2020 was a special year in many ways. In addition to the personal and economic ramifications the COVID 19 health crisis has brought about, it is also a whole way of consuming and producing video games that has been affected and gives more credibility to group games than ever. that band together in physically distant communities but are practically close to one another. What to start an accented trend for 2021?
Unexpected multiplayer maps
If we had fun taking a quick peek into retro and watching the games, which were talked about a lot for positive reasons, and in the long run, two names would come out and they would be Animal Crossing and Among Us. The first couldn’t have come at a better time in terms of release date. The new version of Nintendo’s title “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was already particularly appreciated by a very diverse community, ranging from casual gamers to seasoned gamers, and had the “good” idea to be released in April 2020 at the height of the epidemic will. of Covid 19 when much of the world was at home in the monastery. During this time, when connection records were also falling on the launcher, the video game had good press. As a vector of socialization and sharing shared experiences, the media quickly became a spearhead of connectivity between individuals
Among Us was a great success for its part. If the limitation and the people who are now teleworking when they can are not completely alien factors in the sudden popularity of this bluff game that was released two years ago, then so is the magnification effect and now essential Twitch that drives it Game that was almost forgotten, gave a little power. It is enough for a community to grab a “little game” that shows the benefits, word of mouth does its job, and what’s better than a title that guarantees a good laugh between friends. for this.
A time that is conducive to the accessibility of the game for all
Beyond the entire war of performance and the race for the highest frame rate game in 4K, the games that unite the most remain the ones that are accessible. Hence, a title that doesn’t use a lot of resources, runs on just about anything, is easy to understand, and has strong interactive potential, can be as profitable as if it were no more than an AAA.that will certainly have more media coverage and undoubtedly a lot more sales, but won’t leave the same memories. From then on to saying that 2021 will be a year when the games that bring the news will be the small (or big) titles with a strong interactive dimension, there’s one step we’re not going to take But still a safe bet, given the current epidemic that is no longer looking to end the occupation of the space or force people to travel, finding games with friends could be livelier than usual.
And the various technologies that are already in place go a long way in promoting group play regardless of the platforms of choice. The increasingly widespread use of cross-play allows a very generous handful of games to stop worrying about what medium your playing partner is using to have the prospect of playing with them.. If Sony is more reluctant to democratize crossplay, Microsoft has largely pushed the development of features, especially with the gamepass, allowing so many gamers to find themselves online regardless of whether they are equipped with ‘a One X, One S, Series S / X or a PC. Publishers have also shown a certain propensity to introduce crossplay into their game, which is quickly becoming a strong selling point. And for good reason, just investing in a machine and a game to play with friends is enough to have a copy of a compatible title.
If the pure single player game has seen some revival lately and undoubtedly (and fortunately) has a bright future ahead of it, 2020 has also been put under the sign of remote and remote video games. Among us, Phasmophobia or Animal Crossing are proof that the sector is lively when accessible, and perhaps this trend can speed up the cross-play features a little more until it becomes the norm, whatever the size of the Franchise with a multiplayer component.