By At this point in time, it’s pretty certain that you have watched too many videos and read even more articles that give a recap of the year that was so bad it was named twice. So we saw it just right to irritate you even more with a similar summary of the gaming industry in 2020.
To be honest, the year had so much promise for the gaming industry bearing in mind 2019’s progress both locally and internationally. So, here’s what made headlines in case the year was too long for you to remember.
Next-Gen Gaming
Gamers and nerds across the world had waited for about two years since the two giants, Sony and Microsoft announced their plans to develop what would be a step into the future. So, we were all excited. In fact, PS5 had been trending occasionally on social media way before we even knew what name Sony would come up with (as if they’d come up with a better name).
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However, the frenzy had gotten to crazy levels about a month earlier when Xbox introduced the new PC-looking console that would be the Xbox Series X. Sony, on the other hand, chose to stay mum, a tactic that actually proved to be working for them as everyone grew impatient for the PS5 design.
So it was no surprise that how insane the hype got when the futuristic tower design was introduced at the end of a long virtual event. And when the launch date arrived, let’s just say that Sony never even needed to make ads of the console. In fact, there are still lots of gamers to this day that haven’t been able to get a unit of the console. Let’s not even talk about the KES 150k price tag slapped on the console by retailers all in the name of limited supply.
Despite Xbox’s efforts to try its best and get the sales right this time around, it was clear that Sony is and probably will continue having the upper hand in the console war. That is not to say that the Xbox Series X and Series S don’t have a decent list of features to offer.
Esports
As we all know by now, 2020 happened and the COVID-19 pandemic could not allow us to have esports tournaments that had taken steam even in Kenya. It was a year we expected to have so much especially after the Safaricom Blaze Esports drive that had taken place in various parts of the country.
Luckily, the telco did come up with a mobile gaming tournament that not only got the frenzy going but also invited a new stock of casual mobile gamers to the fold.
Internationally, we did not get to see teenagers win KES 300 million playing Fortnite in a stadium but things went virtual. Invitational esports tourneys became a thing and pro gamers didn’t have to travel to various countries to compete.
All we can do is hope that 2021 gets better for the gaming community in Kenya and beyond.
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