It has been a rollercoaster ride of a year for the video game industry, and there has been plenty for gamers to feel joyous and excited about such as the explosive success of Baldur’s Gate 3. At the same time, there have been worrying news all year around about layoffs in the video games industry. In India, gamers were jubilant to see BGMI return, while gambling and fantasy apps took a big hit with the government’s introduction of 28% GST. Microsoft pulled off the biggest gaming deal in history, and that led to a couple of secrets being revealed as well. Oh, and GTA 6 is real. It is happening. Here’s a quick look at the top 10 stories and events from 2023.
1. BGMI and Free Fire return
BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India), one of India’s most popular battle royale game, was removed from the Google and Apple App Stores in July 2022. After appeals from fans and gamers, developers Krafton brought the game back after working closely with the Government of India to address the safety and security concerns they had about the game. The game officially made its comeback on the app stores on 29th May, 2023.
Following this, developers Krafton regularly organised campaigns to promote safe gaming practices along with regular updates to the game, roping in celebrities as ambassadors. Documentaries like India Ki Heartbeat highlighted the impact a game like BGMI has had on the masses of India. Esports in BGMI also made a comeback, with Krafton organising tournaments like BGMI India Series and BGMI Pro Series. An international event also took place with India vs Korea Invitational.
Free Fire, also another highly popular battle royale which was removed from the iOS and Android app stores earlier in 2022, announced its relaunch in India on September 2023. However, the launch was delayed by a “few more weeks” shortly after, and we haven’t had any updates since. Nevertheless, Free Fire India’s official comeback can be expected any time soon in 2024.
2. GTA 6 Trailer and Leak
One of the biggest things to happen in gaming this year is Rockstar dropping the trailer of their highly anticipated GTA 6. There were reports that Rockstar was going to drop the trailer by the end of this year, however, no one believed it until Rockstar confirmed it with a tweet. Unfortunately, Rockstar had to drop the trailer earlier than the planned date as it was leaked online, leaving all the developers in a disarray.
Regardless, this did not stop the trailer from gaining several accomplishments. The hype was definitely real as the GTA 6 trailer managed to become the most viewed videogame reveal in the first 24 hours on YouTube, the most-viewed non-music video on YouTube in the first 24 hours, breaking Mr Beast’s record and the most like video game trailer in the first 24 hours.
3. Big year for video games
You’ve probably heard, 2023 was a big year for video games. Certain titles left us in awe, like the grand return of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the much-anticipated sequels to Alan Wake and Marvel’s Spider-Man. And we can’t forget Starfield, Armored Core 6 and Hogwarts Legacy. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor kept the Force alive, and Forza Motorsport brought excitement for fans of racing. Choosing the year’s best game became a tough call with so many remarkable releases. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were some notable letdowns such as The Day Before and Redfall, which left us a tad disappointed. Nonetheless, overall, it was a year brimming with incredible games that kept us glued to our screens.
4. Indian government and video games industry
28% tax on RMG sector
One of the biggest developments in the Indian gaming industry began when the budget for 2023 was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February. The real money gaming apps, which offer gambling disguised as gaming, were now subjected to a 28% GST on deposits made by users rather than the winnings they come away with.
The gambling apps responded with a cry for justice, as they tried to once again masquerade as a video game company, highlighting how the “gaming” sector in India is booming, and that the government’s decision to impose a 28% tax will hamper games development, investors, and publishers from exploring the Indian video game industry’s market.
While the situation may seem obvious to some, there has actually been a lot of confusion which is reflected in the opinion of gamers and actions by various companies and even the esports industry as the video games industry kept getting its name dragged into this, even when the new tax regime was not applicable on video games.
Indian game developers ask government for clear distinction between video games and gambling apps
That’s when a majority of video game developers and studios in India railled together and sent a letter to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B), asking them to make a clear distinction between video games and gambling apps, as should be the case.
Government gives recognition to esports
Esports has also begun to find its place in India, with even the government giving mainline recognition to it. The state of Bihar hosted its first ever esports LAN tournament, and they also announced that Esports will soon become part of the education curriculum. Recently, the UP government also signed a MOU with Garena (Free Fire) to host international tournaments in the state. Elsewhere, MP government set up an esports academy and also hosted a State Junior Esports Championship.
Asian Games 2023 esports
Not just India, the recognition of gaming and esports happened across Asia as the Asian Games 2023 had esports as an official medal competition. There were 16 esports athletes that represented India at the prestigious tournament. Asian Games 2023 esports had Dota 2, FC 24, League of Legends, Peace Elite Asian Games Version, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition as its competing titles.
5. India Hero Project and PlayStation developer event announcement at IGDC 2023
Similar to their China Hero Project, Sony earlier this year announced the PlayStation India Hero Project which would act as an incubation program to support and finance game development in India. Sony showed up at IGDC 2023, the biggest game developer conference in India, to make a huge announcement. To start with, they revealed the overwhelming response they had received from the Indian game developers and the number of applications surpassed their own expectations from the market.
The company explained how the India Hero Project would function, its timelines, and the benefits it can offer to a game developer or studio in India, with even a chance to get their game published by PlayStation Studios.
At the end, Sony announced that there will be a PlayStation developer event taking place in India for the first time next year on February 28-29, 2024, in Bengaluru. The event will offer developers a chance to meet with Sony’s core game, publishing and partner teams, and it will also encourage developers to become Indian PlayStation Partners.
6. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King and secrets revealed during FTC trial
It finally happened. For a long time, it seemed as if Microsoft would not get to pull it off, but they did. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King for $69 billion is the biggest deal in the history of gaming. The acquisition effectively brought the likes of Call of Duty, Overwatch, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and more, under Xbox’s umbrella of IPs.
