It’s not surprising that we’re at a point of reflection, as we’re now past a year of life being upended and drastically changed from how it was before. Our day-to-day routines aren’t likely to be ‘normal’ for some time yet, in truth, but a consistent part of our lives of anyone reading this has remained with us – gaming.
This isn’t a new topic; we’ve spoken to developers about the impact of COVID-19 on their teams, and we’ve looked at the incredible cultural impact of Animal Crossing: New Horizons as it collided with an unprecedented point in recent human history, among other topics. From a business standpoint, too, the video game industry has seen surges in interest and indeed profits; never has gaming been more ‘mainstream’. In fact, we’re at the point where discussions about its role in entertainment and culture are unnecessary; it’s now long established.
So, how did gaming take the most challenging year in living memory — for a great many of us, at least — and not only survive, but thrive? For one thing, it was uniquely placed alongside TV streaming services.
So, how did gaming take the most challenging year in living memory — for a great many of us, at least — and not only survive, but thrive? For one thing, it was uniquely placed alongside TV streaming services. We’ve been stuck at home for extended periods, and when seeking entertainment will head for the TV or similar device. So far, so obvious.
Hardware sales jumped, of course, and at the start of it all Nintendo Switch was the most recent console to launch and a perfect fit for the times; demand often out-stripped supply. The insatiable demand for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S has been – at least in part – driven by this, but of course Sony and Microsoft have encountered serious issues with manufacturing and materials. Nintendo fell into a good spot not just with the likes of Animal Crossing taking off, but in having well-established manufacturing pipelines and supply chains; a hit was taken last Spring as factories shut down, but from late Summer 2020 onwards Nintendo could catch up and make hay.
For the Triple-A parts of the software business though, this has actually been a mixed period. On the one hand, massive titles that did get out the door typically delivered notable sales due to our appetite for new games; releases like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla did particularly well, but like so many big games it had issues with bugs (ahem, Cyberpunk 2077).
Nintendo arguably had a mixed time in terms of the quality and depth of releases, even if its accountants will care naught. Paper Mario: The Origami King was enjoyable but the series isn’t the company's most prestigious (though the Switch entry was the fastest-selling for the IP).
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity certainly got the blood pumping for Zelda and BoTW fans, and is an excellent title that nevertheless pushes the hardware to its limits; the Korok Forest level is painful, but never mind. Past that, not much was new as such, but capitalised on nostalgia and Mario’s anniversary; even the most ardent fans should probably concede that the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection was a little lacklustre as a celebratory product. Bowser’s Fury, as a new game in its Super Mario 3D World package, was innovative and fun but even that arguably lacked aspects of the usual Nintendo polish; that’s not necessarily a harsh criticism of the spin-off as Nintendo sets itself such a high bar with the franchise, but a reality of the disrupted development process.
It's often been smaller titles that have captured the lockdown zeitgeist. Gamers of all types have wanted to feel connected with family and friends, and games became a go-to way to achieve that.
For smaller developers there will have been logistical challenges, of course, and we’ll talk another time about some aspects of the past year that will have hurt that area. Yet in terms of game production, many of these little teams likely already worked remotely ('medium-sized' Indies will have found it harder), at least to some degree with staff spread all around the world. It won't have been simple — far from it — but the agility and flexibility of smaller studios will have served them well.
That made 2020 an amazing year for the best of Indie games to take off in the mainstream, as more complicated triple-A projects battled to make progress and often got delayed – ‘now coming in 2022’ is a familiar line for major titles that were targeting this year, too, so these issues are ongoing.
Unsurprisingly it's often been simple concept, easy-to-play titles with a multiplayer focus that have captured the lockdown zeitgeist. Gamers of all types have wanted to feel connected with family and friends, and games became a go-to way to achieve that. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout certainly tapped into this, with the smart decision to include it in PlayStation Plus greatly enhancing its exposure along with significant PC sales. It is often overlooked that Devolver Digital publish this game, so it wasn’t a plucky Indie release out of nowhere, but the publisher’s savvy deal with Sony was vital. It’s also easy to play and enjoy, which was a trend of viral hits in the past year. We're interested to see how it goes down with Switch owners when it arrives on their console later this year.
Then, of course, there’s Among Us, which is arguably the bigger story as it genuinely was the work of a small team with no major backers. When you look at the concurrent Steam charts it’s fascinating, as this is a game that ticked along with a small but loyal userbase for quite some time, before exploding into life last year courtesy of its strong design and the nudge of powerful influencers that fell in love with it. Its tale is one of exponential growth through Summer and Fall 2020 following its big break, and is now very much a major part of the current Indie gaming scene. Again, it captured that need to play with others and to connect, doing so in a fun way. Valheim is the current viral hit on PC, so this trend will no doubt continue for a while yet.
The trends of the past crazy year are fascinating, but the ultimate goal of this little piece is to give a hat tip of thanks to developers and publishers of all sizes, from triple-A to the smallest of Indies, that delivered so many excellent games over the past year. Every challenge we’ve all experienced — and it will vary for each individual — will have been the same for these game creators. Reflecting on the quality and depth of games over the past year seems even more surprising with that in mind.
Most importantly, gaming got to show a wider audience what many of us have known for decades. Video games matter, the experiences they give us matter. Whether it’s plugging in headphones and embarking on a solo adventure, or connecting with others for multiplayer shenanigans, games give a degree of immersion and entertainment that is unique. As a medium it has amazing power, and it shone over the past year.
Comments 15
My current activity is collecting old games i have never before played.
There are a lot of upcoming games i want to buy but the old games hunting is more important for me than some upcoming games.
So many games I like today is bc of the pandemic so wile not the best year sure was great for gaming.
