A recent “leak” that occurred Monday seemed to indicate that a lot of unannounced titles and anticipated sequels were on the way and also coming to PC.
It featured word of PC ports for previously console-exclusive titles and more, too. As first spotted on Reddit, software developer Ighor July performed a datamine of Nvidia’s GeForce Now database and in doing so, discovered listings for a lot of unannounced games, sequels, ports, and more.
What Gamers Are Saying
It didn't take long for this leak to take off. The original post on Reddit has nearly 2000 comments. The top comment is "No Bloodborne? It must be legitimate," and it comes by way of redditor KingBroly. It's a fun poke at the desire many have to see Bloodborne come to PC and there are many other comments like it. However, many of the commenters are taking this leak as 100% true. There are also some, like redditor howmadstha, who note that titles like Bioshock 2022 seem fake and take away some of the credibility that this datamine found real games, though.
The most common takeaway from the commenters on that original reddit post is that if this turns out to be huge, it might be one of the biggest leaks in gaming history, but that there's a good chance this isn't what it seems. Over on Twitter, things are hovering between "THIS IS NOT A DRILL [INSERT GAME] LEAK CONFIRMED" and "ehh who knows, these might just be placeholders." There's also those taking this opportunity to make a good meme or two out of the situation.
The NVIDIA employee who probably wrote his wishlist in the placeholder GeForce Now list rn: pic.twitter.com/neyFwnCHTd
— Miss Darkness (@misstenebraealt) September 13, 2021
To be fair, the leak did appear quite believable at first glance. It wasn’t a shoddy screenshot of a game playing on a monitor or a supposed list of things to come — it was a list of game listings made within Nvidia’s GeForce Now database. GeForce Now is Nvidia’s games streaming service not unlike Google Stadia or Amazon Luna. Surely the leak must be legitimate if it’s coming by way of such a massive, prominent, and most importantly, credible company, right?
Nvidia's Response to the Datamine
On the surface, it seemed that way, but now we know that’s not necessarily the case. Nvidia responded the following day on September 14 that the list of datamined games were listings “used only for internal tracking and testing,” adding that some titles included are “speculative” and don’t constitute “confirmation nor an announcement of any game.”
Nvidia said in a statement to IGN that it took immediate action to remove access to the internal list and that “no confidential game builds or personal information were exposed.” So that’s that, right? Well, in the landscape of games, it doesn’t take much for a leak, rumor, or datamine finding to take off and this week’s Nvidia datamined listings are no different.
Why The Listings Aren't All That They Seem
However, there might be more to this. Sure, there are some listings in the datamine that quite obviously read as “no way” — looking at you Bioshock 2022, which seemingly alludes to the new Bioshock game announced in late 2019 as coming from 2K’s new Cloud Chamber studio. There’s always the chance that Bioshock 4, or whatever it’s called, could come out in 2022, but that seems extremely unlikely. Just a couple of months ago, they were hiring a writer for an open-world setting.
Let’s put some puzzle pieces together: 2K created a new studio in 2019 called Cloud Chamber to create the next Bioshock game, which was announced at the time as now in development. That game is reportedly open world and it’s also still hiring writers. Considering Bioshock’s bread and butter is often its writing, it would seem a story for Bioshock 4 is not even set in stone yet. You can see why a brand new Bioshock game that’s reportedly open world and still hiring writers for a brand new studio announced in 2019 doesn’t seem likely for 2022, right?
Perhaps that’s a placeholder, or maybe it’s a spinoff or remaster. A spinoff seems unlikely considering 2K announced Cloud Chambers as essentially the Bioshock studio. All three Bioshock games were technically remastered with 2016’s Bioshock collection by Blind Squirrel Games (a studio known for its remasters), too. However, the Nvidia datamine does mention a “Bioshock RTX Remaster” (alongside Mirror’s Edge RTX and Batman: Arkham Knight RTX remasters as well).
