Summary
2024 has been a rollercoaster for gamers. From surprise releases that took the industry by storm and predictable hardware launches to multi-million-dollar flops and bizarre controversies, last year had it all.
The Biggest Game Releases
Indie game popularityis at an all-time high, and you don’t have to look further than the poker-stylerogueliteBalatro, which won three awards at The Game Awards 2024. Rightfully so, we can’t get enough ofBalatroat How-To Geek, as we’ve all been hooked on it over the past couple of months.
As fortriple-A titles,Black Myth: Wukong(one of the first high-budget Chinese games) might have lost the Game of the Year award toAstro Bot, but it still snagged two other awards as consolation—Best Action and Player’s Voice. As forAstro Bot, the Game marks a notable comeback for old-school 3D platformers, offering a fun experience thateven non-gamers love.
Another excellent release isIndiana Jones and the Great Circle, and the only reason it didn’t get any awards is because it was released after The Game Awards' November 22 cut-off date. It’s an epic immersive sim that you’ll enjoy even if you’re not a fan of theIndiana Jonesfranchise. The same can be said about the new Overwatch-style online shooter,Marvel Rivals.
Alongside these, a few other titles have been making waves throughout 2024. We saw a bunch of popular new games and sequels, includingHelldivers 2,Path of Exile 2,Hades II,Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom,Tekken 8,Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2,S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and others.
Lots and Lots of Controversies
2024 was also marred by headline-making controversies. The devastating wave of industry-wide layoffs that began in 2022 continued well into 2024, with an estimated14,600 jobs lost, the highest on record.
Additionally, several popular game studios were shut down. Microsoft closed Arkane Austin, the team behind theDishonoredseries, after pressuring them to develop 2023’s live-service flopRedfall. Microsoft also shut down Tango Gameworks following the success ofHi-Fi Rush, a studio best known forThe Evil WithinandGhostwire: Tokyo.
As for the games themselves, Sony poured a whopping $400-million into live service shooterConcord, which flopped so hard that it was shut down after just 12 days.Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguealso flopped hard, which sounded like a promising title that wasruined by the live service model. It’s currently at a 95% discount on Steam, priced at only $3.49.
We’ve also seen some legal controversies, with Nintendo leading the charge. The company filed lawsuits against the developers behindPalworld, aPokémon-style multiplayer action adventure, and Yuzu, a popularNintendo Switch emulator.
A Bunch of New Gaming Hardware
While 2024 didn’t bring anything major, like an entirely new console generation, we still saw significant improvements in video game hardware across the board. The most high-profile piece of hardware was thePlayStation 5 Pro, whose$700 price tagandlack of disc drivecertainly raised some eyebrows.
It was also a big year for handhelds, with the release of the well-receivedASUS ROG Ally Xand the less-than-impressiveMSI Claw A1M.
As for PC gaming hardware, AMD and NVIDIA dominated this year. NVIDIA solidified its position as amulti-trillion-dollar companywith the refreshedRTX 4000 SuperGPUs. While AMD didn’t have any groundbreaking GPU releases, it virtually pushed Intel out of competition with theRyzen 9000 seriesand3D V-CacheCPUs.
Surprisingly, Intel’s newly releasedB-series GPUsare selling like hotcakes in the <$250 budget range. Grab them while you can!
Like every year, 2024 brought with it some fresh gaming peripherals and interesting concepts. Razer and Wooting’sHall Effectkeyboards introduced acontroversial featurethat provides an edge in competitive games. Gaming monitors have alsocome down in price significantly. Whether you want a high refresh rate, OLED, mini-LED, 1440p, or 4K, you don’t have to break the bank anymore to get your dream monitor.
Gaming by the Numbers
Looking for some gaming data? I’ve got you covered. With an estimated revenue of$282.3 billionin 2024, the video game industry has never been larger. It’s no surprise, as the year saw3.32 billionactive gamers. I’m not sure how accurate that number is, but we know that Steam has132 millionactive monthly users, the PS5 console sold over65.5 million unitsby November, and the Xbox Series S/X sold28.3 million unitsby June.
As for game releases, one of the biggest this year wasMarvel Rivals, which launched with an astounding 10 million players in the first 72 hours. Since then, it has surpassed20 millionplayers. That’s impressive, even for a free game. But maybeHelldivers 2selling 12 million copies in the first three months is even more impressive.
The first season of theFalloutTV show was released to much fanfare this year, surpassing100 million viewers. It led to a massive playerboost inFalloutgames, includingFallout 76(a game thatsucked at release), which peaked at72,930 concurrent players.
As for investments, mergers, and acquisitions, we got some bits of news there as well. Disney invested$1.5 billionin Epic Games for a 10% stake in the company. Expect to see a lot more Disney characters inFortnitein 2025! Take-Two Interactive’s purchase of Gearbox was another high-profile one, valued at$460 million.
New Game Teasers That Have Us Hyped
While 2024 was packed with exciting releases, it’s the teasers for upcoming games that really get our hearts racing. One of the most high-profile ones isThe Witcher 4trailer (which was renderedon an unreleased NVIDIA GPU), which highlights Ciri as the next main character, with Geralt taking a back seat.
We also got some exciting gameplay previews ofLight No Fireand trailers for upcoming games likeBorderlands 4,Turok: Origins,Mafia: The Old Country,Monster Hunter Wilds,Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and many, many others.
Fans have also been theorizing about the potential release of a secondGTA VItrailer before the end of the year, but it seems like that won’t be happening with mere hours left in the year. It’s weird to see this much hype over atrailerfor a game, but then again, it’s along overdue Rockstar game.
2024 was an unforgettable year, filled with both highs and lows. We got a bunch of fantastic games, along with some surprise indie hits. If the high-quality trailers and pending hardware releases from Nintendo and NVIDIA are any indication, 2025 is shaping up to be another excellent year for gaming!
