Square Enix
The first of the game developers we’ll talk about is Square Enix. They need no introduction especially since they’ve been in the industry for a long time.
This year, they came at us hard and fast with Final Fantasy VII Remake, a spectacular game that we’ll be talking about for quite a while. Square Enix took around 5 hours of gameplay from the original game and turned it into nearly 30 hours of content. Even then, the Remake isn’t finished yet.
In the spirit of remakes, Square Enix also published the remake of Trials of Mana.
However, Square Enix didn’t stop there. Earlier this year, they also released the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind DLC which added more to the main game’s wacky story and introduced a big chunk of new bosses.
Square Enix is also still regularly updating some of their other games, including Final Fantasy XIV, so Square Enix’s various developer branches are surely planning on keeping us entertained with content for the rest of the year.
id Software
Our next game developer is id Software, the brilliant minds behind the action-packed and incredibly fun Doom series. After rebooting the series, Doom Eternal was released early this year with a rather positive reception.
A lot of the time, sequels are rarely better than their predecessors but many consider Doom Eternal to be a great improvement to the previous game, especially in its combat and level design.
Somehow, id Software managed to make its incredibly fast and exciting gameplay even faster and they added a number of new demons to the fold. They also expanded upon Doom’s setting with larger arenas and zones that look breathtaking.
Additionally, id Software has focused on adding new content to Doom Eternal, such as the colorful Mullet Slayer skin and regular updates that include empowered Demons and Battlemode tweaks.
Valve
Valve isn’t really known for quickly churning out games and it has been a while since we’ve gotten a major one from them. However, they pleasantly surprised us with Half-Life: Alyx, the newest installment in the age old and classic Half-Life series.
Reviews and player reception have been positive about the game’s story and gameplay, so Valve set the bar high for both itself and VR games this year.
Half-Life: Alyx isn’t the only game Valve has released. They’ve also fully released Dota Underlords, the auto battler game that was in Dota 2, which was originally in early access last year.
Valve has also revealed Dota 2’s new Summer Pass, so this’ll be a year rich in content from the developer.
Nintendo
Nintendo is another company that needs no intro. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, arguably the biggest and most popular game out right now, was released to high praise and has been a staple of many quarantines around the world this year.
The game released back in March but people are playing and talking about it like it came out yesterday. Turnips have turned into a business and peaches have become the holy fruit.
To add to the company’s success, Nintendo has also released a remastered version of the popular Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series with Rescue Team DX.
Add in the fact that the Nintendo Switch is receiving numerous ports and remasters and that people have been crazily buying up the console, this has been a pretty good start to the year for Nintendo.
The year isn’t even over yet so Nintendo will be riding this high for quite a while.
Team Ninja
Team Ninja is the developer behind the Dead or Alive series, Ninja Gaiden series, and Nioh series. Most recently, they’ve released Nioh 2 which received high praise from reviewers.
Nioh 2 made a lot of improvements on the first game and it still has that gorgeous boss design that the series is known for. The final boss in particular is worth playing through the entire game for.
Even before its DLCs released, Nioh 2’s success already has Team Ninja talking about its sequel and the potential for the next Ninja Gaiden game.
Nioh 2’s first DLC is set to release in July so Team Ninja is definitely going to keep rolling out content.
DotEmu
DotEmu just recently released Streets of Rage 4, the newest installment in the old school beat ’em-up series. The series on its own brings fond, nostalgic memories to a lot of our minds, so the revival of the franchise is a welcome return.
These developers are adept at remastering older games so taking an interest in Streets of Rage isn’t surprising. Overall, the game is both a nod to its older roots and a fresh modern take on the series.
Dotemu is also rumored to be working on a few more unannounced projects. Whether those are more remasters like Final Fantasy VIII or newer games like more Streets of Rage remains to be seen.
Either way, the developers packed a punch the first half of this year and we look forward to what’s next.
Media Molecule
On Valentine’s Day, Media Molecule released Dreams, a creation game that is entirely at the whims of the player. Media Molecule are the game developers behind the Little Big Planet series so they know a thing or two about creating in video games.
Dreams is unique in the way that everything within it is user-generated content that players can collaborate on, explore, and mess with. It’s a very community-oriented game and Media Molecule regularly showcases player creations on social media.
Media Molecule is also constantly engaging with its audience through this game and, at this moment, digital communities are becoming incredibly popular.
The developers are really encouraging people to play their game and this is probably partly why Dreams is doing so well.
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