Shrek 2 Remaster Likely to Be Revealed at October XBOX Event

A split-second teaser image, an earlier leak, and a wave of nostalgia all point to the ogre's comeback.

A Shrek 2 remaster is shaping up to be one of next week's surprises, and it is about as close to confirmed as a rumor can get without an official word. The XBOX event takes place on October 20th, and a quick flash of an ogre in its opening teaser has convinced many people that Shrek is on the lineup. The odds are roughly 99 percent.

The showcase will feature 18 games, and The Wolf Among Us is one of them. You can even spot Bigby in the teaser art. Earlier this week, word spread that the team might announce something for returning players, like a discount for anyone who already owns The Wolf Among Us. 

A lot of people asked about it, and it honestly looked like nothing would come of it. Then, a day later, an announcement did arrive. Pricing news for The Wolf Among Us is expected next Tuesday. The ogre is what has people talking, and the reason goes back a few weeks.

A massive leak hit then, and a batch of trophy listings went online. Those listings gave away a lot. Kingdom Hearts was one of the biggest items to get spoiled, with a lot of detail coming out. The same leak also pointed to a collection of Telltale's The Walking Dead games, and that collection now looks set to arrive in the first half of next year.

Fans of Kingdom Hearts and of Telltale's The Walking Dead both walked away from that leak with plenty to think about. Among the many things that surfaced was a Shrek 2 remaster. Nobody pulled this idea out of thin air after seeing an image. An insider's leak about a month ago already said the project existed and was underway, so the teaser simply lines up with it.

The short video released as an opener for the XBOX event contains the image for a split second.

If you don't pause at the right moment, or you blink at the wrong time, it is gone. Shrek is plainly visible when you catch it. A gaming show with 18 games has no real reason to slip an ogre into its preview unless a Shrek 2 remaster is coming. The news has stirred up some nostalgia too. Many people want to replay the original game before the remaster arrives, and it still ranks among the best PS2 games ever made.

It is often held up as an example of what a movie tie-in should aim to be, and fans say it goes well beyond that label. If you played it around 2004, you probably remember it clearly. That kind of attachment is a big reason a Shrek 2 remaster makes sense.

One longtime player says the game brings back Christmas Day memories of playing it and Shrek the Third with a sister at a grandmother's house while the whole family joined in. Even now, the visuals are sharp in that player's memory, and for a 2004 game, it still holds up well. The copy has gone missing, though. Family members have mishandled some old games over the last ten years or so, and the original is nowhere to be found.

So a replacement is on the way, most likely as a Christmas present to self. A listing has sat on an eBay watchlist for about two years without being bought. The original game costs around $30, while Shrek the Third goes for about $10, and the hope is that sellers are overcharging and the price will drop before a Shrek 2 remaster arrives.

A Shrek 2 remaster also fits well on the calendar.

The upcoming movie is due out in the summer, around June, so a game released close to that date would line up well. Since the reveal only happens next Tuesday, there is no release window yet. It could sneak out in December or January. A January or February launch would be disappointing, and it's hard to defend the habit of dropping games in those months. April or May would suit the game better.

A short wait seems more likely than a long one. A remaster this size shouldn't need a long development window, and a Shrek 2 remaster reveal next week with a launch seven months away would be a stretch. That is a lot of waiting for a game that means a great deal to some fans but is not huge in the wider picture.

A February 10 date is easy to imagine, and it wouldn't go over well. Whatever the date, a Shrek 2 remaster could well show up before the summer movie. Alongside any Shrek 2 remaster reveal, the returning-player pricing news and the rest of the lineup arrive at the same time, so next Tuesday is packed.

Telltale's The Walking Dead collection is expected in the first half of next year, and Kingdom Hearts is still the title people are waiting to see in more detail, so the coming months have plenty of returns on the way. After the XBOX event wraps up on Tuesday, the details should be clear, and it will be easy to tell who read the date correctly.

Anyone planning to replay the original beforehand has a little time to track down a copy. That same longtime fan is also working on a retrospective of the game, planned for before the release. Until the official reveal, the Shrek 2 remaster stays unconfirmed, but everything so far points in the same direction.