Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is just a game coming in a packed 2023

More and more games are already slipping out of 2022. That leaves the holiday season to games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But it’s also already creating a release backlog in the first quarter of 2023. That could include some big releases from Bethesda as well as Electronic Arts and more.

EA already confirms a number of releases for the quarter ended March 31st. In a slide in its most recent earnings report, the company indicated it would have five games for that period. However, none of these games were mentioned by name, with the exception of PGA Tour.

Instead, EA claimed it would have a major IP, a partner title, a remake, and a sports title. While I can’t pinpoint the partner title, it’s probably a game similar to Unraveled or It Takes Two. But the sports title is the new Super Mega Baseball. The remake is Dead Space, and the main IP is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, according to people familiar with EA’s plans.

Internally, EA originally wanted to release both Dead Space and Jedi this year. But now EA has confirmed that Dead Space Remake will launch on January 27th. And then it plans to release the sequel Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order before the end of March. In addition to partner titles and sports games, this is already a busy start to the year.

And that’s just one publisher.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has Redfall and Starfield to fit its year. The company could be looking to release at least one of those games before the fiscal year ends on June 30. And it might even try to fit one into Q1 alongside Dead Space and Star Wars.

And publishers still have a handful of 2022 games that could slip into Spring 2023. God of War: Ragnarok, for example, doesn’t have a specific release date for this year yet.

For big gambling companies, delays are not as big a problem as they used to be. Yes, each delay costs extra money, but it doesn’t seem to affect sales potential. This also applies if you move from the holiday season to February. At least, that’s the lesson many publishers are taking from the success of FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, which hit nearly 14 million copies sold after its release in February.