The deal came to fruition after Sony finally agreed to a 10-year legally binding contract where Microsoft will continue to offer Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles. However, a bigger roadblock for Microsoft was the FTC, which took Microsoft to court where Microsoft had to prove that the acquisition was not anti-competitive in nature.
Sony had taken to the stand as well during the FTC trial, as it tried to explain how Xbox could remove Call of Duty from the PlayStation consoles. A massive data breach revealed court documents and there were also public statements that revealed a lot of Xbox and PlayStation secrets over the years.
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For starters, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wanted platform exclusivity to be a thing of the past, and it was also revealed that Call of Duty contributes $800 million towards PlayStation. It was also revealed in the leaked documents that Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox exclusive, and what is perhaps the biggest reveal is Xbox’s plans to bring an updated Xbox Series X/S in 2024, and the next generation of consoles is expected to arrive in 2028.
7. PlayStation Releases A Bunch of Hardware, Jim Ryan Steps Down
PlayStation really went beserk in terms of new hardware in 2023. Firstly, the new PlayStation 5 Slim with a smaller form factor and an attachable disc-drive was released, bringing a new option for the players to try out. They also released some next-gen gaming hardware for the virtual reality medium through the PlayStation VR 2. Interestingly, the PlayStation VR 2 has also made its way to India finally, available now for players to purchase.
On top of that, we also saw PlayStation enter the realm of handheld gaming, through their new cloud gaming device, the PlayStation Portal. They added a whole lot of things this year, but at the same time suffered a major loss. Jim Ryan, who has been at the helm of all things PlayStation for around 3 decades announced that he will be stepping down from the CEO position in March 2024.
8. GTA, Microsoft, Sony, Insomniac and Ubisoft Hacked
2023 was also a year where we saw a massive surge in leaks and data breaches. The first we saw was the Rockstar hack, which led to some enormous leaks for their upcoming game such as character names, setting and more. However, justice was served as the hacker was recently served with a sentence of indefinite detention in a secure hospital. Now you know to not to mess with Rockstar.
Next on the hitlist was Microsoft and they announced that a group of hackers stole 60,000 emails from State Departments, it was definitely a cause for concern within the organisation. The next victim was Sony and hackers went a step ahead with them. The hacker group ended up comprimising their systems while stealing data at the same time. However, this wasn’t enough and they threatened to sell this data that included source codes, confidential documents and other impoortant data if their demands weren’t met.
It seems the hackers hadn’t had enough with Sony and ended up making Insomniac games their next victim. This was particularly disheartening for the developers as all their efforts on the Wolverine game ended up being revealed prematurely. We also learned about Insomniac’s release schedule for the next decade, which includes a Venom game, a new instalment to their Spider-Man series, a new Ratchet and Clank title, an X-Men game and a completely new IP. We were all excited to learn about these plans, but it should’ve been Insomniac who told us about them and not documents that were illegally revealed through the hacking. The latest target was Ubisoft, but they managed to come out of this without anything valuable getting leaked.
9. Multiple layoffs across the gaming industry
While it may be a good time for a lot of games, 2023 continued to see multiple waves of layoffs across the industry. According to reported estimates, around 9,000 people were laid off in the gaming industry in 2023. This includes companies like Epic Games who announced the layoff of around 16% of its workforce in September, followed by Ubisoft, who laid off around 124 employees in November. Embracer Group on the other hand was on an acquisition spree in 2022, but 2023 had to see them shut down their Volition studio.
Shortly after, Embracer announced the layoff of 904 employees across its different studios. Additionally, after The Game Awards, multiple developers criticised how the winning developers were hardly given any time for their acceptance speeches. Only 30 seconds were allotted to each winner, which they felt was disrespectful. Additionally, TGA host Geoff Keighley was petitioned to address the conflict of Gaza, but his silence on not only the aggression, but also the layoffs across the industry, when there was a protest demonstrated by various members of the gaming industry, going on at the same time, right outside the venue, was not well received across the industry.
10. E3 is dead
This year, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) made a significant announcement that marked the end of an era: E3, short for Electronic Entertainment Expo, a longstanding annual trade event for the video game industry that began 28 years ago in 1995, bid farewell for good. E3 was renowned for its grandiose press conferences featuring major video game announcements by industry giants like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. Over the years, it became a platform for historic reveals and industry milestones. However, in recent times, several companies opted out of the event to pursue their independent ventures.
pic.twitter.com/y6dtVkBvNI
— E3 (@E3) December 12, 2023
Honorable Mentions
AI trend
AI has been the buzz word off late, and the impacts have very naturally been felt in the gaming and entertainment industry as well. Use of AI to write scripts was one of the major talking points of the strike by the Writers Guild Association of Hollywood. We also saw the induction of AI in technology and hardware for gamers. The use of generative AI to create NPCs was demonstrated by Nvidia at Computex earlier in 2023. We also saw how AI is helping in improving the performance of games as Nvidia announced AI enhanced real-time ray tracing at Gamescom 2023. However, when it came to the use of AI for voice overs in games, voice actors have unanimously spoken against it.
Barbenheimer
And it wasn’t just games, 2023 was also the year for movies. Mentioning 2023 without the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon is impossible. It marked the simultaneous release of two vastly different yet highly anticipated movies: Barbie, an extravagant live-action journey into femininity, and Oppenheimer, a solemn biopic cantered on the atomic bomb. This clash coined “Barbenheimer” birthed a wave of amusing memes in the months leading up to the movies’ premieres. This showdown turned out to be the year’s biggest cinematic event, with Barbie raking in $1.442 billion at the box office, closely followed by Oppenheimer earning $955.2 million.
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