What do you think will be the next 'Wave'?

[Angelblaze]

We're currently experiencing, in popular culture, an explosion of superheroes and hero shooters.

Previously it was Zombies and Mobas.

I, for one, am hoping for karate films and fighting/arcade games.

 

[Zontar]

Given the negative reaction Infinite Warfare has garnered vs that which Battlefield 1's positive reception, and the number of such games like Battlefield 1 out already, I'd say we're knee deep in a first world war/inter war/return of WW2 shooter era, with the wave coming in fast.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I, for one, am hoping for karate films and fighting/arcade games.

Didn't we get over those in the 80s and 90s, respectively?

 

[Zontar]

I, for one, am hoping for karate films and fighting/arcade games.

Didn't we get over those in the 80s and 90s, respectively?

The 80s and 90s never truly died.

I don't know how things are down there in Argentina, but outside of the major cities in the US and Canada a lot of places have been forgotten by time (outside of having the internet my how town has been forgotten in time to the 1980s. If you where to place someone in my town's plaza without the Toyota's from the 90s and Fords from the 00's and told them "I took you back to 1987" he'd say "no you didn't, this is 1983")

 

[Chanticoblues]

I'm hoping musicals or westerns come back.

 

[FalloutJack]

You talk as though zombies will ever stop. I really doubt that.

 

[Lawbringer]

You talk as though zombies will ever stop. I really doubt that.

They do if you shoot them in the head

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Hero shooters? Is that what we're calling them? Anyways I think we'll be in that wave for a while. Not for any good reason, of course. But I'm sure because Overwatch is massively popular, and TF2 doing really well since 2007, so I would imagine EA is working on one and Activision is working on one and we'll probably get a market flood of them because these out of touch goliath publishers don't seem to recognize when a market demand has been fulfilled. That's my guess anyway.

Personally I would LIKE to see a rise in Naughty Dog style games. Like really well crafted 6-15 hour story driven games, with lots of unique/memorable moments and story beats.

 

[Kyrian007]

I'm hoping musicals or westerns come back.

Ooh, yes... bring back the western. Or gothc style horror. Or combine the two like Pinnacle's Deadlands did in RPG form. Actually western is good for genre crossover. Sci-fi + western... Firefly. So why not fantasy + western. Like Harry Potter in the old west. Or western noir... actually that's just "Hell on Wheels" so it already exists.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'd like to see a return of Arcade racers and vehicular combat games like Twisted Metal.

 

[Bobular]

I hope for a return to classic style shooters, give me health bars, give me medi-packs, give me at least 9 guns at once, give me Half Life 3!

 

[Dizchu]

Yeah I'd like shooters to return to 90s sensibilities, either the hardcore action of earlier games like Doom or the more complex, genre-hybrid style of System Shock 2 and Deus Ex.

Fat chance of that happening for a while though now that you have to take consoles into account. A lot of people complained about SS2's interface but it was a hell of a lot more engaging than Bioshock's whole "you can carry everything and you instantly eat food straight from the ground" mechanics. However there does seem to be a shift going back to PC shooters and we'll have to see if Doom 4's success will inspire more old-school shooters.

In all honesty though, I would like a continuation of the late-90s "golden age" because as good as Halo: Combat Evolved was, it did kinda signal a turn towards regression.

 

[Mr.Blizz]

Looking at it in an analitical way, I'd say that the next trend will be multiplayer shooters that try to distance themselves from the CoD games set in modern times in one or two small aspects of either gameplay or story (like no regenerating health and/or different setting) but will remain pretty much the same as seen in R6:Siege, CoD:BO3, BF:Hardline, Battlefront, Halo 5 and others that don't exactly follow the exact formula set by CoD4 by adding a few extra gimmicks or just having it be about something else other than contemporary military warfare.

Though I'd really wish we'd get another wave of complex simulators and actual stealth games that don't hold your hands or suffer from feature creep because a thick as fuck game designer thought that the game needed a darn RPG system that breaks the game in fucking half( i.e. Dishonored).

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

Definitely space themed films are on the rise again.
I predict a lot more of them coming out in the next decade.
Very violent R rated action movies are picking up some steam as well.
Also, since the 80's have been pretty much milked dry, there will be a wave of remakes and reboots of IPs from the 90's.

With gaming, I think it will go in 2 directions.
On the one hand, you will see a lot more quick play games which you can just play for 10 minutes at a time.
On the other hand, there will be a lot of games that require you to spend countless hours on them to get anywhere.
The former will be more popular with older gamers, the latter with younger.

 

[the December King]

I suspect that linear FPSs with more of a focus on narrative will soon rise up again, to subsume the current wave of sandboxes.

I am also hoping that singular enemies/threats will replace masses and hordes (basically, skilled individual opponents as opposed to swarms of drones), hopefully with engaging individual backgrounds- perhaps a sign of great story telling.

I guess I'm saying I want to fight ninja assassins.

Although, to completely go against my previous ideas, I would like to see a competent team of artists and designers make a horror sandbox with a single, lake-sized amorphous blob opponent that's really, really scary.

 

[Recusant]

I'm hoping musicals or westerns come back.

Why limit it to one or the other? Make musical westerns! Paint Your Wagon has had that shelf to itself for far too long.

 

[Chanticoblues]

I'm hoping musicals or westerns come back.

Why limit it to one or the other? Make musical westerns! Paint Your Wagon has had that shelf to itself for far too long.

Gene Autry is risen

 

[CaitSeith]

With the financial success of The Division and Destiny, I guess we'll see more of these pseudo-MMOFPS. Heck! I wouldn't be surprised if EA decided to change Mass Effect Andromeda at mid-development to be like that!

 

[FPLOON]

Well, after the Fifth Wave, it will definitely be the Sixth Wave!

Other than that, too many movies based off video games! We already have 5 coming out this year alone!

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I see two things happening right now

1. A pushback against what is by now the completely tired and over-done theme park ride that is the modern/near future shooter. I think a lot of people are just ready for something new, and games that give the player more agency are receiving more praise. Look at Dark Souls, the Witcher 3, and Doom. Each of these games either trust the player to make his/her own decisions or give you the tools to play and a big space to do it in rather than lead him/her around on a leash.

2. More people seem to be getting tired of buying the same game over and over. Call of Duty is getting slammed right now, and even though I'm sure IW will sell well, COD's numbers have been declining over time. Assassin's Creed is another franchise taking a break thanks to its lack of iteration. Far Cry Primal was criticized by many for simply selling the same game as FC3 and FC4 yet again. I think a large proportion of gamers are getting more discerning with their taste and want to see their preferred franchises take risks and tread new ground.

TLDR: Arena shooters, stamina-driven third person combat ala Dark Souls, and space combat.
Wishful thinking: Stealth games. I'm praying a new Splinter Cell gets announced at E3 and it's not an open world Ubi turd.