play will affect the story and the parts of London you can explore. Reid can become a destructive killing force that shows little mercy, or he can try to find a moral balance between being a vampire and a doctor. That choice is up to you!
Vampyr has an interesting concept that could become a really fun original game to play. Choice-driven games are what many players want these days, with moral choices that affect the environment and the story. Thankfully Vampyr gives players that kind of freedom to change the game according to how they want to play it. There are four different endings to unlock, one of which can only be seen if you don’t kill anyone the entire game. The setting also promises to be a good one, as developers visited London and did their research to recreate the city (with some extra creative elements!) for the game. Vampyr follows traditional vampire lore with elements such as you can attack anyone and turn people into vampires - but you must first be invited into their homes. For fans of vampire stories, action-adventure games, and supernatural RPGs Vampyr holds a lot of promise and anticipation.
Final Thoughts
Well, that is quite a few games to get excited about! Luckily you still have a bit of time to preorder what you want and finish the games you’ve already started to get ready for adding some new ones to your library. Whatever console you play, hopefully, you can find a June release game (or two!) to keep you happy for the beginning of your summer. Or well, your winter if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere!
Which of these games are you most excited about? Have you already pre-ordered any of them? What are you planning to play? Let us know all your excitement and hype in the comments below!