Maybe that’s what “Bioshock 2022” in Nvidia’s listings is supposed to be, but that also seems unlikely because “Bioshock 2022” and “Bioshock RTX Remaster” are separate listings.
Making Sense of What's Probably Not Real
There are a lot of other titles in the datamine that seem more like guesses akin to Bioshock 2022 than actual titles we can expect to see anytime soon. “Kingdom Hearts IV '' is another title in the datamine that reeks of a guess. Kingdom Hearts 3, the latest numbered title in the series, was first announced in 2013. It didn’t release until 2019. A fourth sequel doesn’t seem like something happening anytime soon given the franchise’s track record either. There are spinoffs to be had first, after all.
Other titles we deem a guess include Titanfall 3 (that one might even be wishful thinking on Nvidia’s behalf because Respawn said last year that no new Titanfall games are in development), Metro Next, which seems to be a reference to a possible sequel in the Metro series, Crysis 4, likely added to the list by Nvidia due to the recent Crysis trilogy remaster announcement, and Gears 6.
Making Sense of What's Probably Real
Elsewhere in the datamine, there are games that we already know are happening so a listing in Nvidia GeForce Now for internal use makes sense. Titles in the datamine we’re going to categorize under “games we already know are coming” include GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas remasters (reportedly coming together in a single trilogy remaster), Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection, which PlayStation announced is coming to PS5 and PC in its most recent showcase, Payday 3, which was announced years ago, and Resident Evil 4 Remake, which is reportedly in the works, amongst others.
Then there’s the titles whose inclusion in the Nvidia GeForce Now list is what we’ll call questionable. For example, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was revealed through a massive Capcom leak that occurred in 2020. Nvidia likely added that title to its list as a result rather than actual knowledge the public is not currently privy to.
Another title that’s questionable is Final Fantasy 7 Remake — a recent datamine of Epic Games Store backend data revealed that the PC storefront will add this game to its offerings.
That hasn’t been confirmed yet but that same backend datamine revealed a potential Alan Wake Remaster and that has since been confirmed. That confirmation makes a PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake seem much more likely and there’s a chance Nvidia is already aware of such a version. Nvidia might also have simply created a placeholder after the Epic Games Store datamine though.
The PlayStation Effect
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this entire Nvidia GeForce Now leak is the mention of God of War (2018), Returnal, and Demon’s Souls for PC. None of those games have been announced as coming to PC, but it wouldn’t be surprising if such an announcement occurred. That’s because Sony has been slowly but steadily bringing its previously exclusive-to-PlayStation titles to PC.
Horizon Zero Dawn was added to PC last year and Days Gone was added to PC this year. We know Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: Lost Legacy are coming to PC next year and on top of all of this, PlayStation recently announced that it had purchased Nixxes, a studio that specializes in PC ports.
Put all of this together and God of War, Returnal, and Demon’s Souls coming to PC doesn’t seem all that unlikely. To add fuel to this datamine fire, the leak says there’s no mention of Insomniac’s Spider-Man or Bloodborne.
If Nvidia was just taking guesses, it seems odd to not include Spider-Man and Bloodborne, right? What makes Nvidia think God of War, Returnal, and Demon’s Souls would be coming to PC but that Spider-Man and Bloodborne would not join them. Purely speculating, perhaps Nvidia knows that the three aforementioned titles are, in fact, coming to PC.
Making Sense Of It All
Speculation, leaks, and datamined info aside, all of this adds up to one murky conclusion though: Nvidia might know some things not currently public and some of these games, be it ports, sequels, or brand new IP, might be real. It’s just as probable that Nvidia is guessing based on what it’s seen and heard, much like this piece speculates on things based on information out in the wild too.
The reality of the situation is that we’ll likely never know. These listings might be a big look at unannounced games and ports that weren’t meant to be seen by the public just yet. They might also be speculative guesses and placeholders. Quite literally, only time will tell.
Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.