10 Developers Who Deserve Major Props This Year
Thanksgiving has come and gone and with this day in our rearview, it’s a wonderful time to reflect and give thanks for all of the great things that have happened over the last year. As such, we thought it was time to give a shout out to all of the game developers and publishers out there that give us a chance to escape into an alternate universe, if only for a moment or two. Though there are many more that deserve lofty praise, here are 10 developers and publishers we’re super thankful for in 2018.
10) CD Projekt RED – Cyberpunk 2077
Without a doubt, the anticipation has only continued to grow for Cyberpunk 2077 since it was first announced back in 2012. Since the very first reveal trailer shown off in 2013, yes five whole years ago, we hadn’t gotten to see a single snippet from the game, nor had we received a ton of details. Finally this year, despite no confirmed release window CD Projekt RED has blessed us with a ton of new information to get excited about. Without a doubt, the best present we could ever receive from CDPR was a huge serving of Cyberpunk 2077 in the way of a trailer and man did they ever deliver. With an all-new cinematic trailer shown off in dramatic fashion at E3, that was just the beginning. Just a couple short months later and they followed this with 48 minutes of pure and utter Cyberpunk 2077 glory. Seriously though, after that amazing showing, is there anyone out there who doesn’t want to see more of what CDPR has to offer?
9) Quantic Dream – Detroit: Become Human
Despite criticism about the company atmosphere at Quantic Dream, as well as the amount of violence depicted within the game, the developer delivered quite the masterpiece with Detroit: Become Human. Not only was the game graphically stunning, but the world full of android and human tension was overflowing with life, bringing forth a level of interaction that had yet to really be attained. And let’s not forget just how deeply entrenched and how powerful the decision/consequence based gameplay was from start to finish. Quantic Dream gave us three intriguing characters to fall in love with, and though Connor may come out as the front-runner for favourite, the voice actor is even up for a few awards, each individual story is full of twists all on its own. Though it may not have the highest score on Metacritic, it still received quite the positive response, holding strong at a solid 78 and that’s definitely something to be proud of. At the end of the day, Quantic Dream set out to deliver an exciting experience and that’s exactly what they did, top to bottom.
8) Ubisoft – Far Cry 5
How many of us have been following the Far Cry series since its inception back in 2004? With over a decade dedicated to the Far Cry franchise, Ubisoft looked to reinvent the wheel with a brand new adventure, right here in North America, in the USA. Now despite fourteen years of the series, Far Cry 5 didn’t feel recycled or boring and instead brought forth a captivating story and an enriching environment with a cast of characters chock full of wit and humor. Plus, can you really blame me for giving Ubisoft the props they deserve for giving us the kickass sidekick we’ve always hoped for in the form of a grizzly bear named Cheeseburger of all things? Didn’t think so.