The 2021 year of Gaming

2021 has been quite the year in and of itself but for games? Crazy! With the pandemic hindering some areas of development, it still brought with it some exciting moments, like Ariana Grande’s virtual Fortnite concert. There have been many ups and downs for the gaming community these past twelve months, so let’s take a quick look at what’s been going on.

Overwatch Ban August 2021

In the August 2021 update from Blizzard for OverWatch, there was a wave of bans for those players who had been using cheating methods. Despite the game being on the market for over six years, it still to this day experiences its fair share of issues. For example, between May and August of this year, May being the initial cheating update, a resounding 24,000+ cheaters were caught out and banned. In addition, over 18,000 accounts were under suspicion of cheating activity in the days following the August update. It is speculated that Blizzard intends to restrict all Smurf accounts in the future, but as of now, there still remain a lot of problematic situations for players to face. 

Ariana Fortnite Concert and Skin Update

Another big talking point in August of this year for the gaming world was that of the Ariana Grande Fortnite virtual performance ‘The Rift Tour.’ Following her performance in the game, Fortnite released ‘Spacefarer Ariana Grande.’ Which can be purchased from their item shop using the in-game currency ‘V-Bucks.’ Her character’ is staring as this seasons’ galaxy’s greatest monster hunter.’

The best-paid games of 2021

2021 has seen its fair share of new and exciting games, despite the many delays that many companies have faced during the pandemic. A fair few of the much-loved and anticipated games are still yet to be released. So why don’t we take a look at those that made it out and some of the finest. 

• Forza Horizon 5 
• Deathloop
• Halo Infinite
• Hitman 3
• It Takes 2
• Metroid Dread
• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
• Resident Evil Village 
• Returnal

Best Free-to-play Games of 2021

The best free-to-play games are those which offer their players good content and a good amount of it, without any charges, as this can be a pain for players when they have to buy gold/items. For this reason, our list will hold those who fit these criteria. Many free-to-play games may be labeled as such but contain an abundance of charges to progress further; this often puts a damper on the genre. And this then often causes it to gain bad rep. We hope this list will show the true awesomeness of free-to-play!

First-person shooter

• Halo Infinite (PC, Xbox)
• Splitgate (PC, Xbox, Playstation)
• Destiny 2 (PC, Xbox, PlayStation)
• Team Fortress 2 (PC)
• Valorant (PC)
• Planetside 2 (PC, PlayStation)
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PC)

Battle Royale 

• Fortnite: Battle Royale (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Android)
• Spellbreak (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch) 
• Call of Duty: Warzone (PC, Xbox, PlayStation) 
• Apex Legends (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)

Action 

• Genshin Impact (PC, iOS, Android, PlayStation)
• Warframe (PC, Xbox, Playstation, Switch)
• World of Tanks (PC)
• Path of Exile (PC, Xbox, Playstation)
• Among US (PC, Xbox, Playstation, Switch, iOS, Android)
• Pokémon GO (iOS, Android)

MMORPG

• RuneScape (PC, iOS, Android)
• Lord of the Rings (PC)
• Albion Online (PC, iOS, Android)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)

2021 Release Date Push Backs

Covid has been ravishing the world this year, and we have all taken a hit, as did the world of gaming. Many much-anticipated games were pushed back and have caused delays for players around the globe. There are also many of which we are yet to see due to some even longer delays. So, let’s check out a list of the delays which took place over this past year; 

• Outriders
• Returnal 
• Axiom Verge 2
• Humankind
• Deathloop
• SkateBIRD
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Back 4 Blood
• Riders Republic
• Battlefield 2042
• Solar Ash 
• Halo Infinite 
• Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach
• Rainbow Six Extraction (yet to be released January 2022)
• Dying Light 2: Stay Human (yet to be released February 4, 2022)
• Sifu (yet to be released February 8, 2022)
• King of Fighters XV (February 17, 2022)
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (February 22, 2022)
• Ghostwire Tokyo (Early in 2022)
• Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Spring 2022)

There are tons of other games which we are still yet to get our hands on, unfortunately, and we’re itching to find out if they’re worth the very long wait!

New World 

New World was possibly one of the greatest frustrations for gamers in 2020 AND 2021. For this reason, we left it out of our list of 2021 pushbacks and gave it its own spotlight! This game suffered not one, not two, or even three, but FIVE delays! With an initial release date of May 2020, it was first delayed until August 25 of the same year. It then went on to suffer more issues causing it to be postponed until Spring of 2021. This goal was again not met and then reset for August 31. New World then went on to suffer a final yet very annoying fifth delay, finally being released on September 28, 2021.

Up and coming 2022

Since we’ve taken a look through a lot that has occurred this year, let’s check out what’s in store for 2022 with this list of upcoming games for the year! Even though we haven’t reached 2022 yet, we’re already aware of some upcoming delays affecting some of these up-and-coming titles.

• Elden Ring (February 25)
• Ride 4 (January 21)
• Pokémon Legends Arceus (January 28)
• Dying Light 2: Stay Human (February 4)
• Little Nightmares 2 (February 11)
• Horizon Forbidden West (February 28)
• Martha is Dead (February 24)
• Saints Row (February 25)
• Harvest Moon: One World (March 2)
• Samurai Shodown (March 16)
• Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville (March 19)

We’d like to say thanks to our readers for taking the time to have a peek into our article and 2021 and what it had to offer the gaming world! Please don’t hesitate to check out some of our other articles.