History is littered with deadly, world-altering catastrophes such as World War 2 or in my lifetime 9/11. Watching the latter unfold live on TV, I remember saying to my parents this would change everything. While in the midst of terrible tragedies the foreseeable future can often seem uncertain and likely to never be the same again. Maybe because we are creatures of habit our worlds do (mostly) return to a status quo and these terrible chapters become a cautionary footnote in history. As the months of lockdown roll on and the death toll continues to shock those of us paying attention, it is clear the Coronavirus will actually leave our world forever changed.
As the doctors and civilisation as a whole continue to wrestle this deadly virus with great assiduity, the question of ‘when will life go back to normal’ is being asked with increasing frequency. Some people (usually the mouth breathing variety) in this world are so desperate to deny the truth, they are protesting their ‘right’ to catch Conronavirus and putting their lives on the line. If this didn’t affect so many other people, such as medical workers, I’d say let Darwinism do its work. In the coming year, I suspect work on an effective vaccine will be complete and the gears of society will slowly groan back to life. However, should we really be aiming to get back to where we were before, eager to sweep this global disaster under the dusty carpet of history?
There have been many lone voices over the last decade, warning us of this coming assault on our species. Not from nuclear devastation or a world-ending meteor; but from a creature so small we can’t even see it with the naked eye. Bill Gates foretold the entire catastrophe we now face in a 2015 TED Talk, of course, most people watched and then walked away back to their busy lives. The tech genius and philanthropist has been speaking to various governments for years now about serious research into the strategy for dealing with a global flu pandemic, as Bill stated in 2015; there isn’t one.
The cost of this epidemic, both in terms of human lives and economic damage is still incalculable: simply because we still have no effective method of fighting the virus. If you look at how all the various nations have faired so far there have been stark differences in the number of cases and mortality rates. Countries like the USA and the UK often claim they have the best of everything and the world looks to them on how to deal with a crisis. However, I have watched how the populations of these two nations (as well as many other western countries) have gone into a state of mass denial, not following the social distancing requests from government and carrying on with their lives as if nothing were. Having a stiff upper lip it seems, does not protect you from Covid-19. In contrast countries like South Korea and New Zealand have kept death rates significantly lower than others due to a focus on early testing and not having right wing morons at the tiller. For the second time in as many years, I am ashamed to be British.
So how has all this been affecting the games industry? Well, the biggest immediate effect by far has been the cancellation of pretty much every major gaming event in the next twelve months. It’s encouraging to see plans for online events are being prepared and this should allow developers to at least show off any games they would normally be unveiled at E3 or Gamescom. Cancelling these events in terms of a physical venue is, of course, the right thing to do. With attendees tightly squashed together in gargantuan (often humid) spaces, Corona would spread like wildfire. Then all those people would head back to their respective countries and the result would be a devastating explosion of new cases. I know some have celebrated the apparent downfall of E3 (I’m no fan of the ESA) but do remember there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who rely on these events for their income; merchandise companies, workers who help run the convention centres, logistics and so many more.
In terms of development delays, it has all depended on what stage the game has been at and what changes the developer has been able to make to. The Last of Us 2, a huge game for 2020 has been delayed by Sony and the list is growing. Of course with a catastrophic leak, Naughty Dog’s hands have been forced into setting a release date for June. As for other games choosing to delay, we also should consider that many of the systems used for the release of a big game, PR, legal, manufacturing, etc, are all shut down right now.
I heard a fellow gamer joke a few weeks ago they had been training for this lockdown their entire life, often the funniest jokes have a hint of truth to them. It turns out maybe gamers will be the last survivors in a world-changing apocalypse; stay in for months on end playing games and eating pizza? Yeah gamers everywhere are doing their bit to save the human race. With new releases starting to get bumped, will there be a shortage of games to play? Of course not. One of the best aspects of PC gaming is that with each new upgrade not only do your old games come with you; they look and play better than ever before. Now is the time folks to take a tour back through our game libraries and replay all those old gems. Maybe get that better ending in The Witcher 3? Have a cheeky run through the Dishonored games or perhaps a few weeks buried in XCOM 2.
As some of you will have noticed, the amount of games I cover has slowed down considerably. With my son and wife now at home for the next few months, this leaves me with significantly less time for game reviews and content. However, I have decided this is the perfect time to get my gaming basement refitted and ready for when the madness finally subsides. I’m also going to be working on my editing skills and will be publishing my first YouTube content soon. I am still debating whether to get the new rig now or wait until the 3080 cards become available from NVidia. This would be cutting it a little close to the release of Cyberpunk 2077 (which hopefully won’t be delayed!) so right now I’m tempted to just get the new rig and look at a GPU upgrade next year.
I am very happy to have been able to review two of the biggest games on my radar this year, Ori and the Will of The Wisps and DOOM Eternal. Ori is just an utter joy to behold and a game I can highly recommend you take a look at. However, just be aware that Bethesda in their wisdom was not happy with Eternal receiving widespread acclaim and so have been working to change this situation. With the game now having Denuvo (a program that makes your computer vulnerable to hacks) retroactively added, gamers are quite rightly up in arms.
Wherever you are in the world I hope you can stay home and stay safe. If you are one of the brave and selfless people looking after the sick or helping to keep our society ticking over, thank you.