2020 was a pretty rough year for everyone to get through. Thanks to the worldwide health pandemic, most of our plans and goals for 2020 were shot down and we’re just starting 2021. It’s a hopeful period right now that we get a solid year or at the very least one that’s just marginally better than the year before. At any rate, this should be a packed year for the video game industry alone as 2020 saw countless video game titles delayed.
It’s too early to tell just how 2021 will play out. 2020 saw practically every in-person event get canceled which means some of the press events we tune into didn’t happen. Despite the big press conferences and events were canceled for in-person venues, we did receive some online streaming events, and it kind of made 2020 an E3 filled year. Rather than having something like E3 where you cram as much information as possible in a short period, we got tidbits of stream presentations scattered throughout the second half of 2020.
We know Microsoft is pushing for a bigger presence in terms of first-party studio releases. This came not only from their already established studios but even new formation teams as well such as The Initiative and their upcoming launch of Perfect Dark. Likewise, there’s an abundance of new studios that Microsoft will soon have control over after the Zenimax Media acquisition is finished. However, 2021 already has a big video game release coming from a first-party studio of Microsoft’s.
343 Industries was meant to bring out Halo Infinite into the marketplace alongside the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S. As you are all likely aware, due to the backlash of Halo Infinite’s gameplay footage reveal, the studio was forced into delaying the game into a launch later this year. Because of this, some fans are wondering just what other heavy hitter titles were meant to be released this year if Halo Infinite managed to see a launch in 2020 as originally planned.
According to a developer from DICE on the ResetEra forum, Microsoft has more things planned that were not announced yet. If this is the case, 2021 might be a great year for the Xbox brand especially for those that have Xbox Game Pass which you’ll receive all these Microsoft published and developed games at launch. After all, Xbox Game Pass is something that Microsoft is also seemingly pushing to be a bigger avenue for gamers than ever before.
