The Highs And Lows Of Gaming In 2018

The year 2018 has been tumultuous for the gaming industry. From match fixing, to mass banning of players to a new gaming style becoming the hot favorite – the year has seen it all! In this article let’s discuss all the high points and low points that we have seen in the gaming industry for PC, Mobiles as well as consoles.

PUBG Banned Over 30,000 Players

PUBG the famous multiplayer Battle Royale game banned approximately 30,000 players from the game including 16 professional players. The players were accused of using cheat codes. The cheating techniques in question were Radar hacking. Radar hacking allows a player to know the exact location of opponents. This provides an edge to the player since he or she becomes more aware around enemies. The game also implemented a similar ban sweep back in June.

Still No Diablo Or Half Life 3

Diablo 4 was one of the most anticipated titles in 2018. But at BlizzCon, when the makers announced a mobile Diablo game instead of Diablo 4, the audience did not hesitate to show their displeasure. During the Q&A session, an audience member also enquired if Blizzard was playing an ‘Out of season April Fool’s Joke’ on the gamers. The company later said that they have heard the fans loud and clear and will take appropriate steps. Meanwhile, ‘Half Life 3 Confirmed’ still remain a meme and is nowhere to be seen. Valve is said to have shelved the game for good, much to the displeasure of gamers.

Console Exclusives

Many gamers belonging to the ‘PC Master race’ complained of console exclusives this year. Many of the biggest titles this year was released as console exclusives and came to PCs much later. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War were highly anticipated but it seems like most games these days are first released for consoles. This makes PC gamers angry as they have to wait for months. Many streamers have also complained that this affects their business since by the time they receive PC versions of the game, it has already lost a lot of audience opportunity making them lose viewers.

Micro- transactions And Paid DLCs

In the earlier days, if you bought a game, you would be playing the same game as anyone else. But nowadays, and specially in 2018, in-game micro- transactions, paid DLCs and even different versions of a game have made the experience bitter for a lot of people. In game micro- transactions include different skins for your character, different weapons or even different map styles in games like Dota 2. DLCs or Downloadable Content is another paid feature that many games have introduced. DLCs also include cosmetic changes or even extensive story-lines. We hope this changes in 2019 and we get a singular version for all players but in all possibilities, that wouldn’t happen.

Epic Games Sues 14 Year Old

Another extremely famous battle royale game banning two players. Fortnite not only banned the players from the game for cheating, but also took them to court. It has been revealed that one of the accused is only 14 years old. The game explicitly states that an underage person needs parental permission to play the game. The mother of the child has appealed to court stating that she did not give her son permission. This has caused a lot of furor as Epic games alleges that they have faced loss of profits and that the 14 year old helped create the cheat software. While Epic has had a very good year, we sure hope they resolve problems of cheating more maturely.

CS:GO Team Cheats

A CS: GO team disbanded after a cheating scandal that erupted during the finals of a tournament. The player accused of cheating was Nikhil ‘Forsaken’ Kumawat, from OpTic Gaming India’s team and the tournament was eXTREMESLAND Asia finals. He was found to be using aimbot. Following the dismissal, OpTic gaming released the entire roster along with Kumawat and released a statement asking for forgiveness.

Rise Of Battle Royale

The rise of battle royale mode was seen in 2018. This mode drops players in a map and they fight against each other, either alone or in a team, to emerge as the winner in the end. This format of the game gained ground with Playerunknown’s Battleground and later Fortnite. Several other games like Call Of Duty have also followed the path. These games are usually short in duration and require high levels of concentration. PUBG mobile has also become a trend with everyone with a decently specced phone are playing the game.

Big Titles Released

The gaming industry was surrounded by controversies and cheating scandals throughout the year, but there were some high points as well One of them was the fact that 2018 saw some big gaming titles being released. These include games such as Monster Hunter: World, Red Dead Redemption 2, God Of War, Spider- Man, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Far Cry 5 and so many more. Gamers couldn’t ask for a better year in terms of big names and big companies bringing out games in a year.

E- sports Becomes Career Goal

E- sports had always been considered as a passtime by ‘adults’ who thought playing games on the computer and consoles would just affect studies and would never contribute to a career opportunity. But the scenario is changing. Tournaments are shelling out millions of dollars in prize money, big brands such as Football Team PSG are sponsoring teams, SkySports and other channels are regularly featuring programs on E-sports and a lot more. It has become a phenomenon and playing E-sports is not considered to be ‘Child’s play’ anymore.

More Viewers For Game Streams In YouTube

YouTube used to be primarily for video content of all kinds. While some streamers shifted to Twitch, some like PewDiePie and  markiplier stayed on YouTube. It seems that YouTube has now shifted their focus on gamers a lot. With popular celebrities like Conan and even more recently Jack Black streaming games, the future for YouTube’s game streamers look quite bright.