As the yuletide bells clang in the distance and the fireworks are prepped to ring in the new year, it's worth taking a look back at not only how 2015 went down, but especially what the future will bring for the games industry. Being the most financially successful and lucrative medium of all time, that's quite the amount of pressure to deliver when it comes to balancing consumer tastes with the fostering of new and creative ideas. The two don't always match up, and whilst that can be the fun of it all, 2015 saw solid instalments of things like Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty, whilst unexpected indie gems like Undertale or Rocket League blew everyone away, and The Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Solid V etched themselves into the history books. For 2016 though, sure you'll still be playing a ton of this year's finest for months to come, but as we stand on the cusp of the virtual reality revolution whilst the continual clashing of console exclusives vie for your hard-earned cash, it's going to be one hell of a year. Starting with...
11. Everyone Turns On No Man's Sky
"But what do you do!?" will be the cry. In fact, if you press your ear really close to the screen, you can hear the internet's future outcry reverberating around the digital cosmos already, such is the fickle nature of the world wide web. From day one, creator Sean Murray and his team over at Hello Games have been adamant that NMS will only be a space-exploration game. Sure you can dogfight other ships and pillage trade routes as you upgrade your warp drive to go deeper into the abyss, but the main allure here is exploration, the categorisation of new species and the glory of space travel - y'know, the whole "final frontier" thing. However, Sony's marketing prowess is a double-edged sword, as they routinely want to show off one of their most tantalising exclusives, and as such, we've seen the same build of the game over and over again, with the once-whisper, now-bellowing commentary being "So is this it?!" Yes, it is, but the amount of people that are still holding onto No Man's Sky as this 'Minecraft in space', all-singing all wish-granting cornucopia of genres and gameplay mechanics are going to be sorely disappointed. And the problem, is that's the majority of the public right now.
