More than 26,000 game developers converged at the San Francisco Moscone Convention Center earlier this month to explore—and in many cases, show off—the future of video games.
It’s an expansive one. With multiple entry points into gaming—consoles, mobile devices, and yes, even virtual reality—more people, spanning all ages, are playing games than ever before. Newzoo, a research firm that focuses on the video gaming market, forecasts that global video game sales in 2015 will exceed $91 billion.
Here are five notable titles to look out for.
London Heist
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: Morpheus VR, PlayStation 4
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Virtual reality took center stage at GDC this year, hardly a surprise since Facebook’s high-profile $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR last year. Although the conference was filled with short VR demos featuring new head-mounted displays (like the Valve Steam VR-powered HTC One and Oculus VR’s Crescent Bay), Sony’s newly redesigned Morpheus headset demonstrated how involved a virtual reality game could be.
The lighter and more comfortable Morpheus uses a pair of PlayStation Move controllers, one in each hand, to allow for full control within a virtual world. Virtual “hands” can do everything from wield a flashlight to pick up guns and shoot at enemies.
London Heist puts players in the hot seat as a British goon with a blowtorch threatens to burn off the player’s face. The experience then drops the player into a diamond heist, complete with searching for loot and fending off armed guards. The experience presented at GDC was brief, but it offered a taste of how a true VR game can transport a player completely into a new environment. Morpheus’ improved visuals and advanced head-tracking technology helped create an immersive experience. And, crucially, Sony has given the player controls within a VR world using peripheral devices that many gamers already own.
Rock Band 4
Publishers: Mad Catz and Harmonix Music Systems
Platforms: Xbox One and PlayStation 4
Mad Catz partnered with the game developer that launched the music video game craze, Harmonix, to continue the bestselling Rock Band franchise. After helping Activision (Guitar Hero) and Electronic Arts/MTV Games (Rock Band) sell millions of games and musical instrument-like controllers, Harmonix is bringing the music rhythm genre to PS4 and Xbox One for the first time.
Rock Band 4 will support the songs featured in past versions—more than 2,100 songs from 500 artists—for free, which gives gamers plenty to start with. (It will also introduce new songs to play to.) The game will support new wireless peripherals—a licensed Fender Stratocaster guitar, for one, and a wireless drum kit controller—and Harmonix is also working with the game’s developer to allow previously purchased musical accessories to work with the new game, a great savings for the millions of gamers who still play the old games.
Sword Coast Legends
Publishers: Digital Extremes, n-Space
Platform: PC
Dungeons & Dragons remains one of the most recognizable gaming brands in the world, as millions of fans gather around tables and journey into fantasy realms with friends. While publisher Wizards of the Coast continues the pen-and-paper version of the game, independent developers Digital Extremes and n-Space have a brand new PC role-playing game (RPG), Sword Coast Legends, set within the popular D&D: Forgotten Realms universe.
What separates this new game from all previous D&D video games, as well as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Dungeons & Dragons Online, is that it allows one of the five players to take on the role of the Dungeon Master to help guide the four-person party through the fantasy world. This replicates the pen-and-paper social experience, but allows players to log in online from around the country or across the world and explore together.
The development team includes some of the creators behind games like Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights and the Baldur’s Gate franchise. The $35 game will be distributed digitally later this year.
Cuphead
Publisher: Studio MDHR
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
GDC is all about independent games, so it says a lot that Cuphead stood out in a crowded field. This game combines the action from classic run-and-gun action titles like Contra with 1930s-style animation like Popeye. The game was developed using hand-drawn and hand-inked cel animation to create two-dimensional worlds that pop with watercolors and come alive through an original jazz soundtrack. Aesthetically, it’s quite distinctive.
The cooperative gameplay allows players to control Cuphead or Mugman as they battle enemies with their arsenal of weapons. With such aesthetic originality, Cuphead will likely benefit from strong word-of-mouth once it’s released digitally. Independent games have experienced a resurgence in recent years thanks to the rise of mobile and popularity of digital delivery systems across consoles and PC; Cuphead shows why gamers love the ingenuity of small teams.
LEGO Jurassic World
Publishers: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Fusion
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has seen global success transforming mainstream movie franchises like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Batman, and Marvel superheroes into bestselling games with sales of more than 100 million units. With Universal Pictures set to open Jurassic World on the big screen this summer, new developer TT Fusion has LEGO Jurassic World ready for a tongue-in-cheek take on all four blockbuster films in the series.
Like every game in the LEGO franchise, this title has been designed for families to play cooperatively. In this case, it means a less scary take on dinosaurs, which are built out of the same LEGO bricks as the new line of toys. Kids love dinosaurs as much as LEGO bricks, which positions this game well for eventual success. Parents will like the concept of getting four movies packed into one disc, and LEGO games are known for their endless replay value.
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