I think entertainment, overall, is dry. 2020 was a boring year. Nothing really exciting is going on. I still wonder what the game Shows, like E3, would have looked like, if there was no pandemic. Of course, it’s a matter of taste.
I never liked AC. The Mario compilation is cool but, I’ve played those games, back in the day.
I was baffled by the hype for the PS5 and the new Xbox. All of that excitement over teraflops and quality of life improvements. Where were the handful of killer games that were must own and exclusives? Making games compatible to the last generation systems and doing upgrades...meh. Made the next generation even less appealing.
I don’t know if the game industry will be effected but, where does entertainment go from here? I don’t see anything having much bite with people being so sensitive. Where’s the energy? The excitement? 🤷🏾♂️ I understand things have been turned upside down, due to the virus, but, outside of that, when things are in full swing, I’m worried about future content.
@outsider83
"Where were the handful of killer games that were must own and exclusives?"
I don't need killer games.
I just only need the right games that suitable with my interest.
Last year wasn't so bad for me. Not much changed really except wearing masks out. But one thing made the year terrible. The games, or lack thereof. I don't like animal crossing. Origami King is Nintendo ignoring their fans, me included. 3d all stars was a lazy port, which I bought, but I was just replaying old games. But as for Age of Calamity...
I caught covid-19 a few days before Age of Calamity came out. I beat it in 2 days. I 100%ed it in a week, in fact I was so bored of everything else that I started doing a true 100%! But eventually I fell back into Terraria, and started modding it.
My lack of games was definitely worse than others, simply because I was saving for a gaming laptop the whole time (which I'm typing on right now by the way).
I probably spent 500 hours playing Minecraft last year, with essentially nothing to show for it. It's a great piece of software, if you have enough time to sink into it. I don't. My new year's resolution was literally to not play so much Minecraft. I haven't even played for 20 hours yet this year, which is a success. This year if I have nothing to play, (because I have no backlog) I'll buy something. And I'll try to not go insane.
I was happy to play some of my backlog to be brutally honest. When's the next lockdown?
I played my Switch more this year than I have since 2018. That’s mostly because of Xenoblade, A Link To The Past and Link’s Awakening tbh. Last year wasn’t really for me, Switch wise. Last year honestly wasn’t for me, PS4 wise either. I probably played Hades the most, which I own on PC and have been playing since the end of 2018.
The cultural impact of ACNH is the reason why I believe it should've won Game of the Year. As a game itself, it doesn't hold up to TLoU2, but as something that influenced life, it was the best.
As much ch as I like ACNH, it really was a weak year. Fear confirmed, that in Nintendo’s eyes eyes, recycled content = new content as far as releases. Sadly, they sell as much or more, so little incentive to release fresh content.
It was a backlog and Indie year, for sure. Worth reiterating when I say 'extraordinary year', that really refers to the inflated profits and sales of games and systems. The triple-A side struggled in terms of games, unsurprisingly, but the whole conversation around gaming was incredible, and the audience grew a lot.
I was grateful for some the range of download gems that arrived, they were so important.
A solid Backlog year, and i've come across some great games that passed me by the first time.
Still Eagerly awaiting the console release of Mechwarrior 5 and i've had fun with Monster Hunter Rise recently too.
2020 was fine. Considering the state of the world I’m more than grateful for what we got. I didn’t buy a lot... the major highlights for me were Animal Crossing New Horizons (which was amazing but lacking content that needed to be added via updates), the Sword and Shield DLC (surprisingly good considering I thought the base games were alright at best), Paper Mario The Origami King (the ultimate love/hate game), and the Mario Collection (while it felt a bit rushed, playing three of my favorite games of all-time on the Switch was awesome).
Sony had some solid releases as well and even managed to launch the PS5 if you were lucky enough to snag one. Microsoft didn’t release much but they had a new console too. There weren’t many third-party games that interested me.
Overall, an alright year for me but I’m happy we got anything. We’ll have to see what’s in store for the second half of this year but so far 2021 seems... alright again lol.
@Anti-Matter Maybe it’s a matter of society being groomed for these types of things. With phones being updated every year (with minor updates in between) and home consoles getting updated more often. Also, things like updates adding enhancements to games that are already released, also, the sports games that are released every year, with no drastic changes. Ditto for Pokémon games. All the remasters. Again, it feels like we’ve been groomed to except these things, over and over. So we’re ok with things like the last two console launches. TERAFLOPS?! I’m sorry. I can’t get over that! 😂
I miss being slack jawed, like when I saw the soon to be released Mario 64, in action, back in the day, Same goes for the last Bioshock game. Even more modern, Mario Odyssey. It bumped Mario 64 as my all time favorite game. I remember being in love with a game like Okami. I don’t feel excited about the stuff that’s been announced for this year, so far.
Another thing that baffled me. Star Wars fans being excited about ELEVEN new projects! Weren’t people just complaining about Disney’s treatment of the franchise a couple of years ago? 🤷🏾♂️
Console gaming has been in a bit of a lull, but VR has made great strides in 2020. Dash Dash World is like Mario Kart in VR, and actually good! Population One is a battle Royale, but you can climb and glide across the whole map..all in VR - there's nothing else like it. The medium is still in its infancy, which is rather exciting considering the experiences we have already. The only downside is that Facebook is responsible for most of the growth, but if that's what it takes to get more competitors in the VR field (hello, Nintendo? A bit more than Labo please). VR is only going to get better from here, while console gaming has kind of reached its peak in "wow" factor.
No gaming experience, awesome as they can be, can hold a candle to taking my 3 year old to evening song and play at the local church, to a gathering of the community, watching the joy on everybodys faces, those moments of contact, the smiles on children faces as they run around in awe of everything.
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