How the most influential games of 2022 will change the game in 2023

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While we all have our favorite games we played in 2022, let's do something a little different. 2022 has been a year of change in the gaming industry. The pandemic era seems to be in the rearview mirror, crypto has crashed, and new business practices like subscriptions are coming of age. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the titles that will have the biggest influence on gaming in 2023 and beyond.

2022 gave us a little insight into the future of games monetization in 2023, especially on mobile. Marvel Snap and Diablo Immortal came out this year with completely opposite monetization strategies.

Marvel Snap positioned itself as a user-friendly digital card game. Unlike competitors, cards are not locked behind opening packs. Instead, progress is largely about improving the quality (and artistry) of your existing collection as it takes a cosmetics-focused approach to monetization. While the game was released just two months ago, it has already generated $10 million in revenue worldwide, a major feat for a game in a lesser-played genre.

In comparison, fans can agree that Diablo Immortal is fun to play, but its pay-to-win monetization was contentious to say the least. According to one YouTuber's calculations, it could take over $100,000 to have a fully upgraded character. Despite this controversy, the game made over $100 million in about two months. Only Pokémon Go reached 9 figures of revenue faster. At the end of 2022, it was the third highest-grossing mobile game of the year...