A number of major announcements in the gaming industry will happen this year.
The “top news stories of summer 2021” is a list of the biggest news stories that happened in the summer. The events happened in June and July, so these are some of the top headlines from those months.
This item is part of’s round-up of the best of 2021.
Every year brings a slew of video game news, but 2021 was a little different. To mention a few patterns, the industry witnessed nearly too many delays to list, more than a few messed-up debuts, and a long-overdue look at some serious claims that have plagued studios for years. These are the most important news stories from the previous year.
An onslaught of delays
Image courtesy of From Software
COVID hasn’t gone away for good yet, so many devs are still working from home. As a result, there was a lengthy list of game delays. While games like Halo Infinite were moved to 2021 and are now available for everyone to play, many more were pushed to 2022 and beyond. Horizon Forbidden West, Shadow Warrior 3, and Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp have all been pushed back until the following year. Elden Ring’s release date was pushed back by a month, which may seem little in comparison, but a delay is a delay. Some titles, such as Pragmata, were even delayed until 2023.
Steam Decks will begin delivering in February, rather than the end of the year as Valve had initially anticipated. The primary problem was supply chain constraints, which explains why current-gen consoles are still in such high demand. Hopefully, by 2022, these concerns will be resolved, allowing us to enjoy the games and gaming gadgets we want.
PlayStation and Xbox have bolstered their respective studios.
Image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks.
While games were being postponed, their creators were being snatched up like crazy. Over the course of the year, PlayStation Studios has significantly extended its first-party lineup, with Valkyrie Entertainment, the co-developer of God of War, being the most recent addition. Valkyrie joins the likes of Housemarque, the creator of Returnal, and Bluepoint Games, the creator of the Demon’s Souls remake. Bluepoint’s purchase was even inadvertently tweeted early – PlayStation appears to be quite quick to get into new enterprises.
Zenimax Media, the parent firm of Bethesda Game Studios, is without a doubt Microsoft’s most significant acquisition. In 2021, the arrangement was concluded, culminating in an exclusive Xbox Series X/S launch for Starfield following year. According to Xbox executive Phil Spencer, The Elder Scrolls VI is in a similar boat. All of this helps to boost Game Pass for Xbox and PC, since all first-party Microsoft games continue to be available on the program from the start.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a flop for Rockstar Games.
Image courtesy of Rockstar
The Grand Theft Auto series, created by Rockstar Games, is a game industry behemoth; ask any ordinary person on the street, and they’ll undoubtedly recognize it. That just adds to the disappointment of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition’s sloppy debut. After Rockstar apologized for the game’s numerous technical faults, the next update included over 100 bug patches, including the notorious Hot Coffee files that were inexplicably left in the code. The physical editions of the game were also delayed as a result of these concerns. While most editions of the game only had a 10-day delay, Nintendo Switch players won’t be able to acquire their cartridge copy until 2022.
The remastered games deserved a lot more love than they seem to have received. It’s a shame that Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two, went to court to sue modders for attempting to repair previous titles, only to release such a shoddy product themselves.
The Steam Deck is ready to go.
Valve provided this image.
The Steam Deck has been a huge thing since its unveiling this summer, despite the fact that it has been delayed. Valve seldom releases new games, but a totally new piece of hardware — one that brings the PC experience to the palm of your hand — is a watershed moment for the firm. It’s believed to have minimal change in performance whether you’re playing games docked or undocked, competing with the likes of the Nvidia Shield. Valve has no reservations about modders messing around with the portable PC as if it were a normal PC tower.
Supporting the Steam library is a big deal here, and Valve is going through everything to make sure everything is compatible. Maybe not every game – blockchain games are being removed from the marketplace. When the devices arrive in February, there will still be a huge selection of triple-A and independent PC games to enjoy. Just don’t hold your breath for any exclusives.
Activision Blizzard has a deadline to meet.
Image courtesy of AP
Over the past several years, the United States has witnessed a significant reassessment of its economic and social institutions, and Activision Blizzard sits at the crossroads of many of these challenges. As the SEC started probing the monolithic publisher for discrimination and bad employment practices, it came under criticism. A flurry of claims followed, including one from an employee who claimed she was demoted after submitting a sexual harassment complaint, and another from former Blizzard co-lead Jen Oneal, who claimed she was only granted equal pay after departing.
These documents portray a bleak image of life at Activision Blizzard, with workers staging frequent walkouts in protest of CEO Bobby Kotick’s management style. As demands for his resignation became louder, a Workplace Responsibility Committee was created, bolstered by the fact that the company’s zero tolerance policy evidently did not apply to the big boss. Union-busting emails quickly came, revealing the entire extent of Activision Blizzard’s mishandling of the case. As the situation continues to deteriorate, stands with the victims and staff.
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The “top news stories today” is a list of the biggest news stories for the year 2021. The list includes topics such as the 2020 US Presidential Election, and the release of the new Call of Duty.
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