Picking a live service title for my 2022 game of the year felt like a bit of a copout, and I'm sure at any other game website, it may be perceived as such. If this piece had to be about a game released this year, I have some solid favourites: God of War: Ragnarok, Citizen Sleeper, and Neon White, to name a few. Alas, tomorrow is my last day at this wonderful website, so I'll do what I want.
At GamesIndustry.biz, we refuse to be tethered by arbitrary constructs such as the calendar year. Great entertainment is timeless (unless it is indeed a live service title in which content can be removed from the internet at any time). With that in mind, my game of the year award ultimately has to go to the one title that managed to squeeze 600 real-life hours out of me, Destiny 2.
I was an early adopter of the Destiny franchise, hot off the heels of Halo and raring for a different space adventure. My enthusiasm did not endure. I picked up the first game at launch and within a week, had traded it in. "Truly one of the most captivating sci-fi universes I've ever spent time in"I didn't quite grasp the concept of a live service on consoles back then, I wanted the content I'd paid for immediately and fully. Years passed, the original Destiny gave way to 2017's Destiny 2, and I found myself gazing longingly at the game, often dipping in for a runaround, and ultimately growing tired of how unwelcoming it was.