Every year that passes seems to be a landmark one for gaming. The 2020s in particular have really upped the industry’s momentum with landscape-changing business deals that will undoubtedly have an impact for decades to come. Some of gaming’s less flattering developments have been just as instrumental, with workplace scandals slowly changing what happens behind the scenes.
Related The FTC changes the game Heading into 2023, all eyes are on Microsoft. The company dominated the gaming news cycle in 2022 when it announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for an astronomical sum of money. At the time, people wondered if such a deal could even be legal, citing potential antitrust concerns. It turned out that the Federal Trade Commission felt the same way, as it closed out 2022 by filing to block that plan.
Unionization gains ground In a lot of ways, 2022 could be seen as a battle for the industry’s soul. You saw that in everything from pushback against an impending web3 push to battles to create safer workplaces. The latter is the part to watch, as last year saw the industry beginning to flirt with the idea of unionization thanks to workers at Activision Blizzard and Vodeo Games.
Next-gen finally becomes next-gen When the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X launched in 2020, it seemed like we were on the precipice of an exciting new era. The ultra-powerful consoles were poised to deliver high-tech experiences that would make gamers feel like games were progressing. In reality, the last two years have been a bit staler than expected.
Hope it's the year it stops being a thing: IMHO it's overrated, addictive, asocializing, normalizes or incites violence. Have teenage addicted neighbour, 0 social life, spends days sceaming & screeching while gaming, have relative gone from gaming to gambling to debts and heroin.