For those coming back from the break, settling back into the swing of things, and getting to the grind of everyday life, you may find yourself looking for some new games to play. While the current market is a little dry after the holiday season, we don’t have much longer until the games industry kicks into high gear.
2021 is projected to be a great year for gaming, mainly due to the pileup of games that were supposed to release last year but were pushed back, games that are supposed to come out this year, and compounding that on the release of next-gen consoles creates a recipe for a storm in a bottle year.
Just to name a few, Deathloop, Returnal, Persona 5 Strikers and Resident Evil 8 have caught the eyes of many as games to look out for in the first half of 2021, and it just keeps building up from there. We have the anticipated Ratchet and Clank, Horizon Zero Dawn’s sequel, Ghostwire Tokyo, and many more coming later in the year. It is sure to be a good year for those looking to invest in a new console.
For all switch owners, there is a fair share of content coming our way as well. Not only is this year the 35th anniversary of Zelda, but also the 25th anniversary of Pokemon. Nintendo is known to take anniversaries seriously, as seen by Mario’s 35th last year and Pokemon’s 20th a few years back, so it is safe to expect a resurgence for these two massive franchises. They also have a lot of games that don’t fit into these categories that are on the horizon, such as Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Metroid Prime 4 (hopefully!), New Pokemon Snap, Smash Bros’ Fighter Pass 2, and the continual updates for Animal Crossing.
Personally, the games I am most excited about are Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, the new Pokemon game, and Persona 5 Strikers. I think that these have the most potential and can generate a lot of buzz in the gaming industry.
In terms of multiplayer, Valorant is still going strong, receiving many updates and balances, as well as the looming Overwatch 2, hopefully getting more news soon. League of Legends and Fortnite are still as popular as ever, and esports is thriving even with the pandemic, so getting into the scene is as easy as it has ever been.
And this is all just in the beginning of February. We can expect many more games to be announced throughout the course of the year, with large events such as Nintendo Directs or the Summer Games Fest. If you’re looking to get back into games, this is the time to do it, because the horizon for gaming just keeps getting larger.
