I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that 2021 has not been a very great year for video games.
Horrifying stories of abuse at developers and publishers have come to light, and the disruptions to the production pipeline by the still-very-much-ongoing pandemic has meant that an already notoriously difficult job has been made that much harder.
Despite the ninth console generation having started almost fourteen months ago, the incredibly limited availability of both the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series consoles, coupled with a general lack of compelling exclusives, means that their purchase seems inessential.
Anecdotally, there would appear to be a rising wave of consumer apathy, distrust, and exhaustion when it comes to some of the industry’s most reliable franchises.
For instance, the yearly Call of Duty installment is generally one of the best-selling games of any year. While that likely won’t change in 2021, sales of the latest franchise release, Call of Duty: Vanguard, were down 40% at launch in the UK compared to the previous year’s entry.
Further, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition was rushed out the door to compensate for the delayed PS5 and Series X/S versions of Grand Theft Auto V, resulting in a very uneven product.
You would think that after all of the backlash against Cyberpunk 2077 last year, delivering a quality product would be the first and foremost priority of developers and publishers. Unfortunately, it seems as though they may have taken the wrong lesson: you can just keep patching something until it’s eventually good, and it won’t matter, because you’ll already have the consumer’s money.
There were a lot of well-made games in 2021, both in the AAA and the independent sphere, but I’d be lying if I said that it was an all-time memorable year, or at least for the right reasons. It’s a net positive that companies like Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft are being held accountable for failing their employees, and the establishment of Vodeo Workers United as the first video game workers union bodes well for the future of the industry.
Ultimately, I think 2021 is a year marked by exhaustion - from how disrupted work-life balance has become, to the endless cycle of bad news and terrible experiences, to how much companies are willing to exploit their workers and consumers in pursuit of profit.
I can’t expect 2022 to be any different.
But I have to hope.
What was your favourite game or event in 2021? Let me know! You can always find me on Twitch.
I do think it was a pretty slow year. I spent most of my time playing former year titles than I actually did brand new ones - barring a few exceptions