The video game industry has seen enormous growth in the last decade, with the flag being carried by online multiplayer games that changed the way players engage between each other. Now video games are a sport that can be played professionally from the comfort of your home or the grandeur of an arena with thousands of fans.
The year 2020 is an odd one, a turning point in history, but what does that mean for video games? Well, if staying at home is suddenly highly encouraged then video games are now more coveted than ever. Professional football players organized online FIFA games with mixed teams of actual professional players, cyclist ran using VR helms and large projection screens and online poker saw a record breaking of online tournament participants. Meanwhile games like GTA5 were being free to play for a day and esport tournaments were played from home.
So with no further ado, here is the list of online games that exploded in popularity during 2020.
Fortnite Battle Royale
Fortnite, the most popular multiplayer game of recent years, spiked once more with activity in early 2020. With more than 5 million players, the game is available on Xbox One, Nintendo Swith, Windows, Mac and PS4.
This battle royale, only one survivor type of game, pits 100 players against each other. Players can play by themselves or create gangs of 2 or four. The goal is to be the only survivor of the killing mayhem using your fighting skills, covert tactics and battle strategy.
888 Online Poker
Poker was the most popular online game in the entire world, even more than any other game, but this was back in the early 2000’s. Back then the TV broadcasting of the World Poker Series conquered the minds of young players who began to dream of making a living from playing online poker from the comfort of their homes.
Poker sites like 888poker began to offer freerolls; free online tournaments players could enter without making a deposit in the website. The top winning players made some money that they could use in the money tables or other tournaments.
Well, online poker is back stronger than ever in 2020. 888poker being one of the worldwide market leaders, saw a huge spike in new players and tournament paying pots grew to record amounts. Players can still enter freerolls, invest pennies in cash games or simply play for free with play money to skill up.
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds
Also known as PUBG, this is another battle royale game just like Fortnite, with the difference that it can be played on mobile devices like Android and iOS, as well as with the Xbox and Windows computers.
100 players are taken to a remote island and the fight for survival begins.
League of Legends (LOL)
After 10 years in the gaming arena, LOL can proudly claim 8 million players a day from around the world, and the title to the most popular online game of all time. It is thanks to League of Legends that we now have professional gamers making millions of dollars for playing a game.
The game faces two teams against each other in a strategic battle; each player controls a unique champion with a specific set of skills. The goal is to take the others team’s towers or wipe them out.
Splatoon 2
Another multiplayer but this one is only for Switch users. Now, considering Nintendo aims to a younger gamer audience, this multiplayer shooter is not concerned about killing rivals. Instead the players play solo or in teams to ink everything in the map. That’s right, coloring is your goal. The game is so popular that Splatoon 3 will be released sometime during 2020.
So, which online game did you play in 2020?