If you ask a group of players right now about the studios on the throne of the gaming industry, the answer will be traditional and predictable. Some will tell you that the best studio is Rockstar Games, others are heading for Naughty Dog or CD Projekt RED. But what if I told you that there are many medium-sized studios that have proven to be able to offer fairy-tale play experiences, whether in terms of story, style of play, or techniques. Today I present to you 6 studios I expect to get a high profile in the gaming industry in the coming years!
Arkane Studios
Although the studio was founded in 1999 and introduced some of its distinctive games such as Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah and others, its fame only be shown significantly after dishonored's release in 2012. Dishonored was a different and unique hide-and-sneak experience than any other game released at the time and i was able to get great awards and ratings.
The studio returned to prove its efficiency in the following years with the release of dishonored's second part in 2016, and then released dishonored: Death of the Outsider as well as Prey in 2017. The studio has been out of sight for a few years but has returned to us this year with Deathloop, which surprised us with a completely different experience from all its previous games, and became one of the most nominated games for the 2021 Game of the Year award, read our assessment of the game from here.
Currently, the studio is working on Redfall, a first-person perspective experience in an open world in a style of play close to borderlands (as the leaks have shown). In the first half of 2023, the game will be available exclusively on PC and Xbox Series X|S (because the studio has become a Microsoft affiliate) and we expect it to be an overwhelming success!
Ninja Theory
Ninja Theory is also an old studio established in 2000, but it has not been well known because its games were not strong enough. In 2013, the studio collaborated with Capcom to develop DMC: Devil May Cry, which achieved fairytale ratings from players and critics, which led the studio to take a boost of enthusiasm to deliver a completely different experience in the following years.
That's what we already got in 2017 with Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. This was one of the most bizarre games I've ever tried, Ninja Theory's studio has been able to convey senua's psychological state with a range of superstitious sound effects that will make you feel terrified throughout your time in this suspicious world. I wouldn't recommend trying that game unless you're wearing powerful gaming headphones.
Currently the studio is working on two projects, the first is Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, and the second is a horror game entitled Project Mara. There is no information about release dates but they are available exclusively on xbox Series X|S and PC (because the studio has also become a Microsoft affiliate).
Ember Lab
One of the modern studios in the gaming industry who gave us his first game a few days ago (Kena: Bridge of Spirits). This studio was previously dedicated to designing cinematic scenes for various projects, but they decided to go on to develop their first games, and the result was an unforgettable fairy tale experience.
It's hard to be a new studio to develop games with a small team and achieve 83% ratings with your first game. This is a historic achievement for the studio and will certainly provide them with an enthusiastic push to develop more games. Personally I would like to get a second part of Kena, but at the same time I want to see a new and different project from this creative studio. Put under my words a million lines: this studio will be the best in the industry in the coming years!
Kena Bridge of Spirits is available for purchase on PC as well as PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The game is temporary exclusive on the PlayStation platforms and is expected to be available on Xbox platforms for the old and new generation in the coming weeks.
Asobo Studio
An antique studio established in 2002 and continued to work on some simple projects for different companies until 2016 and released the game ReCore co-developed. Although the game did not achieve the desired commercial or media success, the studio proved Microsoft's efficiency.
Microsoft has asked the studio to work on a new Flight Simulator game, and the game was already released to us in 2020 on PC and then in 2021 on Xbox Series X|S. Flight Simulator was able to achieve 90+ ratings and was admired by millions of players around the world. But the studio's fame had already begun before 2020, when in 2019 it launched A Plague Tale: Innocence in collaboration with Focus Home Interactive.
This game was a distinctive medieval experience that tells the story of the plague of mice and their devouring of human meat. After the game achieved extraordinary success, the studio decided to work on a second part of it and will come to us in 2022 under the title A Plague Tale: Requiem. At the moment there is not much information about the second part of the series in terms of the story, but we know that it will be available on pc and on the platforms of the new generation Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. If you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you'll get the second part of your subscription without having to pay any extra money.
Studio Asobo not only develops A Plague Tale: Requiem currently, but continues to support Microsoft Flight Simulator with powerful updates and additions that make it the best experience for aviation enthusiasts.
Obsidian Entertainment
This studio needs no introduction, understanding the creative minds that provided us with pillars of Eternity and Fallout: New Vegas. The studio has gained great fame in the past, but over the past years its fame has begun to increase dramatically, especially after Microsoft acquired the studio and delivered huge budgets for its upcoming games.
The first game presented by the studio after the acquisition was Grounded. An entertaining and light experience that is still in the early entry version of pc and Xbox platforms. The game is staffed by only 15 people from the studio and the remaining 200 employees divided into two teams: the first is working on the second part of The Outer Worlds series, and the second is working on a whole new RPG game entitled Avowed.
Personally, avowed is more excited because it intends to present a medieval epic in a fantasy world (pillars of Eternity) with many creatures to fight with swords and magic. That game will be especially legendary with Microsoft's support with a strong budget.
expected release dates for upcoming studio games:
- The final version of Grounded in 2022
- Avowed in 2023
- The Outer Worlds 2 in 2025
MANY OF THE RUMORS CIRCULATING AT THE MOMENT CONFIRM THAT THE STUDIO IS WORKING ON ANOTHER MEDIEVAL RPG GAME AND THAT IT WILL BE AN EXPERIENCE OF INVESTIGATING AND SOLVING CRIMES THAT FOLLOW YOUR CHOICES. IF THOSE RUMORS ARE TRUE, EXPECT TO SEE THE GAME SOON IN 2022.
Housemarque
A Finnish studio established in 1995 and has since been working on a range of small/medium-sized games. A few years ago Sony decided to make an agreement with the studio to support it financially in exchange for the exclusive release of its new game on sony PlayStation 5, the result of which was returnal, which was available last April.
Returnal managed to achieve high ratings (average ratings 86%) and became one of the best PlayStation 5 games, but unfortunately did not achieve much commercial success with only 560,000 copies sold. The main reason for the lack of sales is that the game is very difficult and some see it harder than Dark Souls games. Now this studio is fully affiliated with Sony and all its future games will be available exclusively on its devices. I am excited to see what the studio will offer, especially with the moral and material support playStation will provide.
That was my list of studios that I think will be on the industry's throne in the years to come. Of course, there are more small and medium-sized studios that have given us strong games over the past years, but I'm a fan of the studios I mentioned and I expect them to have the greatest possible success, especially the studios that have come under the banner of Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation as they will get the strongest material support in their history. The gaming industry is getting stronger over the years, and the current generation (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S) seems to be a historic generation by offering many adventures and fascinating worlds to all players around the world.
