Hope for the future, it’s coming soon enough

One of the best things about games is that, even now, nearly 50 years on from the release of the first commercial example, Computer Space, it feels like we can still see them evolving in front of our eyes. The difference between console generations may not be as stark as it was when the ’80s gave way to the ’90s, but anyone who doesn’t see the benefit in upgrading, say, Destiny 2 to 60fps in 4K on PS5 cannot be paying enough attention. Sure, it felt like you were managing just fine on your wheezing PS4 during all those long evenings online, didn’t it? But when you’ve made the transition, it’s awfully difficult to go back. What was once normal soon becomes the old way, discarded for a better future.

And, you know, at the moment we’ll take whatever improvements we can get our hands on, however small. Because, in a strange turn of events, the arrival of a new year didn’t instantly fix all of the world’s problems. But we’re determined to be optimistic about 2021, to focus on brighter times ahead, and with that in mind we’ve assembled this special edition.

In 2020’s Feel Better issue, we focused on certainties, because when you’re suddenly faced with having to traverse a world turned upside down it’s just sensible to pick out the most reliable footholds. Today, we have at least a handful of reasons to be less anxious, so for this companion edition we’re casting our gaze beyond known quantities.

Of course, we’re looking towards particular games across all formats, from indies and behemoths alike, but we’re also identifying a selection of studios whose track records have us itching to see what’s coming next. We’re looking at hardware and services, including technology we expect to be playing with a lot over the next few years, but also other projects and initiatives whose future isn’t quite so predictable. And we’re looking at topics and trends with broader bearings on how the videogame landscape is evolving. Yes, we still need our comfort games, and we have them on standby, but let’s get going on finding some new ones to add to the pile.