Following on from part one's release yesterday, part two of our retrospective look back at 2021 takes a look back at the second half of the year, including the breaking of the biggest story of the year with Activision Blizzard embroiled in serious allegations of toxic misconduct, sexism and a lot more within the latter.

And it gets worse for the company over the course of the year before the bombshell report by the Wall St Journal that sees Activision Blizzard chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick pointed at for allegations against him as well as Activision. A story that continues to roll on and one that, despite numerous calls for his resignation, has not forced Kotick from the company as of this episode going out.

The second half of the year was also jampacked with numerous showcases, including big ones from Sony and Nintendo as well as The Game Awards and massive releases including Deathloop, The Artful Escape, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite and a lot more.

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2021 has been a year, shall we say.

There is way too much to go over in text form what has happened, but to name a few: Ubisoft and Star Wars, Bethesda and Indiana Jones, Bethesda and Microsoft, closures of Japan Studio and Google Stadia’s first-party unit, the return of Nintendo Direct and releases of the likes of Hitman 3, Returnal, Resident Evil Village, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and more.

Oh, and the return of E3. And that is just between the period between January and June. And before everything hits the fan the following month.

The first of a two-part feature-length Press Play goes over the year, the biggest news stories and biggest releases of the year within the first half of 2021.

Part two will feature July through to December, including the Activision Blizzard stuff that has happened over the majority of the second half of the year as well as in August and September, release silly season and more.

That will go live publicly tomorrow at the same time as this is now, 5pm GMT, but you can listen to part two right now if you become a $2 podcast early access tier to our Patreon here.

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Over the past few years, but especially since the pandemic began and has gone on, an emerging trend has appeared within the games industry: cosy, wholesome games. These games have existed long before 2020, but in a time where the world has become a lot more cynical and scary thanks to outside events and in need of something comforting while we’ve been stuck inside for the better part of two years at this point, they’ve become a lot more prevalent.

But outside of games like Animal Crossing or other bigger games within the area, a subspace of smaller games in the wholesome space from independent developers was mainly overlooked. That was until a Twitter account started profiling these titles and grew a following off the back of it to the point where it now hosts online showcases showing them off, including its yearly annual Direct presentations during E3.

"I think that's like so one of the best things about the online showcases is that sort of accessibility," said Wholesome Games co-founder James Tillman on the advantages of hosting an online showcase like its headline Wholesome Direct event.

"It costs a fortune to come from Ireland or anywhere else to the US and there are passport issues and all these other things for showcasing in-person. Online, it's a way more level playing field - like there are language gaps sometimes, there's definitely time zones that are a problem. But it's something we really try to be mindful of."

Adds Ben Wassler of Ooblets developer Glumberland, itself a key game within the scene, on how Wholesome Games has helped shine a spotlight on these games: “That group of folks has been super supportive and kind to us and they work really hard to uplift game developers and support the community.

“We've been participating in their events and stuff since the beginning, but the key pillars of the movement are the individuals on their team”

In a special 90 minute long episode of Press Play, developers of wholesome games as well as key figures within Wholesome Games the community including co-founders Matthew Taylor, James Tillman and Wholesome Direct host Jenny Windom talk to Play Diaries on delving into the area, its growth, what comes next and a movement that could arguably become a full-blown genre in its own right, if not already.

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