2021 is quickly coming to an end and with it a unique year in gaming. The global pandemic created great barriers to game development, but also saw other areas grow. Take a walk down memory lane with us as we look at the biggest trends that shaped this year and the biggest trends coming up.
The wave of new consoles made their arrival in late 2020. The transitional period is always bumpy and awkward, but cross-platform and cross-save are here to help. Games are increasingly seeing cross-platform support as platform exclusivity is phasing out. Having a different copy of a game from your friend is no problem as you can play multiplayer games like Sea of Thieves across different platforms. If you want to play Minecraft or Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch, you can easily bring the same data over to play on the PC now with cross-save.
Cloud Gaming
Once seen as a niche in gaming, cloud gaming is now a staple for many different platforms. Not only do the major console competitors like the PS4 and Nintendo Switch have their own cloud gaming services, we’re seeing expansions in those services too. The Nintendo Switch is extending their library of games by adding Nintendo 64 classics in the newest expansion, and Xbox Cloud Gaming finally released in September. Xbox Cloud Gaming differs from its competitors in that the vast Xbox library can be streamed on PCs as well. This includes over 300 games from the Series X/S, Xbox One, the 360 and even the original Xbox. Amazon’s cloud gaming service Luna is still in early access but looks promising.
Rise of Esports
2020 saw a huge boom in esports viewership which continued into 2021. Unlike traditional sports, which were shut down during the pandemic, esports has no such barriers. The games are easily streamed online and are usually an online affair. The League of Legends 2021 World Championship drew a record breaking 4 million online viewers. The competitive scene is only going to get bigger as well with several competitive games finally being able to host in-person tournaments such as Apex Legends. The game hosted only two competitive events in-person before the COVID-19 pandemic put in-person events on hold. The return to form will surely give the esports scene a boost.
One genre of games that’s on the rise is roguelike gaming. These games involve players repeating loops of randomized gameplay where every death resets all progress and ends the run. The genre was niche until recent years, perhaps helped with the popularity of indie darling Hades. Bigger studios are getting in on the action however with console games like Returnal on the PS5, Deathloop on the PC or Loop Hero. More games are on the horizon for the genre too, with the sequel to Darkest Dungeon coming out in the next year.
Virtual Reality Gaming
One of the biggest developments in the Virtual Reality scene is the advent of the Oculus Quest all-in-one. VR technology has steadily been on the rise since the release of commercially available headsets like the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, but the Quest has made it more accessible for a broader audience. Players don’t need outside software or even a super powerful computer. Facebook announced more than 60 games for the Oculus Quest in 2021. It also announced that its successor to the Quest, the Quest 2, had five times the number of sales of the Quest 1. The market for VR is expected to rise from 7.92 billion USD to 53.44 billion by 2028.
Popular games have entered the cryptocurrency market. Games like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft already have their own in-game currencies of V-bucks, Robucks and Minecoins respectively. But real-world cryptocurrencies are being accepted as a way of paying for gaming transactions too. Controversial blockchain-technology games are also gaining traction as the market sees more and more of them appearing.
The global pandemic put more than a few things on hold for 2021 – including many triple AAA titles. As the world eases back into opening, that also means the release of delayed titles. The long-awaited collaborative game between FromSoftware and George R.R. Martin Elden Ring might finally come out in the next year, along with Diamond and Pearl prequel Pokémon Legends: Arceus. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Sequels of big titles are eyeing a 2022 release window with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, Bayonetta 3, Splatoon 3, God of War: Ragnarok, and many others. Gamers will have their hands full with two years worth of releases jam-packed into 2022.
It wasn’t too long ago that video game movie and TV adaptations were something to groan and fear. But high production releases like Netflix’s The Witcher and Castlevania prove they can be adapted to different media. 2022 presents a whole slew of video game adaptations from the small and big screen to keep an eye out for. The second season of The Witcher releases at the end of 2021, and a movie based on the western fantasy series Borderlands is set for 2022. The long-awaited Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland and the sequel to the charming live-action adaptation of Sonic are also slated for the coming year.
Steam isn’t the only PC gaming platform in the game anymore. New challengers in the arena have risen to give Valve a run for its money. GOG.com is a website that hosts games for download. It used to primarily focus on older games, but now has a wide variety of games available. The biggest selling point is that software downloaded from GOG.com is DRM-free. Digital Rights Management (DRM) a practice in which games are checked to see if they were bought legitimately before they can be played. It’s controversial with some gamers who see it as a huge hassle. This contrasts with Steam where all games must be launched through its client to ensure legitimacy. Another competitor gaining rise is the Epic Games platform. Known primarily for its battle royale game Fortnite, Epic also hosts a variety of games for download on its PC game platform. What makes Epic Games so appealing is its wide bevvy of games available as well. Both GOG.com and Epic Games also frequently have free games available in limited time offers to entice new players. With all these new competitors, we’ll have to see who takes the throne in the coming year.
High-Fidelity Graphics
One of the biggest draws of games are the constantly improving graphics. With monitors and PCs being able to handle high-quality 4K graphics, game developers are stepping their games up as well. New games, such as Battlefield 2042, are featuring technologies like ray tracing (a method of graphics rendering that simulates the physical behavior of light). A new edition of the gaming engine Unreal just came out with Unreal Engine 5 in 2020. Gaming development cycles can take years which means companies are just beginning to explore its capabilities. Gamers will need to ensure their battlestations can handle the intense graphical demands of this new generation of games.
That’s a wrap for 2021 in gaming. There are still developments to be seen, especially with the release of the Nintendo Switch OLED, the full line-up of games for the PS5 coming out, and the rise of VR gaming with critically acclaimed titles like Half-Life: Alyx. 2022 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years in gaming yet.
If you want to look back at trends for 2020, take a look at our article from 2020 or if you’re still shopping around for the holidays, make sure to check out our gifting guide for great deals.
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