2021, A Great Year in the Gaming World! What’s the future of Gaming?

No matter what type of game or console you prepare to play, 2021 should be a great year in the Gaming World! There are so many more games set to debut in 2021 that I had a hard time with this list! I literally asked 20 different people what two or three games they were most excited about for next year and tried to pull out the games they all listed in common. 

Last year was a vintage one for games, but 2021 looks set to be even better. With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X fully bedded in, the number of exclusive and big-budget games arriving this year is unlike many before it. Covid-19 may, of course, delay the odd title or two here and there as the year progresses, but from January all the way through to Christmas there’s a lot to be excited for over the next 12 months – whatever your console of choice.

1. Hitman 3 (Xbox, Playstation, PC). The first two hitman games are some of the most popular open-world action adventure games available. The latest installment, slated to arrive in January 2021, should offer players more outlandish adventures and outrageous locations.

2. The Medium (Xbox). This psychological thriller game, coming at the end of January, follows a medium who can travel between the worlds of the dead and the living to solve puzzles.

3. Deathloop (PlayStation, Xbox). This first-person shooter game, which is set to launch in May of 2021, has been described by Tech Advisor as “groundhog day with assassins.”

4. Dying Light 2 (Xbox, Playstation). This zombie apocalypse game is a follow up to the 2015 hit. This game, expected to be released some time in 2021, is an open-world first person game in which the player must escape zombies. 

5. Halo Infinite (Xbox). Halo Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S. The sixth main entry of the Halo series and the sixteenth Halo game overall, it continues the story of the Master Chief, following Halo 5: Guardians (2015). Infinite was planned to be released as a launch title with the Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2020, but was delayed in August 2020. It is now planned for release on December 8, 2021.

6. God Of War: Ragnarok. There’s nothing known about Ragnarok right now – we have a short teaser trailer and a release window of 2021. However, we can make predictions. The sequel to the critically acclaimed 2018 reboot of God Of War almost certainly follows protagonist Kratos after revelations about the identity of his son, Atreus, at the end of the original game. Here’s hoping things get bigger and bolder after a relatively reserved – for the series – entry.

7. Super Mario 3D World & Bowser’s Fury (Switch). Who doesn’t love playing Mario? I’ve read several lists that call this the best Mario game in years. Quite honestly, though, I think Mario is simply a character and a game franchise than transcends typical gaming stereotypes. Mario Brothers and all its off-shoots is a game played by all ages and genders, unlike so many games out there. I say this as a woman pushing 40 who has played Mario games since her high school days and is looking forward to this release the way her husband is looking forward to Halo. Slated for release in February.

8. Horizon Forbidden West. The original Horizon Zero Dawn catapulted studio Guerrilla from the FPS constraints of Killzone into the open-world big leagues. Forbidden West sees PS4 fan favourite protagonist Aloy heading to the west coast of a far-future America, fighting off even more robotic animals and pursuing even more mystery about the long-lost history of mankind. 

9. Far Cry 6. This is an upcoming first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. It is the sixth main installment of the Far Cry series for Amazon Luna, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia. The game is set to be released on October 7, 2021.

10. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The last Ratchet & Clank game, released in 2016, was like playable Pixar. A beautiful cartoon colour world, irreverent humour and characters and satisfying thwack-a-mole combat had you smashing enemies and environments aplenty. Rift Apart looks set to continue all that, but adds neat world-swapping tricks utilising the PS5’s much faster SSD hardware. How much this fits into the real-time play of Rift Apart is yet to be seen, but it’s yet another notch on PlayStation’s exclusive roster.

 

Do I Earn Money!  

While certain industries felt the full crushing weight of the economic decline following the start of the covid-19 pandemic, others — such as online retailers — were propelled upward as though they were standing on the other side of a seesaw. The video game industry was among those that saw significantly increased spending, as people sought ways to entertain themselves at home.

According to data collected by the NPD Group, video game spending rose 22 percent from 2019, totaling around $44.5 billion through November of 2020. NPD also projected holiday spending would follow that trend, pushing the annual total above $50 billion for the first time in the U.S. market.

But will it continue? The introduction of numerous coronavirus vaccines suggest there could be a time in 2021 when people are able to get outside more regularly and return to previous passions they were deprived of in 2020. In terms of time economy, less time at home could mean less time playing or spending on games. Alternatively, the pandemic also introduced some people to gaming for the first time, expanding the market base. Those people may find they like it and continue to sink dollars into their new hobby, especially if they invested in a new console and now want to acquire new titles for it.

Then there’s the overall economy, with jobless rates sitting at 6.7 percent in November of 2020. While that figure is down significantly from a peak of 14.7 percent in April, it is still almost double the pre-pandemic rate of 3.5 from February 2020.

 

What is Cloud Gaming?

Cloud gaming is the ability to stream and play video games on different devices, without having to download large files, and it’s been around longer than you might think. The first cloud-gaming service, OnLive, debuted in 2010, though it was discontinued in 2015. Its intellectual property was sold to Sony, and used to create the infrastructure for PlayStation Now, the cloud-gaming program on PS4 and PS5.

The last few years have brought renewed interest to cloud gaming, especially as Google launched its cloud-gaming service Stadia, and Microsoft announced the yet-to-be-released xCloud.

With latency issues, limited features and a slim library, Google Stadia’s launch was a monumental flop, far from the “YouTube of games” the company had marketed. As we head into 2021, questions about cloud gaming ultimately revolve around whether we see improvements, increased developer support and better infrastructure for cloud gaming to take off. xCloud, for example, is still a big question mark in terms of pricing and service features.

It’s possible that next year will see consumers turning to more cost-effective gaming, which may include services like Stadia (as well as Game Pass on Xbox) that grant access to a library of games for a monthly fee. 

India will touch $2.8 billion by 2022 in Online Gaming Industry...

The online gaming industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40% to $2.8 billion by 2022, up from $1.1 billion in 2019, according to a Deloitte India report released on Tuesday. Largely driven by smartphones, affordable data and increasing disposable income, the rapid growth is expected to strengthen the sector’s share of total media and entertainment industry by 4−5%.

The findings of the study highlighted that covid-19 has pushed the growth further as users latched on to online gaming platforms in absence of entertainment options during lock-down. The time spent on gaming apps, increased by 21% during the initial national lock-down, with the total customer base crossing 300 million users. While the arrival of vaccines and resumption of economic activities may result in a leveling off or even decline in the average time spent on video gaming, the industry would already be in a higher gear.

So, if you play Games,You Should Be Proud as A Gamer💪