Edge February 2021

Hard to believe, but there was much to be optimistic about when 2020 began. Journey To The Savage Planet – yes, that really was this year – kicked January off in colourfully amusing fashion, while Kentucky Route Zero finally reached the end of the line, a mere seven years after the first of its five Acts was released. A little way over the horizon was the first Edge 10 in 18 months, as Media Molecule’s dazzling Dreams emerged from beta as both a co-operative creative tool par excellence, and a platform for artists to share their work with the world. And the much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 was just a few short months away. News was emerging of an outbreak of a novel coronavirus strain in Wuhan, but it was generally assumed…

Hard to believe, but there was much to be optimistic about when 2020 began. Journey To The Savage Planet – yes, that really was this year – kicked January off in colourfully amusing fashion, while Kentucky Route Zero finally reached the end of the line, a mere seven years after the first of its five Acts was released. A little way over the horizon was the first Edge 10 in 18 months, as Media Molecule’s dazzling Dreams emerged from beta as both a co-operative creative tool par excellence, and a platform for artists to share their work with the world. And the much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 was just a few short months away. News was emerging of an outbreak of a novel coronavirus strain in Wuhan, but it was generally assumed…

With a few notable exceptions, it hasn’t been a strong year for blockbuster games – although Covid played a part in that. Unlike triple-A developers, which faced logistical challenges in arranging remote working for hundreds of staff, indie studios (many already accustomed to working without offices, or working with outside contractors) were able to adapt quickly, and saw little disruption to their routines. There were still holdups for non-blockbusters (Annapurna Interactive’s late-year triumvirate of The Artful Escape, Last Stop and 12 Minutes slipped into 2021, for example) but 2020 was a year in which the independent scene continued to thrive, as reflected in our year-end awards. With the likes of our cover game, Playdate’s launch and – with a fair wind – new games from Simogo, Fullbright and Heart Machine…

Thanks largely to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Switch sales in the UK were the best for any single format in a decade, while Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity became the biggest-selling Warriors game ever within four days of launch. Yet Nintendo would surely have been hoping for a stronger Christmas slate to compete with Sony and Microsoft’s headline-grabbers – though it’s clear Covid-19 has had a particularly severe impact on the company’s way of working. Still, a small team managed to put together a delightful little freebie while working from home: fingers crossed we see more small experiments like Jump Rope Challenge from Nintendo in 2021.…

With a few notable exceptions, it hasn’t been a strong year for blockbuster games – although Covid played a part in that. Unlike triple-A developers, which faced logistical challenges in arranging remote working for hundreds of staff, indie studios (many already accustomed to working without offices, or working with outside contractors) were able to adapt quickly, and saw little disruption to their routines. There were still holdups for non-blockbusters (Annapurna Interactive’s late-year triumvirate of The Artful Escape, Last Stop and 12 Minutes slipped into 2021, for example) but 2020 was a year in which the independent scene continued to thrive, as reflected in our year-end awards. With the likes of our cover game, Playdate’s launch and – with a fair wind – new games from Simogo, Fullbright and Heart Machine…

Thanks largely to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Switch sales in the UK were the best for any single format in a decade, while Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity became the biggest-selling Warriors game ever within four days of launch. Yet Nintendo would surely have been hoping for a stronger Christmas slate to compete with Sony and Microsoft’s headline-grabbers – though it’s clear Covid-19 has had a particularly severe impact on the company’s way of working. Still, a small team managed to put together a delightful little freebie while working from home: fingers crossed we see more small experiments like Jump Rope Challenge from Nintendo in 2021.…