All the 'hottest' video games to face the summer holidays

It has never been more complicated to predict what we will (video)play during the summer. Consider the success of Banana. For several days this game, available on the online platform Steam, surpassed 800,000 simultaneous players, knocking free-to-play giants such as the especially first-person shooter Counter Strike 2 off the top of the leaderboard.

How does it work? The game is free, there's a banana, you click it, the counter goes up and at some point you win skins, i.e. digital collectables that you can sell or trade for credit to use on Steam. There is very little that is fun about it. Indeed, although clicker games are not considered gambling games, they do have within them mechanics such as loot boxes, i.e. the possibility of randomly obtaining rare items that are banned in some countries.

For the rest of the video game industry, however, and fortunately, fun and entertainment remain the main mission. In the top 20 games by revenue in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy (so let's say the whole of the West) we find Fortnite, EA Sports FC24 (formerly FIFA), Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone 2.0, NBA 2K24 and Ghost of Tsushima at the top of the list. So, the first is a free-to-play where you conquer (not click) and buy virtual skins and items, two are simulations of super popular sports like football and basketball and the others are online shooters.

At least these, according to Newzoo, are the ones that make the most money. Then there are the ones that are most desired and most anticipated. Perhaps by a more 'educated', smaller and more game-oriented audience. If we look at summer showcases such as PlayStation's State of Play, Xbox Games Showcase or the latest Nintendo Direct, we realise that there is, for example, a lot of enthusiasm among Nintendo Switch fans for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which will be released at the end of September.

If we look at the pre-sales and wish lists published in trade magazines, we find that somehow a certain ludic biodiversity is maintained even though sequels, prequels and spin-offs continue to live on. Gamers await Doom: The Dark Ages, which is a new 'medieval' fantasy chapter in the Doom series scheduled to debut in 2025. As well as, also in 2025, on Xbox and PC, the interactive Fable, the title born with the ambition to make the complexity of human relationships videogame-friendly. PlayStation 5 owners have been excited about the exclusive Astro Bot, the 3D platformer that has impressed audiences and critics alike and will debut in September. On the horizon are the releases of Assassin's Creed Shadows (November 2024 for consoles and PC), Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (for Xbox and PC later this year) and the Silent Hill remake (October for PS5 and PC).