It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Games of February 2022
The month of love is appropriately gluttonous for gamers this year. First up is Techland’s zombie-killing simulator Dying Light 2, which finally debuts after years in development and ultra-high expectations. Next is Sony’s open-world sequel Horizon Forbidden West (starring cover girl superstar Aloy), Sloclap’s martial arts themed Sifu, Amazon’s Lost Ark, SNK’s The King of Fighters XV, Sega’s Total War Warhammer III, Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires, NIS America’s MONARK, and Microsoft’s CrossfireX, and Bandai Namco’s definitely not Dark Souls sequel Elden Ring.
NPD: January 2022
NPD remains the gaming industry’s best snapshot of what’s moving and shaking up both physical and digital retail shelves across the country. All stats are for entertainment purposes only.
Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $4.7 billion, a 2 percent decline from last year ($4.8 billion). Driving most of the gains were a huge uptick in sales of new hardware, specifically both Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S consoles, leading to a huge 22 percent gain over last year’s tallies, while new software and accessories declined from last year.
Speaking of software, the Top Twenty charts were led by explosive sales of Nintendo’s Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which isn’t the pocket monsters’ only appearance on the charts. In third place is Capcom’s PC version of (former Switch exclusive) Monster Hunter: Rise, while Sony’s PC version (former PS4 exclusive) God of War debuts in fifth, while Nintendo’s Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl continue to stay on the charts in eleventh.
Everything Else
Did you know Sony purchased (OG Halo developer) Bungie for nearly $4 billion? Or that Valve might actually release their mobile console Steam Deck in time for Spring? Maybe you wanted to watch the Cuphead Show! on Netflix? Or that the streaming giant just greenlit a BioShock movie?
And speaking of movies, have you seen the Uncharted movie yet? It’s real! Or maybe you read that the Sonic the Hedgehog movie just scored a second sequel PLUS a spinoff show starring Knuckles the Echidna? Or that the upcoming Halo live-action series has a second season on the way (and the first hasn’t even launched yet)?
