Retrospective 2018, one of the best years ever
In this retrospective article of the year 2018 we are going to rediscover what has happened in these wonderful 12 months, in the hope that 2021 is up to this year.
Battle Royale
Despite the great games just mentioned, it's impossible to talk about 2018 without starting with Fortnite and battle royale in general. Although Fortnite Battaglia Reale was published on September 26, 2017 on PC, it is with the new year that the Epic Games game becomes a real phenomenon capable of going beyond the boundaries of the industry, changing it forever.Because if it is true that in terms of gameplay Epic Games has clearly drawn inspiration from PlayerUnknown's Battleground, the way in which the studio that created the Unreal Engine has integrated elements of world builder, but above all the idea of bringing for free and Indiscriminately playing on all platforms were key factors in success.
From competitive players like Shroud and Pow3er to the kid who borrowed his parents' phone: everyone can participate in Fortnite-mania. The strength and transversality of the battle royale have allowed Epic Games, for example, to force the hand of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to implement cross-play and cross-save between all platforms, but also to have enough money to and bargaining power to challenge other monopolies. The cross-play, in fact, was only the first of the battles won by the colossus of Tim Sweeney, still engaged on several fronts: from the Epic Games Store to the commercial war with Apple and Google, passing through the entry into the world of publishing , they are all possible operations thanks to the money and the influence of Fortnite.
A game that can annoy you for the tide of kids who play it or for the freak phenomena that have become famous thanks to it, but which has unhinged several rules and trends that are now considered inescapable such as paid DLCs, pay-per-win mechanics and season passes. Fortnite, on the one hand, has shown that to make money it is not necessary to put a price on every single element of the game and on the other it has made it clear that the creative rhythms of the various Destiny, Call of Duty and PUBG were the old ones of the past. . People are inclined to spend only if they are faced with constantly updated content, new challenges, cosmetic items to buy, events to experience. Fortnite quickly transformed into a platform capable of doing things Second Life only dreamed of and reaching unprecedented artists, brands and collaborations for the world of video games.
The return of the Single Player
While the success of Fortnite and the debut of the Overwatch League seemed to agree with EA and all those companies that thought the future of games was online, Sony, Rockstar and many others were preparing to prove otherwise .Thanks to the arrival of God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2, in fact, single player games were not only acclaimed by old fans and the press, but also became commercial cases, capable of selling millions copies in no time. Of course, it is easy to obtain sensational results with two masterpieces of this caliber, capable of rewriting the rules and standards of the sector, but still two adult, complex products, which for one reason or another could fail.
God of War, for example, was the complete overhaul of a much loved and well-known saga. From being a linear, violent and slightly vulgar action game, Sony Santa Monica has turned its game into a freer adventure, centered around an unlikely father and son relationship and even ditching the double blades that made Kratos famous. all over the world.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is, on the other hand, a long western epic, with many rides and dead moments, which speaks of the road to the redemption of a man who is certainly not good, rather grumpy and unfriendly . A descent into hell which, due to its rhythms and Rockstar design choices, may be decidedly inedible for many, but so touching and technically sparkling that it is considered a masterpiece by all.
Notable games
In addition to these two masterpieces, other games were released in 2018 that are certainly noteworthy. For example Among Us was released for the first time in the summer of this year, although it would have had a global success only two years later.Another mobile hit is Brawl Stars, while Beat Saber is definitely one of the most famous and loved games by virtual reality lovers. In the shooter field, the fight was between Battlefield V and Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
How not to mention the beautiful indie platformer Celeste, the masterpiece of Quantic Dream Detroit: Become Human or the excellent 2D fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ?
One of the biggest disappointments of the year was definitely Fallout 76 (along with Metal Gear Survive), but 2018 was also the year of the excellent Forza Horizon 4, perhaps the best racing game in the generation, Far Cry 5 and Into the Breach. There are also the beautiful, but atypical Judgment, perhaps the last "classic Yakuza", and Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the medieval role-playing game without magic and fantasy.
Monster Hunter World has definitively cleared the series of Capcom in the west, while Return of the Obra Dinn is yet another Lucas Pope's masterpiece. Still in the marine field, how not to mention Sea of Thieves, but 2018 was the year of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Soulcalibur VI, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Marvel's Spider-Man.
In other words, it was a year in which a lot was played, but above all it was played well on all platforms.
Events to remember
As we said, 2018 was the Fortnite year. Thanks to the battle royale, Epic Games was able to launch the Epic Games Store and be able to afford to give away the free games that are offered weekly by the service. Fortnite was the lock pick that opened the Playstation Network to cross-play, but also the game that made Twitch so popular and characters like Ninja, Shroud or our star Pow3r.It was also the year of the retro consoles. Although the path had been indicated by Nintendo the previous year, in 2018 they released: NEOGEO mini, THEC64Mini, Atari Flashback 9, Go! Retro Portable and PlayStation Classic. It was also the year of Oculus Go, Facebook's stand alone VR platform.
2018 was the year in which Microsoft began its acquisition campaign with Undead Labs, Playground Games, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory , InXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment. In addition to having founded The Initiative. Thus laying the foundations of its current market strategy. Moreover, after many years, we know that its acquisitions are not finished yet. Halo: Infinite was also shown for the first time at E3 that year, obviously as a launch game for the next generation of Xbox. Great space was also given to Mixer, the streaming platform that was supposed to compete with Twitch. Two projects that did not go as Microsoft expected at the time.
Sony, for its part, at E3 presented games that would define the following years such as Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel's Spider-Man and The Last of Us Part II. Games that would have allowed it to cement its supremacy in this generation of consoles and to prepare for the new one with the certainty of having a hundred million satisfied PlayStation customers.
Nintendo, as usual, continues on its path. A road made of targeted communication, great games for Switch and diversification of its portfolio. All moves that will allow it to recover the market value it had 20 years ago, when it dominated the world with Wii.
