What are your summer gaming plans?

The solstice isn’t until tomorrow but if you live in the United States you’re already dealing with a ridiculous heat wave; our neighbors on the other side of the world aren’t much luckier, as Australia is dealing with really cold temperatures as its winter commences. So in the interest of keeping everyone inside and out of the weather (and properly hydrated — please drink plenty of water!) let’s talk about how we plan to beat the heat (and cold) by gaming.

MMO fans have a lot to look forward to, with FF14‘s newest expansion Dawntrail coming later this month/early July — depending on whether you get early access — and of course The War Within will be out towards the end of August. Not to be outdone Guild Wars 2 is also releasing an expansion in August and frankly I’m miffed they’re coming out so close together as I’m definitely playing both. I may also get back into FF14 in July, but I’m still debating whether I have the time to catch up (I haven’t played since the initial release of Endwalker) before the GW2/TWW double-whammy.

Before the MMO inundation at the end of August there are a few other games I’m looking to play (and not just ones I played the demos of last weekend). Tavern Talk is out this week and I’m definitely getting and playing that. Next week brings Spy x Anya: Operation Memories and a new DLC for Stray Gods the Roleplaying Musical. I’ll definitely be diving back into the world of Stray Gods, but I’m still undecided on Spy x Anya; while I love the manga for Spy x Family I do have concerns about the game — if reviews are solid though I’ll likely pick it up.

Of course I still have a sizable backlog, and at the top is Unicorn Overlord which I’ve been wanting to play since it released earlier this year — if I don’t dive back into FF14 I’ll definitely be spending most of July with it. If I do play Dawntrail I’m going to have some decisions to make about how to spend my game time. Then again, the more I play the less likely I am to get heat exhaustion so it’s win-win!

What about you? Any games you’re looking forward to playing this upcoming season? Are you maybe excited for the new Elden Ring DLC, or perhaps you’re holding out for Star Wars Outlaws at the end of August? Let us know in the comments below!