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In the video game industry, 2021 saw the release of many new titles. The numerous delays in software and hardware releases due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted development schedules, leading to several games being delayed into 2022 or even postponed indefinitely.
- Polygon Staff
- Inscryption+ Inscryption is a game about games, centered around a narrative with as many layers as a Russian nesting doll. It begins as a standard roguelike deck-building game, and this first act is meaty enough that I was hooked by the time developer Daniel Mullins pulled the rug out from beneath my feet.
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale+ For a game about a cute little dog with a paintbrush, Chicory: A Colorful Tale hits hard. The anthropomorphic canine you inhabit begins the game as the janitor for a famous artist, a bunny named Chicory.
- Halo Infinite+ The Halo franchise has been a powerhouse of the gaming industry for two decades now. Its entries have won countless awards and accolades, and have been named Game of the Year and even Game of the Decade.
- Metroid Dread+ The Metroid series has housed some of the most influential video games in history. But it hasn’t seen the same release cadence as Nintendo’s other major franchises, like Mario and the Legend of Zelda.
Dec 13, 2021 · The best games of 2021 reflect what a weird and truly unpredictable year it has been. As the world struggled to return to normalcy, exiting lockdown but leaving us no less isolated, the video...
- Delays Continue
- Console Stock Woes
- Google Stadia First-Party Development Ends
- Fortnite Trial Ends with Both Sides Unhappy
- A PlayStation Game Launches… on Xbox Game Pass?
- A Year Did Halo Good
- Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy -- The Definitive Edition -- The Bad Edition
- Netflix Enters The Gaming Industry
- Microsoft and Sony Keep Buying Studios
- NFTS and The "Metaverse" Try to Weasel Into Gaming
There were a lot ofdelays in 2021--a lot of delays. These ranged from games getting pushed back several weeks or months to games not even scheduled for 2021 releases getting bumped into 2023. It affected everything from giant games like Overwatch 2 to smaller indie titles, and many of the announcements blamed the pandemic for slowing down the workf...
With basically every other console generation, we saw new systems' preorders sell out quickly, they would be tough to find for a few months, and then they'd end up on store shelves. Thanks to a perfect storm of the pandemic limiting in-person shopping, scalping bots buying up online stock, and--most critically--continued supply shortages for key co...
Google Stadia didn't get off on the right foot, missing several of its promised features at launch and not sporting a particularly deep library. Since then, we've seen the games come sporadically and many of those features have been added, but it has struggled to gain relevance. It looked like Google was going to have to rely on its own development...
Last year, Epic Games began offering a third-party payment system without the iOS and Google Play versions of Fortnite, provoking Apple and Google to remove the game from their stores for violating their terms of service. Epic Games had a lawsuit already drafted and ready to go, and the trial was scheduled for 2021. Well, the trial between Apple an...
For years, Xbox games were on Xbox systems and PlayStation games were on PlayStation systems--and that was it. Then Microsoft started releasing its games on PC, and a select few of Sony's games also came to PC. But what happened this year was still a surprise. Not only did MLB The Show 21 release for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, as Sony and Major ...
Halo Infinite's campaign was unveiled for the first time in 2020, and the response from players was tepid at best. The visuals were criticized, not just for the lack of visual detail we'd expect from a Halo game releasing on Xbox Series X|S, but also for the stiff character animations best exemplified in the "Craig" meme. The game was due to releas...
One of the biggest disappointments of the year, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy -- The Definitive Edition, has an obnoxiously long name, made less palatable by the odd design choices and apparent lack of attention or time that went into the final remastered games. The action figure-like character designs don't always match up with the envi...
Netflix long reigned in the movie- and TV-streaming space, but it has seen a ton of competition in recent years from the likes of Disney, HBO, Amazon, and Peacock. So, why not expand into gaming to diversify? Netflix entered the gaming industryin 2021--albeit in a limited form--offering a selection of free games on mobile devices at no extra cost t...
Sony and Microsoft are showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to studio acquisitions. Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda officially went through in 2021 after regulators approved it, bringing companies like Arkane, id Software, Tango Gameworks, and Machine Games under the Xbox umbrella. Most future Bethesda games will seemingly be console-...
Non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs, have become all the rage lately, with everyone from musicians to filmmakers offering some sort of digital goods with sole ownership available to a purchaser. Their environmental effects and exclusive nature have some seeing them as elitist and exclusionary, but despite this, blockchain technology seems poi...
- Gabe Gurwin
- January. Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues (PC) – Iron Conflict (PC) – MXGP 2020 (PlayStation 5) – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia, PC)
- February. Control (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S) – – Read review. Destruction AllStars (PlayStation 5) – – Read review. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (PlayStation 4)
- March. Harvest Moon: One World (PlayStation 4, Switch) – Maquette (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC) – – Read review. Neptunia Virtual Stars (PlayStation 4)
- April. Outriders (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – – Read review. What Comes After (Switch) – Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Stadia) – – Read review.
Oct 5, 2021 · Despite this year’s many game delays — God of War Ragnarok, Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Forbidden West, Gotham Knights, and many others were pushed into next year — 2021 was a great...
Oct 20, 2021 · Lucky for you, we've rounded up all the biggest video game release dates of 2021 into one handy calendar. Whether you play on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, or Nintendo Switch,...
