Changing conditions in gavedev?. 2022 in games industry - our predictions

• 2022 in Games Industry - Our Predictions
• A year without major releases from Electronic Arts, Avatar being the dark horse of Ubisoft?
• RED Cyberpunk (not dead) Redemption
• PC hardware – once it was cheap
• Changing conditions in gavedev?

Changing conditions in gavedev?

In recent months, we have witnessed increasingly more shocking reports about the work culture and ethics in large corporations, right under the noses of some iconic producers. Somewhere along the way, the camel's back was broken with the last straw, and ordinary employees started reporting on the conditions that accompanied the development of some of the most famous games. Endless crunch in uncertain times that in and of themselves strained the nerves of workforce across the world, mobbing, boorish jokes of superiors, toxic atmosphere, harassment and plain crimes, strikes or mass layoffs despite reports on record profits, and with simultaneous multi-million bonuses for CEOs and members of the boards. Employee reports obliterated the reputation of such firms as Blizzard, Activision, Ubisoft and Naughty Dog.

Even though the people at the helms of these corporations try to make it look nice and "put out fires" in various ways, the development process at many companies is going to change a lot. The first game development union has already been established on US soil, representing both full-time and contract employees.

The greatest corporations try to defend themselves against something like that, which was revealed, for example, after the disclosure of the practices of Activision, whose management discouraged employees from creating a trade union within the company in e-mails. However, it seems that people's determination will prevail and unionized organization will become the standard for game development in general. More and more often, you can also see examples of switching to a four-day working week in development studios, which was introduced, for example, by Eidos Montreal, who are behind the warmly received Guardians of the Galaxy. Others will probably follow suit.

Games in cinemas and apps

Fans of gaming will have many opportunities in 2022 to watch their favorite heroes in TV shows or movies. And even if we do not expect much good from these productions, curiosity will probably drag us to theatres and in front of TVs to see how the iconic games are seen and felt by the actors and directors. It was perfectly summarized by a Twit that read: "I'll do my best to ignore Mark Wahlberg's presence for two hours and just enjoy the movie." What exactly are we waiting for in the coming months?

Probably every game fan is waiting for the Uncharted movie, despite the controversial cast.

Uncharted

The movie adaptation of the game Uncharted, which will be released soon – on February 11, looks probably the most exciting. On the one hand, the creators had a very easy task here, because the gameplay and script in the Naughty Dog games offered a truly cinematic experience to begin with. However, the atmosphere, special effects and chemistry between the characters remain a separate issue, especially with the slightly controversial cast with Tom Holland as the young Nathan Drake.

Sonic 2: Lightning fast

The iconic blue hedgehog is back in the sequel to the 2020 movie, which turned out to be, well, fine. We will again see the returning cast with Jim Carrey, and one of the new characters will be played by Idris Elba. We can probably count on an uncomplicated scenario, some humor digestible for the youngest, and the style and atmosphere known from the part one. We also hope for the proper appearance of Sonic itself, which after the last storm in the media did not have to be redrawn.

Super Mario Bros.

The new film with our favorite Nintendo heroes will not be an attempt to materialize them in the form of human actors, as was the case in the memorable movie from the 90s. This time, famous stars will only voice Mario, Peach, Luigi, Toad and others, and we will hear, among others Chris Pratt, Seth Rogen, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day. There are no details about the film or the story yet, and the release date cannot be taken for granted, but we keep our fingers crossed that the picture will be released this year.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

We do not know the details yet, but most likely the cinematic take on Cyberpunk 2077 will appear in 2022 on Netflix. It will be an anime spin-off series, not related to the events of the game. The action will take place in Night City, however, and the main character will be a Street Kid.

The Last of Us

The upcoming series The Last of Us has probably received the greatest credit of trust from players. This is mainly due to HBO, which is known for epic, high-quality TV productions, and the photos of post-apocalyptic scenery from the sets look very convincing. Also, the casting of the main characters of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, although it may not be perfect, does not arouse as much controversy as in the case of the aforementioned Uncharted. In the first season, we are going to see 10 episodes, where the creator of the game – Neil Druckmann was also involved in writing the screenplay. The film The Last of Us looks really promising.

The Division

This is pure speculation for the time being, but there's a good chance that the adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Division about the outbreak of a killer virus will appear later this year. Ubisoft announced that the show will go straight to Netflix. Little is known about the specifics, we only know that the cast will star Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal.

In 2022 we will not see...

...the release of Star Citizen! The single-player campaign of Squadron 42 will probalby not see the light of day this year either, although the project itself will probably maintain high profile. Also, abandon all hope when it comes to the release of GTA 6, with the only possible presence of the game being teasers and trailers. Rockstar, after a bad mishap with the remastered GTA trilogy, and the sad news of the failure of Bully 2, and a wave of complaints about the neglect of Red Dead Online, will need some positive news, and what can make more noise than a short teaser of part six of the legendary series?

Star Citizen is still some 2022 years from going gold.

Big fish eating small fish, or new consolidations

The last two years have probably been record-breaking when it comes to spectacular acquisitions in the computer games industry. The biggest earthquake came when Microsoft bought Bethesda, not to mention a few other developers, and it went downhill from there. Electronic Arts acquired Codemasters, Sony studio Housemarque, Epic Games bought the creators of the popular Fall Guys, and the Embracer Group's shopping list includes, for example, Gearbox Software. One of the smaller studios was even purchased by CD Projekt RED. The above examples are only some of the recent transactions – and in 2022 this trend is likely to continue. Larger and richer studios will take over smaller, more or less famous ones. I wonder what the next spectacular change of ownership will be.

News in VR

Finally, we have VR. Virtual reality is still a niche among hardcore gamers, but among the casual ones it is doing quite well thanks to the relatively cheap and standalone (no need for cables and computers) Oculus Quest 2 goggles. This year, the world of VR is in for a little confusion due to the announcement of the second generation of Sony gear for PlayStation 5, and the expected premiere of brand-new Apple goggles designed for casual games and communication. How will Facebook, or rather Meta, behave in such a situation, promoting its vision of functioning in the virtual space of the Metaverse? Perhaps we will see the announcement and the premiere of the next-generation Quest, with even stronger components for autonomous operation.