These 10 big games just leaked ahead of the biggest gaming event of the year

With just a few weeks left until the biggest game show of the year, the unthinkable has happened: A massive leak.

The image below was taken from Walmart's Canadian website, which accidentally posted placeholder artwork for just shy of 40 games.

Many of the games are known quantities, but a bundle of them were accidentally revealed by the listings — and at least one major surprise was already confirmed in an announcement, which lends a lot more weight to the rest of the listings. 

Here's everything new that was revealed:

First, some context:

Retail listings with placeholder artwork aren't confirmation of anything, and it's entirely possible that the list is nothing but guesswork.

But there's at least one good reason why that's unlikely in this particular case: "Rage 2." 

It's been years since the first "Rage" came and went — seven years. "Rage" is far from a beloved franchise, nor is it a hated franchise. It's more of a forgotten game than anything else. It had a relatively forgettable open-world, and a story to match. It sold well enough, but wasn't a runaway success either.

In short: It's not the kind of game that was demanding a sequel.

So when it showed up on Walmart's Canadian site, it was held up as evidence that the list was false. Which is why it was so interesting when "Rage 2" was announced soon after — an apparent response to having been outed by Walmart — much to the surprise of people like myself.

If "Rage 2" is real, then the more obvious stuff in the leak is all the more likely to be true.

1. "Gears of War 5"

It's been about two years since "Gears of War 4," and a new entry in the series is a foregone conclusion.

Not only is "Gears of War" a marquee Xbox franchise directly produced by Microsoft's own studios, but the previous game in the series introduced a whole new slew of protagonists. It would be more surprising if there wasn't a follow-up to "Gears of War 4." 

Microsoft has yet to announce "Gears of War 5," but it would be entirely unsurprising if it debuted on stage during Microsoft's press briefing at E3 2018 in mid-June.

2. "Forza Horizon 4" (mislabeled as "Forza Horizons 5")

Perhaps the only game more expected than "Gears of War 5" on this list of rumored announcements is a new entry in the "Forza Horizon" series.

The "Forza" franchise operates on a rotating schedule. In 2016, "Forza Horizon 3" came out; in 2017, "Forza Motorsport 7" came out. The simulation-style racing series, "Forza Motorsport," is the big highlight one year, and the arcade-style racing series "Forza Horizon" is the big highlight the next.

Thus, 2018 is the year for "Forza Horizon 4."

The game is labeled in the leak as "Forza Horizons 5," which would indeed be a big surprise — what a bizarre name change! I'm guessing that's just an error, but who knows.

See the rest of the story at INSIDER