Everything Announced at Disney and Marvel's Game Showcase at D23 Expo

Disney has historically been no stranger to the realm of video gaming, having wisely jumped onto the rapidly growing medium close to its inception. From the classic platformers like Ducktales or Ducktales to the now legendary Kingdom Hearts series, new games set in the backdrop of Disney’s expansive library of IPs have been quite frequent. However, despite acquiring properties with near-limitless potential like Marvel and Lucasfilm, the amount of Disney games released by the company hasn’t been as prolific as one would think. That’s not to say Disney games disappeared completely, with big titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers, and a plethora of mobile titles, it seems that there hasn’t been too much of a focus from the House of Mouse on gaming. That is, until now.

At this year’s D23 Expo, Disney held their first annual gaming presentation titled “The Disney & Marvel Games Showcase,” where they showed off tons of projects on numerous platforms and even had a few brand-new announcements. If you missed the presentation live-stream and want a rundown of everything that was announced, all you have to do is read below to see everything revealed and announced at the Disney & Marvel Games Showcase.

‘Tron: Identity’ Announced as a Puzzle-Based Visual Novel

The opening announcement for the show was Tron: Identity, revealed with a teaser showcasing the iconic Tron disk. It is being developed by Bithell games and is planned to release in 2023, with the promise of a brand new setting, puzzle-based gameplay, and a visual novel-style storyline where the player will make crucial decisions.

midnight suns trailer (2) — Image via Marvel

'Disney Illusion Island’ Announced as a Nintendo Switch Exclusive

The Nintendo Switch got its own exclusive title with Disney Illusion Island, a 2D platformer starring Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. The title seems to imply that this is a spiritual successor to Mickey’s Castle of Illusion, the cult classic NES title which also happens to be a 2D platformer. Either way, the fluid animation style and fast-paced gameplay looks like an absolute blast and the announcement was certainly one of the show’s highlights.

New Gameplay Trailer and Release Date for ‘Marvel Midnight Suns’

The turn-based Marvel RPG from the creators of XCOM, Marvel’s Midnight Suns has been in the works for quite some time and got to showcase a brand-new bit of gameplay, showing that this will be a game with a heavy focus on tactics and outsmarting the enemy AI as opposed to pure brawn. The panel also featured a tease of the hand-drawn animated cutscenes to be featured in the game.

New Red Hulk Event Coming to “Marvel Strike Force’

A new CG trailer shows that Red Hulk is entering the fray of the popular mobile RPG, Marvel Strike Force. The quick look into what’s coming to the successful title’s fourth year also teases Red Hulk forming a partnership of sorts with none other than the dreaded Apocalypse.

New Trailer for ‘Marvel Snap’, a Mobile Marvel Card Game

Awkwafina (Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) lends her voice acting talents to the trailer for Marvel Snap, another mobile Marvel title. This time around it’s a competitive card-based game where you can pit fantasy battles against wacky versions of your favorite characters.

‘Aliens: Dark Descent’ Gameplay Revealed as a Tactical RPG

Seeing the Alien franchise make an appearance at D23 still feels a bit odd despite Disney’s purchase of 20th Century, but it’s nice to see that the franchise is still alive and well with Aliens: Dark Descent. Similar to Midnight Suns, it’s another tactics-based RPG where players will get to command a squad of marines as they try to outwit the xenomorph horde.

Image via Disney

‘Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’ Gets A Shoutout

In addition to a top-secret Star Wars project, Ubisoft is working on an open-world game set in the Avatar universe. No new gameplay was shown at the showcase, but new details revealed that the open-world adventure will take players into the western part of Pandora, which has yet to be seen in the upcoming films.

New ‘LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’ DLC Characters Announced

The massive character roster of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is getting even bigger with the announcement that more new characters are joining the game as DLC. Thus far the characters confirmed to arrive are Cassian Andor, Reva, and Captain Rex, though more have been promised to arrive soon.

New ‘Return to Monkey Island’ Featurette Revealed

Dominic Armato, the voice of Guybrush Threepwood in the famed Monkey Island series, delivered a new look at the long-awaited sequel. Armato promises that the game will have the sleek visuals and hysterical sense of humor that the franchise has become so well-known for. The swashbuckling adventure will arrive on PC and Nintendo Switch on September 19th, 2022.

marvel world of heroes featured — Image via Marvel

SNES Title 'Gargoyles' is Getting the Remaster Treatment

Disney brought many classic SNES games to modern consoles like Aladdin, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King with the Disney Classic Games Collection, but now they're bringing another classic with Gargoyles Remastered. No gameplay or release date was given, but it was revealed that developer Empty Clip will be helping bring the cult classic back to life.

Hades and Other Disney Villains Announced for ‘Disney Mirrorverse’

Disney Mirrorverse launched not too long ago on mobile devices and has already gained a following thanks to its fun, epic redesigns of popular characters. A new CG trailer showing off suped-up versions of Oogie Boogie and Ursula revealed that Hades is joining the roster of playable characters, with more villains set to arrive later this October.

‘Monsters Inc’ Content Coming to ‘Disney Speedstorm’

If Multiverses is Warner Brothers' answer to Super Smash Brothers, Disney Speedstorm is Disney's answer to Mario Kart. The free-to-play kart-racer, which is currently accepting beta test applicants, already has fan favorites like Mulan and Jack Sparrow as racers, but the showcase also revealed the Mike, Sully, and the rest of the gang from Monsters Inc will also be joining the race soon enough.

‘Toy Story’ World Coming to ‘Disney Dreamlight Valley’

Disney Dreamlight Valley, a game billed as Animal Crossing with Disney characters, just launched this past week and reactions have been quite positive. It was only a matter of time until fans wanted more Disney properties represented and that is already being addressed with new Toy Story content coming later this Fall.

Open World Mobile MMO ‘Avatar: Reckoning’ Announced

While we may not have heard too much about Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, we did get a lot more new information on Avatar: Reckoning, a new mobile MMORPG set in the Avatar universe. The gameplay overview packs a lot of information within a few minutes, with some surprisingly solid visuals for a mobile game, character and weapon customization, an expansive explorable open world, and mission types including single player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer.

black-panter-captain-america-game — Image via Marvel Studios/Skydance

New Untitled Captain America & Black Panther Game Announced

Perhaps the biggest announcement came with the reveal that a game starring both Captain America and Black Panther was in development from Skydance Interactive, the developers of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. Even more interesting is that the game is set during World War II, and Steve Rogers will be teaming up with T'Challa's grandfather, Azzuri. Apart from the exciting teaser trailer, no gameplay details, release date, or even a title were revealed, so we'll have to keep an eye out for this unexpected team-up.

‘Marvel World of Heroes’ Announced From the Creators of 'Pokémon Go'

The showcase concluded with the announcement that Niantic, the people behind Pokémon Go, are making a new AR-based mobile game centered around the heroes of Marvel titled Marvel World of Heroes. The announcement trailer didn't give away much, but it's safe to say we can expect a lot of gameplay ideas seen in Pokémon Go.