2022 in Gaming
A look into what 2022 brough for the video game industry
On the surface, 2022 seems like a quiet year in video games. However, when we look back years from now, I believe this could be a pretty consequential year in the industry. From some massive industry-changing acquisitions to the revolutionary Elden Ring, this is what 2022 was to gaming.
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Nintendo
When it comes to the big N, this was one of their quieter years. The most significant controversy for the company came when they announced that the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U would shut down on March 27, 2023. This led to a debate on physical vs. digital and how digital storefronts are managed. That is a topic for another day, as that would require a whole article for me to go through.
Another controversy (if you want to call it that) is the iffy launch of Pokémon: Scarlett and Violet. The games had mediocre performance, which didn’t help with the already polarizing graphics. Personally, it seems The Pokémon Company needs to develop a new engine from the ground up. They are still new to making games for home consoles and rely too much on what got them by in their decades-long handheld reign.
On a positive note, Kirby got his long-awaited sandbox-style 3D entry in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. I got this game at the end of the year for Christmas and fell in love with it. You can see my review in an earlier article in the newsletter and read why I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. This is why the Switch has been such a great system overall; Nintendo has pushed their franchises to do what many fans have asked for since the GameCube days.
Nintendo’s expansion beyond gaming grew as the Super Mario Bros. movie trailer was released. Though there are still polarizing views on the casting of Chris Pratt as the world’s most famous plumber, the trailers have most of the gaming world pretty excited. I have it as my most anticipated movie of 2023, and I can’t wait to see it.
So that was Nintendo for 2022. Some great games like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus; but a quiet year in the end.
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Microsoft / Xbox
Arguably, Xbox had the most significant 2022, at least in terms of impact. Right out of the gate, the company announced the monster acquisition of Activision-Blizzard on January 18. This not only has a chance to shake up the industry, but had a revibrating effect in some circles. The console wars in social media have only picked up (unfortunately), and there is a debate/discussion on whether the industry is consolidating or creating potential monopolies. This led to regulatory bodies, specifically the FTC and CMA, questioning and potentially blocking the acquisition.
I think both the “Xbots” and “Sony Ponies” have handled this poorly. Yes, surprise, the fanboys are handling something wrong. I’ve seen hardcore PS fans calling Xbox a monopoly and screaming that the PlayStation brand will die if it goes through, to hardcore Xbox fans retweeting right-wing libertarian types attacking the FTC because they’ve decided to hate the head of it, Lisa Khan for blocking their precious deal. Of course, most of the things they are retweeting have nothing to do with the acquisition and are just people on that political aisle attacking a person they disagree with on political issues.
Let’s hold the horses and look at this without all the fanboy screaming. Government regulatory bodies are becoming more aggressive in holding “big tech” more accountable. This, I one hundred percent think, is needed. And when you have a major big company like Microsoft coming in and buying one of the biggest multiplatform companies in all of gaming, it should raise eyebrows. Those regulatory agencies are correct to take a second look at this deal and make sure the consumer and competition don’t get hurt. That being said, these same agencies are making the mistake of using this to punish the abuses of the tech industry. Furthermore, many people in these agencies know almost nothing about video games and don’t realize they are protecting the market leader. A market leader, may I add, that has a history of their own shady business dealings.
This would also be one of the most pro-workers, pro-labor, and pro-consumer major acquisitions I’ve ever seen. Microsoft has opened the floor for the new studios to unionize, as well as the fact that those workers are begging to get out from under the arm of gaming’s worst CEO – Bobby Kotick. Microsoft has also made several deals with Nvidia and Nintendo to ensure Call of Duty becomes available to numerous new players. Even though I think it is suitable for agencies to take a second look at this, I believe this acquisition should happen. I think gaming, consumers, and, more importantly, the developers and workers will be better off with it happening than not.
Outside of that, Xbox mostly stuck to indie releases on Xbox Game Pass to get them through, as it was yet another quiet year on the exclusives front. There were some gems like Pentiment and the viral hit High on Life, but for the most part, most were disappointed by Starfield being delayed out of the year. The biggest story about Xbox is the Activision-Blizzard acquisition. And if it goes through, we could look back at this being quietly Microsoft’s most impactful year.
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Sony / PlayStation
Sony came into the year with the PS5 still having stock issues. I was able to snag one around the summer after getting lucky and stalking the PlayStation reservation in the online store. Everyone knew this would be about one game for the brand… God of War: Ragnarök. But PS5 still had some solid stuff before that game was released in the holiday season. We got Horizon II: Forbidden West and the viral sensation that was Stray.
Stray in particular was a big hit. I saw it everywhere on social media with memes and clips. It was one of the better surprises of the year and a game I did enjoy. The game was even a rare day-one launch for the new version of PlayStation Plus. This new PS Plus introduced tiers that merged with PlayStation Now and has more of a Game Pass feel. However, it doesn't do what Game Pass does with day-one AAA PlayStation releases, as those seem to aim for about a year+ after release to come to the service.
Sony made a big splash in a year filled with acquisitions by snapping up Bungie. This is part of their strategy to get into the live service games business model, and of course, they get the king of that model – Destiny.
The most significant area of controversy for Sony and the PlayStation brand was the announcement of the PS5 prices being raised by about fifty dollars in US terms. However, this was international and not in the United States. But the console over here has mostly been sold for fifty+ anyway, with bundled games hiding the price increase. Nintendo and Microsoft both said they refuse to raise the console prices, but with the real economic effects of the highest inflation we’ve had since the early 80s… it may just be a matter of time.
