God Of War: Ragnarok and Halo Infinite Voted Most-Anticipated 2021 Games
If you thought 2020 was a big year for gaming, that's nothing compared to what 2021 has on offer in terms of tantalising titles. Last year was dominated by Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and (for better or for worse) Cyberpunk 2077. As these big names vied to be top dog in the midst of next-gen consoles making their first tentative steps, this year should see things calm down as developers, publishers, and manufacturers start to settle into their stride.
Despite 2020 getting plenty of big AAA titles out the way, there's plenty to look forward to this year. Whether you want to leap across the Gotham City skyline, swing an axe as Kratos, crawl through the crypts of Castle Dimitrescu, or see what Master Chief has been doing for the past six years, next-gen games have you covered. That's before we get to next-gen upgrades for the likes of Grand Theft Auto V and (hopefully) Cyberpunk 2077. Basically, you'd better start saving your pennies.
What are the most-anticipated games of 2021?
According to researchers at ManySpins.com, Sony Santa Monica's God of War: Ragnarok and 343 Industries' delayed Halo Infinite are the top of our wishlist. The company analysed over 395,000 comments on Reddit since the start of the year - taking the number of comments that mentioned a game due for release in 2021. Coming out on top, Halo Infinite was mentioned over 10,000 times, while the tentatively titled God of War: Ragnarok came in second with over 8,000 mentions.
Importantly, these aren't the only games coming out this year, with some other major names getting the nod. Elsewhere, the data concluded the New Pokemon Snap (4,592 mentions), Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (3,675 mentions), and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild 2 (1,971 mentions) also have our tongues wagging. We guess Hogwarts Legacy would've been right near the top, but we now know it's been shifted to 2022.
The Top 10 was rounded off by Resident Evil Village, Elden Ring, Deathloop, and Back 4 Blood. Of course, this is only a small cross-section of society and not cold, hard, facts on which games will come out on top. Notably, there are some major exceptions that seem to be MIA.
What other games are the most-anticipated in 2021?
We know we bang this drum a lot, but why aren't people more excited for Resident Evil Village? Come on guys, Lady Dimitrescu is a towering temptress for the ages. Elsewhere, there's the much-hyped release of Far Cry 6 that's already been pushed from its release date of tomorrow (February 18). Finally, where's the love for Horizon Zero Dawn? That's before even mentioning Gotham Knights, Monter Hunter Rise, Deathloop, and all the rest. Even though it's all a matter of preference, we can see why Infinite and Ragnarok rank so highly.
Halo is the flagship franchise of the Xbox and has continued to drum up interest since it failed to launch alongside the Xbox Series X/S last year. After the disastrous reveal of Craig the Brute, there are some who just want to see whether this is another Cyberpunk 2077 disaster waiting to happen. As for Ragnarok, its own hype comes off the back of 2018's God of War being cited as a return to form and what is arguably one of the greatest video games of all time.
2021 already got off to a good start with Hitman 3 and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, but that's nothing compared to what's still to come. We're suitably stoked for both Ragnarok and Infinite, however, it's interesting to note they're tipped as console exclusives for Sony and Microsoft - causing more debate about whether PlayStation or Xbox is better. Even if the gaming giants of Microsoft and Sony are set to lock horns once again over these two tent poles, there will be only one winner. Place your bets!
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