Pacific Drive is slated for 2024. I haven't looked real closely at it, but I get the feeling that it's supposed to feel like those grim Slavjank games like Metro and Stalker but with a hint of Oregon Trail about it. You're exploring spooky anomalies from your station wagon in the Pacific Northwest. Looks really fresh to me.
Manor Lords is coming out, looks brilliant.
Corsairs Legacy is coming out. I don't expect it to be good, but maybe if we're lucky it will shape up to be the Kingdom Come of pirate games. Maybe not that level of quality (Kingdom Come is a top-tier game), but at least worthwhile. It's a historical pirate game, is the big thing.
Espiocracy looks absolutely genius. That's a Cold War espionage grand strategy game. it's of limited scope, as you play specifically as an espionage agency (you don't control the other functions of the state), but it still sims it. What stands out is that if you read the dev diaries it's clear that they are incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful about their material in a way that Paradox could never dream of.
I never played an Ultimate General game, but I'm considering them. UG American Revolution is coming up. What aggravates me about many total conversion mods and full games of American wars is that they often take a very narrow slice of it. Grand Tactician, for example, doesn't bother depicting the entire American mainland even though the Arizona Campaign was a thing, for example. Likewise I don't know if UGAR actually represents the full Revolution, but you make do with what you have.
Edit: What I'm bitching about is that I doubt they'll adequately represent the whole North American landmass up to the Mississippi River. Even some of the Caribbean would be perfectly appropriate. I doubt there will be a good portrayal of the (very interesting) theater along the Ohio where the Indians and Spaniards played a major role.
Gilded Destiny is scheduled for 2024, but I doubt they make it. That's supposed to be a Victoria competitor.
Empire of the Ants is supposed to be an RTS (though it also calls itself a grand strategy, has that just become the trendy label to slap on everything?) about ants in a photorealistic style.
I'm skeptical of Star Trucker (in other games that are based around transporting things, they have a tourist aspect like Truck Simulator or an element of unpredictability, exploration and danger like Elite and other space games; can Star Trucker actually be engaging against the generic backdrop of space), but I loved Space Truckers the movie and I love the high concept of a game based on it.
There's a few other things I've got an eye on, but I doubt they'll actually be good, or aren't that interesting to mention.
