A pair of leaked box arts confirm that G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout is coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this fall, with other platform releases possible. The long-running Hasbro franchise has recently hit a resurgence with the release of the G.I. Joe Classified action figure line, and it seems that the Joes will get a video game to support the new initiative. The G.I. Joe franchise as a whole has been quiet as of late outside of the toy aisle, with the last push coming around the release of G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2013. A third G.I. Joe film has been in the works ever since, but Paramount has been relatively quiet when it comes to anything regarding the production.
On the gaming front, Duke and friends have been a little more active, though not by much. Most recently, G.I. Joe was included as a downloadable faction in 2015's since delisted Toy Soldiers: War Chest. Signal Studios' tower defense game had the Joes teaming up against characters from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and Assassin's Creed as well as unlicensed action figure stand-ins. The game was decidedly not related to any G.I. Joe canon, more riffing on the franchise's origins as an action figure line. 2020's G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout may go a bit differently.
Put out by GameMill Entertainment, G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout's box art recently hit the web via eagled eyed fan A Nerdy Dad on Instagram. The game is in the standard PlayStation 4 box and a newer Xbox Series X case, although it's confirmed to be a backwards compatible Xbox One game upon further inspection. The game is rated T in the United States, which would match with Hasbro's recent ambitions for the franchise and G.I. Joe products over the past decade or so.
The G.I. Joe fans over at HissTank also noticed the game's recent full listing on GameFly, the first confirmation that the game was in the works. In addition to the revealed PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions, that listing has Nintendo Switch as a platform, letting you fight Cobra on the go. Other than these two links, nothing else is known about the game, including its gameplay or its planned release date. Because it hasn't been announced yet, G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout could easily slip further in the future as the realities of working from home continue to affect the gaming industry.
Even if we have a few months or more to wait, the time is right for G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout. Transformers fans have had the amazing Transformers: War for Cybertron and its followup by High Moon Studios, as well as Platinum Games' classic Transformers Devastation. There just hasn't been a breakout G.I. Joe gaming experience on that level since the 8-bit era. While GameMill Entertainment is not the first name you think of when you think of big properties making a statement, perhaps they've found something unique with Roadblock and Snake Eyes to take them to the next level.
Source: A Nerdy Dad, HissTank