Since its popularization in the early 1990s, when we would spend hours in front of our tube TVs playing Mario, video games have grown to become a major sector in the entertainment industry, with a market worth more than $175 billion in 2021 and predicted to exceed $300 billion by 2027.
The video game market is undoubtedly one of the fastest-growing entertainment segments and has become a powerful medium in the past decade, giving birth to new trends and even new careers. With much of the world forced to stay inside in the past couple of years, and a new generation of home consoles hitting the shelves in 2020, the demand for innovative games has never been higher.
Besides, the gaming industry as a whole is blossoming, with home consoles and mobile devices becoming far more powerful and sophisticated machines. The market’s main developers and studios release new games on a near-monthly basis, providing us with immersive gameplay and unique mechanics at a rate we’ve never seen before. This can be easily seen in the iGaming industry, for example, in which new games are released almost every week, with operators and software providers constantly pushing for improvements, such as live gaming experiences, interactive slots, mobile responsiveness, and immersive environments to provide an authentic feeling to bettors playing from home.
Nonetheless, the video game industry has a lot in store for us in the future, with exciting new games set to be launched in the coming months, including the titles listed below, which are some of the most anticipated AAA games coming out in 2022.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel
One of the most successful and acclaimed games in recent years, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had its sequel announced at E3 2019, when the first teaser trailer was revealed. The twentieth installment of the highly praised franchise, the game is set to be released later this year for Nintendo Switch.
According to series producer Eiji Aonuma, the sequel was conceptualized during the development for Breath of the Wild’s DLCs and add-ons; the team created too many new concepts, some of which could not be executed due to technological limitations, so they opted for creating a new game based on these ideas.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Announced on February 27 as part of a Nintendo Direct presentation, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are the upcoming titles in the role-playing game series developed by Game Freak. Set to be released in late 2022, the games will be the first installments in the ninth generation of the Pokémon franchise.
Scarlet and Violet will have an open-world environment, similar to the previous games, with urban areas and vast wilderness with no boundaries between them. Three new starter Pokémon will be introduced in the games: Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. According to IGN, the conventional catching mechanisms employed in games prior to Pokémon Legends: Arceus might return in Scarlet and Violet.
God of War Ragnarök
God of War Ragnarök, the ninth installment in the God of War franchise, is scheduled to be released this year for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the game is loosely based on Norse mythology and will be set in ancient Scandinavia.
The game will serve as the conclusion to the series’ Norse era and will chronicle Ragnarök, a series of events that lead to the end of days and depict the deaths of the Norse gods, which was prophesied to happen in the previous game after Kratos defeated the Æsir god Baldur.
Hogwarts Legacy
Developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment under its Portkey Games label, Hogwarts Legacy is an upcoming action RPG set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The game is scheduled to be released in 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Hogwarts Legacy will be set in the late 1800s and will follow a Hogwarts student. Players will be able to select their Hogwarts House, take lessons at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and explore an open environment that includes places such as the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade Village.