Geek-Related Predictions for 2020

Now that 2019 has concluded, it’s time to start 2020 off right with a fresh batch of predictions. I did a little better than expected on last year’s, but there’s always the potential to do a little better or (perhaps more likely) worse the next time around. But that’s the fun in all this.

1. The follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild coming to Switch will be shown in detail this year, but won’t release this year. It also won’t receive a release date more specific than “TBA 2021.”

2. Square Enix still likes to announce and reveal games too early, which is why Final Fantasy XVI will be revealed this year as a next-generation console game. It won’t be based on the Agni’s Philosophy tech video for Luminous Engine shown years ago, but it will run on that engine.

(The Agni’s Philosophy image was too good not to use at the top, though.)

3. While we’re on the topic of Square Enix: The next part in the Final Fantasy VII Remake saga will be teased to the point that it will convince fans that it will release before XVI, but will also be aimed towards next-generation platforms.

4. The Google Stadia streaming service barely registered a blip on the radar when it arrived in November. It will only get marginally more popular for software sales throughout 2020, but Google will keep it going with good support. They kill a lot of services, but this will live on… for this year, anyway.

5. Atlus is promising to provide more information about the missing-in-action Shin Megami Tensei V this year. The game will not only be shown, it will also release in Japan by the end of 2020.

6. The Entertainment Software Association’s plans for a changed E3 will fully come to fruition for the 2020 event, with a bigger focus on gamers, YouTubers, and streamers. The new show will take cues from the PAX conventions, and will barely resemble the E3s of years past. Outside shows like the X020 and PlayStation Experience be more important for hardware manufacturers.

7. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will have the lowest launch hardware sales in a while, thanks to the increasing prices of the systems. But they won’t be bad enough for anyone write “they’re doomed” editorial pieces.

8. The future of Star Wars films won’t be hazy for long: Disney will announce a few new projects. A new trilogy won’t be part of these plans, but they also won’t be standalone movies. Rian Johnson’s films will be included among this.

9. Evangelion 4.0 was given a June release timeframe for Japanese theaters a little over a month ago. In the US, though, it’s difficult not to think about how long it took for Evangelion 3.33 to release outside of Japan on Blu-ray, thanks to stringent demands from Studio Khara. We’ll see signs that Evangelion 4.0’s English translation will go through the same level of hell, even for the theatrical release this time.

10. There have been rumors about an updated Nintendo Switch coming for around a year now, one of which was misinterpreted for the Switch model with an updated internal set to ensure slower battery drain. There won’t be any announcements or concrete rumors about another model this year.

11. The audience for VR games will continue to expand, thanks to bigger efforts like Half-Life: Alyx. But it still won’t get popular enough to convince skeptics that it will be the future of the gaming medium.

Several of my predictions are multifaceted, always a recipe for failure. Talk about going into 2020 the right way. The world around us is guaranteed to be a hellhole, in a tragically literal sense in some parts of the world. But hopefully your personal 2020 is as good as it can be.