Generally speaking, the biggest months for gaming every year are October and November, as that's typically when game companies drop their biggest games, ushering them out just in time for the holiday season. For much of the industry's history, the winter and summer months have been slow, and while that still holds true for the most part, February may be a new month to watch moving forward. February 2022 was a big month for gaming, and it looks like February 2023 will match its hype.
February 2022 was home to major releases like Dying Light 2, Sifu, Lost Ark, the next-gen versions of Cyberpunk 2077, Total War: Warhammer 3, Horizon Forbidden West, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion, FromSoftware's Elden Ring, and a number of other significant titles. February 2023 has yet to fully reveal its slate of games, but what's already been announced is setting the month up quite well.
At the time of this writing, February 2023 is already confirmed to be home to at least three rather significant game releases, and by the time the month actually rolls around early next year, fans can expect even more titles to join the lineup. This includes the long-awaited Dead Island 2, which somewhat mirrors the release of Dying Light 2 from this past February. Both are open world zombie games, and Dead Island 2 even originated with Dying Light 2 studio Techland as its developer. Both games have been long-awaited and delayed numerous times as well. Fans have been waiting a long time for Dead Island 2, and it will be interesting to see if it lives up to the hype when it launches on February 3 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
New Video Game Releases February 2023
- Deliver Us Mars - February 2
- Dead Island 2 - February 3
- Clash: Artifacts of Chaos - February 9
- Hogwarts Legacy - February 10
- Wanted: Dead - February 14
- Destiny 2: Lightfall - February 28
- Darkest Dungeon 2 - TBA
Hogwarts Legacy is set to launch a week after Dead Island 2, releasing to the masses on February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Switch version coming at a later date. Those that pre-order the Hogwarts Legacy Collector's Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition can get 72-hours early access, so those individuals will be able to pop in on February 7 instead. Regardless, Hogwarts Legacy has easily been one of the industry's most-anticipated games since it was announced a couple of years ago, and so its February 2023 release date gives the month a massive boost.
And finally, February 28 will see the launch of the Destiny 2 Lightfall expansion across all Destiny 2 platforms. The Destiny 2 Lightfall expansion is set to introduce the new Strand ability, Neptune, new factions, and much more, so it should make for an exciting experience for fans of Bungie's MMO/FPS hybrid.
Again, this is really just the tip of the iceberg. February 2023 will also have the release of smaller scale games like Deliver Us Mars and Darkest Dungeon 2, plus there are should be many titles coming that month that haven't even been revealed yet.