2022 has offered quite the revival for in person events and quality games ever since the pandemic, and hopefully it continues to do so into 2023. 

One of the biggest events to start this year was the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 for Counter Strike Global Offensive in Antwerp, Belgium. It broke the record for the largest indoor esports event as over 20,000 fans watched the grand finals against Faze and Natus Vincere, and peaked at about 2.1 million views online. There was also the Call of Duty League Championship and Apex Legends Global Series Championship happening in the states, followed by Riot’s international VALORANT Champions 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Riot also produced Worlds 2022, for League of Legends, which went on a North American tour, hitting Mexico City, New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco. 

The commonality between all these events, and what brought this revival, was the ability to attend in person. Esports events had been missing this one piece since 2019, and it’s what had made everything fall into a lull the past 2 years. The return of crowds has really allowed the community to come together and finally have an outlet to share their passion together. Hopefully, this trend will continue upward and produce events equal to big sports events, like the Super Bowl or NBA Finals.

2022 has also revived the solo experience in gaming with the popular titles they’ve released throughout the year. 

To a game about a cat walking through a dystopian city filled with robots to gearing yourself up to fight fantastical monsters and giant beasts, 2022 has offered a wide variety of single player games, and it’s been enjoyable. Stray, winner of best indie game, has surprisingly risen to the top, which I believe is due to the designs, city building, story building, and overall, the uniqueness of the story itself. Other single players that stole the show were Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok, probably the two biggest names and the ones that have been clashing to become the best. Elden Ring is a captivating role-playing game that offers a gigantic world to explore and loot. God of War Ragnarok is the continuation of its predecessor, and you continue to follow the growth and changes in Kratos’ and Atreus’ life.

Single player games have continued to dominate even as the year closes, with the late release of High on Life, where you explore an alien infested earth with a trusty gun, that talks like Morty from Rick and Morty. 2022 has delivered on the solo experience, I’m looking for 2023 to deliver on the multiplayer experience.