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Other Notable News and Events in the Year
Talking about mergers and acquisitions, Embracer Group had one hell of a year. The company acquired assets from Square Enix, which included Crystal Dynamics (creators of Tomb Raider) and Eidos Montreal (creators of Deus Ex). They then finished it off later in the year by getting seven whole companies, including Tripwire Interactive and Limited Run Games, and exclusive rights to the Middle-earth intellectual property for video and board games.
On the gaming media side, Fandom acquired GameSpot, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, and Metacritic, among others, from Red Ventures. And Comcast shut down the second incarnation of G4TV after one year (to the delight or sadness of some, though I thought making a gaming channel when you have YouTube and streamers today was a dumb idea).
And ESA was forced to cancel E3 this year. With COVID-19 still a very real concern and game companies not being ready to show things, it was the right call. This, of course, has brought up whether E3 is needed anymore. While I will always love the excitement that the show brings, it’s not necessary these days when you can drop a PR release and get hype instantly.
In the real world, we had some pretty big stuff happen. The Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion led to many companies coming out and announcing support for the pro-choice side. They even went as far as promoting they would be willing to fly employees to legal states if need be. The Ukraine invasion of Russia also led to industry-wide support of the people of Ukraine, including temporary shutdowns in Russia. Stalker 2 developers had to delay their game, as many of their developers have joined the war effort, and I can’t help but root for them and their game as they are forced to defend their country from aggressors.
Unionization has also been starting to gain ground in the industry. As mentioned before, Microsoft threw support to Raven Software’s quality testers, who announced a union, even as Bobby Kotick opposed it. With crunch and more horror stories about what developers go through, I expect this movement to grow.
Some other major industry news for the year included Electronic Arts and FIFA ending their licensing agreement after almost 30 years. Supposedly the partnership ended due to licensing costs. EA is confident they can still maintain a huge player base with their planned new “FC” series. FIFA, meanwhile, is looking for a new partner.
After taking a stab at the gaming industry through cloud gaming, Google’s Stadia was announced to shut down on January 2023. While some major hype led up to the announcement, Stadia could never seem to get a footing due to its exclusivity to the cloud. The entire run was filled with canceled plans and broken promises. Considering what a major tech company Google is, it shows you money is the last thing to worry about when deciding to enter an industry dominated mainly by three specific companies.
And last but certainly not least, I wanted to acknowledge Bernie Stolar's passing at 75. Bernie got his start in Atari, where he led the development of the Atari Lynx handheld. He became the first executive Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment of America. Stolar famously signed some significant games for the console, such as Battle Arena Toshiden, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and more. Then, he joined Sega and spearheaded the infamous 9/9/99 Dreamcast launch. Ken Kutagari, the father of the PlayStation, had this to say about Bernie:
“Bernie was the man who devoted his life and passion to the video game industry. He was also one of my best friends and we spent many moments together, even when he was away from work. His friendly smile and playful gestures are still burning on my eyelids. Thank you for all your hard work, time and dedication. Please rest in peace in heaven."
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The Video Game Awards of 2022
Once again, we had the Game Awards finish up the year. While there is still a healthy debate about the show’s reliance on advertising, celebrities, and game reveals over what its main point should be: award shows, it’s still undoubtedly the closest thing gamers have to their own Oscars.
This time, Keighly promised it would be the best show yet in terms of format and time. And for the most part… it wasn’t, at least for me. I’m still critical of the awards they fly through during the pre-show and the show itself. And while I understand why they use celebrities, they should be focusing on game developers and the people involved in the industry. I also think Keighly’s events are starting to have a repetitive feel regarding the reveals. While there are one or two wow reveal moments, the rest tend to be a compilation of similar titles filled with CG over gameplay.
For the Game of the Year, Elden Ring received the top prize as expected. The game came in heavily favored and has surpassed The Last of Us Part II’s record for most game award wins across different awards and organizations. From Software became the first developer to win two Game of the Year awards, a testament to their team and specifically their master creator, Hidetaka Miyazaki. But the image of the 2022 Game Awards really ended up being the weird ending.
While Christopher Judge’s long speech for his award started the show and became an instant thing to laugh about, it would be the ending that became everything everyone talked about. Some young guy (I think he even may be a teenager?) hid behind the From Software team as they went up the stage to accept the award. After the speech, he quickly went to the microphone and thanked his rabbi Bill Clinton??? I was confused as the stage went dark, and you could see security run up and grab him. Understandably, Geoff looked pretty mad as he ended the show.
While this did create a bunch of jokes and memes, and yes, I was part of that, it did bring up an issue about safety. How the heck was he allowed to go up there and do that? Thank God he didn’t have worse intentions and want to harm anyone. It is a moment that will be part of the Game Award’s history, no matter how much Geoff doesn’t want it to be. More info seems to have come out that has revealed this guy to be some known troll, but Geoff hopefully takes this as a learning lesson and makes better security choices.
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Overall
Overall, 2022 seemed quiet on the surface, but it’s the long-term ramifications that we do not realize just yet that could be remembered. Nintendo seems poised to diversify and have its well-known gaming IP go bigger and make itself known to movie fans coming up. And Sony is rocking and rolling with PlayStation 5, which, as I write this in March 2023, is finally widely available in stores. If Microsoft gets the ABK acquisition through, this will become one of the most consequential years in the Xbox brand’s history.
2023 seems to be a brighter year already, and God only knows all the major stories we haven’t heard or happened yet. I will be releasing a list of what I believe are the 20 most impactful video games from this year. The list's focus is not on how good I thought they were but on a combination of overall scores from the public and their overall long-term impact on gaming in general. So be on the lookout for that. Until then, goodbye 2022, and I hope I have just as much to say about 2023 as I did for 2022.
Sources
Wikipedia - 2022 in Video Games (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_in_video_games)
Wikipedia - Bernie Stolar (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Stolar)
Wikipedia - The Game Awards 2022 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Awards_2022)