Get ready for a massive year in console gaming with a roundup of just a handful of the top releases set to come in 2020

From anthropomorphic animals to solidstate drives, 2020 is set to be a very big year for the gaming industry. Whether it’s the next generation of consoles packing unprecedented power, or the perfect game for all the family, your customers are always on the lookout for the next best thing. Each year comes with a host of new offerings, and with scheduled releases of both hotlyanticipated and overdue games, as well as the most powerful consoles to date, 2020 certainly won’t disappoint.

Undeniably one of the most exciting gaming releases slated for 2020 is Microsoft’s next generation Xbox console. Codenamed Project Scarlett, Microsoft have promised their most advanced Xbox console to date will be here just in time for Christmas, with a release date of ‘Holiday 2020’. A cleverly curated set of announcements have been drip-fed to fans since E3 2019, just building excitement for the console currently shrouded in mystery and fans’ desperate want for faster load times (which have been promised thanks to the internal solid-state drive offering up to 40 times the speed as the Xbox One X!). Set to play games in up to 8K resolution and offering the “most immersive console experience ever”, Project Scarlett is sure to make a very big splash when it finally arrives in just under a year’s time.

To support the release of the as-yetunnamed next gen Xbox console, Halo Infinite will launch as the first official title. It’ll be the franchise’s first outing in 5 years by the time it’s released, but nonetheless fans of the Halo games will be waiting with bated breath for the return of the Master Chief. Players will continue the Halo 5: Guardians storyline and get taken in, as Microsoft puts it, “ambitious and unexpected directions”. Though updates on the release are still few and far between, it has been confirmed that Halo Infinite will be available for Xbox One, Project Scarlett and Windows PC.

Despite originally being announced at E3 2017, Microsoft confirmed at the 2019 event that Ori and the Will of Wisps for Xbox One and Windows 10 will be finally released on the 11th February 2020. An engaging adventure through vast, exotic and beautiful environments, the sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest (2015) offers players the opportunity to venture further. Gamers will follow Ori, mastering new skills and journeying though unknown dangers, as they unravel the little white guardian spirit’s fate. Players are set to come up against incredible enemies and a catalogue of challenging puzzles. A whole host of new, meticulously crafted characters and larger-than-life bosses await players as they progress though the story.

Here just in time to battle Xbox to a spot on the 2020 Christmas lists of gamers up and down the land, the Sony PlayStation 5 is set to revolutionise the abilities of Sony consoles currently on the market, and smashing the audio and visual limitations of today. Much like the Xbox Project Scarlett console, the PlayStation 5 will feature a solid-state drive and ray-tracking for a faster and more captivating experience than ever before. With a brand-new controller shipping with the console, the PS5 is designed to deepen the level of immersion PlayStation owners currently receive – including haptic feedback to make actions feel different “so crashing into a
wall in a race car feels much different than making a tackle on the football field” (Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment).

Almost 20 years after initially launching for Nintendo 64 in its native Japan, the latest rendition of the ever-popular Animal Crossing will be released on the 20th March 2020. Originally scheduled for late 2019, many fans are waiting expectantly for the myriad of new features set to totally transform the tried and tested recipe, this time for Nintendo Switch. Along with the
classic charm and colourful characters that seasoned players expect, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will let gamers get creative as the craft the world around them – the world being a brand new deserted island getaway. Many of the old gameplay rules no longer apply, through new interactions with the environment and the ability to collect resources to craft tools, furniture and more.