It feels like each year gives us more video games than we can afford or have the time to play. Gaming continues to grow due to how popular the activity is as a pastime. Add the fact that there are esports giants like Counter-Strike, League of Legends, DOTA 2, Rocket League, and others, and you have a massive industry.

Of course, with each year, you have major disappointments that fail to meet player expectations. Cyberpunk 2077 and New World are some of the best examples of recent failures because developers rushed to release these titles when they were nowhere near close to being ready.

Nevertheless, a few disappointments here and there should not be enough to dampen your spirit. If one video game is not up to your standards, you can move on to the next one until you discover something truly enjoyable.

With 2021 coming to an end and the new year being just around the corner, we can expect to see some great titles sooner rather than later. If you have not been following gaming news recently and would like to see what upcoming video games people are the most excited about, we have you covered.

1. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Gearbox Software left many Borderlands fans unhappy with the release of Borderlands 3. Many franchise enthusiasts were unhappy with the story, first and foremost. The gameplay is pretty fluent, and it has been improved on multiple fronts thanks to regular updates. Nevertheless, the writing felt lackluster and made little sense in quite a few instances.

The negativity subsided after DLCs that came, and they improved the base game a lot. Leading to the release of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, fans are excited again and are looking forward to seeing what Gearbox has in store for one of the most beloved characters of the franchise.

2. Halo Infinite

343 Industries are about to release the installment in the Halo series. The release was originally planned for November 10, 2020, but production and other delays changed the studio’s plans, and we can expect Halo Infinite on December 8, 2021.

One of the best first-person shooters around will once again bring a new campaign in an open-world setting and a multiplayer mode. Besides the gameplay and story, some fans are particularly excited to hear the new soundtrack from Gareth Coker.

3. Pokemon Legends

Nintendo fans can rejoice because 2022 should be a great year. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is one of the most stand-out titles that is planned to be released next year.

There is no need to hype Pokemon due to how popular they are, but when you combine it with what could potentially be an open-world game similar to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it is understandable why so many people are thinking about getting Nintendo for the first time just so they could play Pokemon Legends.

4. Dying Light 2

It would not be a proper year for video games without zombies. Well, Dying Light 2 could become the only zombie game that you will play for the foreseeable future. The first game was released back in 2015 and did great in terms of reviews.

Techland, the team behind the game, had years to polish the next installment that should bring more of the same, but bigger and better.

5. Elden Ring

If there is one video game that you should get excited about, it has to be Elden Ring. Even if you are not a fan of the Dark Souls series and other similar games, you should still keep an eye on Elden Ring.

Despite being announced back in 2019, the game is still steeped in mystery. February is almost here, and gamers are intrigued to find out more about the world created by George R.R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaka.

6. Saints Row

Movie reboots have been a trend for a while now, but the same cannot be said about video games. Sure, you can find a remaster here and there, but the industry mostly relies on sequels and originals.

Having said that, Saints Row seems to be going for a complete reboot of the series. If you have played the game in the past, you will get to experience it again in all its remastered glory. And if this is your first time with Saints Row, well, you can enjoy becoming a fictional drug and crime lord by playing the game.

7. Horizon Forbidden West

Aloy has become one of the most beloved Sony characters, and fans have been looking forward to the new Horizon game for a while now.

Fortunately for them, Forbidden West should release on February 28, 2022. The already vast post-apocalyptic cyberworld presented in the first game should feel even larger and more immersive in Forbidden West.

Vibrant landscapes, new and intimidating machine enemies, and underwater sequences combined with mystery unraveling should make Horizon Forbidden West one hell of a ride.

8. God of War: Ragnarok

God of War is another title that makes PS feel superior due to exclusive games they get to play.

Ragnarok continues the story of Kratos and Atreus, with the latter being much bigger and more mature, as the father and son try to fight against Freya, Thor, and the inevitable end of the world, also known as Ragnarok.

9. Gotham Knights

DC Comics might be inferior to Marvel as far as movies go, but the former is more careful with its IP when it comes to video games.

Gotham Knights take up the torch of Arkham Knight games. The story is set in Gotham, but the big twist is that you no longer control Batman. Instead, you get to play as the hero’s sidekicks—Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Mask.

The game should follow the same formula of going around Gotham and solving crimes while you fill Batman’s shoes and beat up Gotham’s villains with an already familiar combat system.

10. Stray

On the surface, Stray seems to be a pretty simplistic game. Running around as a cat and exploring a cyberpunk city full of robots might not seem like everyone’s cup of tea.

However, from what we have seen in the trailers and gameplay, Stray seems to excel in multiple aspects, particularly its soundtrack, atmosphere, and the ingenuity of puzzles players have to solve if they want to finish the game. Do not be surprised if you start playing the game and get too attached to the kitty sooner than expected.

11. Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons

Despite the recent release of New World and the upcoming expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, MMORPG players will tell you that the genre is not in a very good period. If anything, the situation is probably the worst it has ever been, especially with all the bad things happening to World of Warcraft, a game that has been the MMORPG flagship for many years.

Hopefully, things will improve with End of Dragons, a new Guild Wars 2 expansion that promises to improve the game significantly and attract new players with it.

The plan for the expansion is late February, and the expectations of EoD are high, particularly if it also means that Arenanet can next focus on other problems faced by players, such as internet and connection errors, crashes, and FPS drops, to name a few.

12. Hogwarts Legacy

Given how popular Harry Potter is, it is a bit surprising to see how the creators failed to make a successful video game out of it. There were a few attempts, but they were pretty lackluster and are not forgotten by many. Quiz creators did a good job when talking about Hogwarts but the games were just not quite there yet.

Hopefully, Hogwarts Legacy will change the status quo. Set in the 1800s (several hundred years before the events of Harry Potter), the game is an open-world RPG, meaning that you should have the freedom to explore the environments and immerse yourself in what will likely be a vast Wizard World.

13. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Since the Avatar movie was so successful commercially, it was only a matter of time before the franchise expanded into other mediums. Well, the fans can rejoice as the game finally got revealed during E3 this year.

The developers said that it will be a standalone story where players get to experience the surroundings as Na’vi journeying across the Western Frontier.

From the first look trailers, the game should excel in its environments and creatures. The combat seems promising as well, though we have yet to see actual gameplay footage.

14. Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of the best games to come out in recent years, and it is natural that Nintendo was not going to sleep on such a success story. They already announced the second installment which should become available sometime in 2022.

The expectations surrounding the game are high, and players are looking forward to new and improved gameplay, more mechanics, gimmicks, fights, weapons, and everything else that should make the already great game even better.

Conclusion

So there you have it—14 exciting video games that you can expect to play at the end of this year or in 2022. Keep an eye on updates, check Twitch TV and other streaming platforms to see if there are any streamers with an early access showing gameplay, and get excited about what the gaming industry has in store for you.