The 26 most exciting survival games to be released in 2023

(Release: April 2023 – Development Studio: Tiny Magicians)

You must survive on a remote island while zombies and other monsters crave your blood. Of course, you also have to make sure you have enough food and build a strong base so that the nightly raids don”t leave you a head shorter. Outbreak Island may not necessarily convince with particularly innovative ideas, but as they say: better well copied than badly invented – and the pictures and videos so far look really atmospheric.

Pandemic Train

(Release: 1st Quarter 2023 – Development Studio: Trigger Labs)

One disaster is usually soon followed by another. This is also the case in Pandemic Train, for the country not only becomes a war zone, but is simultaneously afflicted by a plague. You are responsible for the crew of a former school train that travels through the wasteland in search of a cure. At the same time, you have to purify drinking water, raise cattle and keep the old train in good shape.

Occupy Mars: The Game

(Release: 1st Quarter 2023 – Development Studio: Trigger Labs)

Nightingale

(Release: Spring 2023 (Early Access) – Development Studio: Inflexion Games)

Ex-BioWare boss Aaryn Flynn”s game lets you loose on not just one open world, but dozens! In the steampunk setting, you are stranded after a catastrophe in a realm, another world with various creatures.

Your task (apart from simple survival) is to return to the magical city of Nightingale that gives it its name. On your journey, you will enter other realms, occasionally meet other players thanks to the Shared World and expand your base.

Summa Expeditionis

In this survival game, you take on the role of a Roman legionnaire who must survive in the barbaric forests of the enemy. Over time, you can also rise in rank, gather soldiers around you and become the feared centurion – but don”t forget to also take care of your camp, build defensive structures and provide enough food. The graphic style is kept quite simple, but it doesn”t look bad at all and the setting is a refreshing change.

Frontier

In 1809, you settle new land in North America, build your first base and defend yourself against the hungry animals. But the monsters pose a much greater danger, Wendigos and Yetis are also in the game. By the way, how you behave should also have an effect: NPCs will be friendlier to you if you show courage and don”t hide behind the protection of others.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

A really good game in Tolkien”s universe, that would be it again. Maybe with Return to Moria such a game is already waiting for us this year! We have to rebuild the former dwarven kingdom of Moria after the War of the Ring. Since the proud people are notorious for their building skills, the crafting-focused genre lends itself perfectly to this.

Alight: Lunar Survival

(Release: 2nd Quarter 2023 – Development Studio: Tbjbu2)

Here you must fight for survival on a moon overgrown with glowing plants. Build a base, bring electricity to the place, provide enough oxygen and don”t get killed by aggressive aliens. The lighting atmosphere in Alight is top-notch, the colourful glowing flora makes the title eerily atmospheric in the pictures alone.

Life Not Supported

Solarpunk

Too much action and excitement is not good for the heart, so a deeply relaxed survival title is needed. Solarpunk could be just the game. High above the clouds on a floating island you build your own little paradise, plant beds and breed animals. The struggle for survival can sometimes be really enjoyable.            

Tribe: Primitive Builder

On an island full of different tribes, here you establish your own community, build fancy villages, explore the island and spread your vision of the gods to convince more characters of your cause. Your tribe should not expand too quickly, however – the more people, the more hungry mouths. The core gameplay stays true to the genre: explore, craft, hunt, build bases.

Dune Awakening

Few places are as predestined for a survival game as the desert planet Arrakis from the science fiction world of Dune. In the upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening equipped with distillation suits, we must battle the unforgiving desert, where every drop of water can mean the difference between life and death. The monstrously large sandworms don”t necessarily make life any easier either – at least not as long as you don”t know how to use them.

The development studio Funcom has already proven with Conan Exiles that they can fill a multiplayer survival game with exciting content in the long term – now the collected knowledge just has to be applied to the huge sand dunes. The setting could even convince survivalist Vali.

Ark 2

Still Ark: Survival Evolved is a perennial favourite in the survival genre. The fight for survival with tamed dinos simply doesn”t get boring anytime soon, and new updates keep the game fresh. Ark 2 is due to be released this year, but we don”t know much yet – except that Vin Diesel will be in it! But if the second part is anything like the success of the first, we”re in for something big!

Pacific Drive

In this unusual survival game, you have to battle against eerie anomalies – your only companion is an old Station Wagon, which you can pimp out more and more over time. The deeper you get into the Pacific Northwest Zone, the more you learn about the strange events that make your life difficult.

State of Decay 3

Voidtrain

They still exist, the really creative games. In Voidtrain you work on an interdimensional express train. The train flies through the mysterious Void, but is regularly attacked by giant creatures.

You have to protect your vehicle with all kinds of weapons, but you can also constantly improve the train. In fact, you can do more than that: you build the train yourself from scratch, so you don”t start with a prefabricated model. The only ones who have a say in your construction are optionally your three co-op partners.

Wizard with a gun

They still exist, the really creative games. In Voidtrain you work on an interdimensional express train. The train flies through the mysterious Void, but is regularly attacked by giant creatures.

You have to protect your vehicle with all kinds of weapons, but you can also constantly improve the train. In fact, you can do more than that: you build the train yourself from scratch, so you don”t start with a prefabricated model. The only ones who have a say in your construction are optionally your three co-op partners.

Palworld

(Release: 2023 – Development Studio: Pocketpair)

Now it”s getting a little crazier: At first glance, Palworld looks like a classic Pokémon clone. But appearances are very deceptive, as the cute creatures are happy to pick up an assault rifle at your command.

The open world is also not as warm as the colourful pictures suggest. The food shortage is enormous. To survive, you may even have to … eat your little companions. So if you want to question any happy childhood memories, you can look forward to Palworld! … or so.

Diluvian Winds

Climate change is now clearly noticeable, with Arctic ice melting and sea levels rising. This is not only true in reality, but also in Diluvian Winds. In the 2D game, you have to take care of your community in a lighthouse and watch out for the rising waters. By the way, you can already play a demo on Steam.

Terror: Endless Night

You embark on a rescue mission into the Arctic Ocean to find the crews of two missing ships. While the game is a turn-based strategy, the survival aspect certainly doesn”t fall short! The cold is hard on your comrades, and mentally your crew faces a massive challenge as well. Your decisions can contribute to the rescue or lead to the death of your fellow human beings.

Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival

Not only Ark can offer you a survival game with dinosaurs. in Grand Emprise you travel through time and fight for your survival in different eras. In addition to the prehistoric era, colonialism, the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution are also planned as settings. In the open world, you will pursue the classic survival activities – building bases, crafting weapons, exploring the world. It is still unclear how the change between the eras will proceed – but it is certainly exciting.

Project name Odyssey – The mysterious game from Blizzard

(Release: TBA – Development Studio: Blizzard)

Last but not least, there”s the survival game from Blizzard. Will that come this year? That”s unclear, like pretty much everything else about the project. Not even the name is known. But if it does come, it is simply too big not to mention here. After all, it”s supposed to be an entirely new brand – the last one was Blizzard”s Overwatch from 2016.

Which survival game are you looking forward to the most? Are you big titles like Sons of the Forest and Ark 2 or do you have one of the lesser known titles in mind? Let us know in the comments!