Video games have always tried to look towards the future as they provide a blueprint for what future gaming and the future of the world and humankind may look like. Allowing players to see through the eyes of futuristic characters into the worlds and civilizations they may be a part of is one of the most exciting things about game creation.
While the 2060s aren’t as far off into the future as they once felt, there is no telling what technological advancements humankind will have achieved by that decade. As such, it is interesting to see some of the wild predictions made by the best video games set in the 2060s.
6 Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Call of Duty games were once entirely preoccupied with World War II and the past of human warfare. As the franchise has moved on and run out of 20th-century wars to explore, however, the games have decided to look further into the future instead. Black Ops III was set in 2065, in a world faced with many conflicts and climate change.
The new technologies and ideas of the game are mostly relatively realistic (unless players enter the Nightmare mode that incorporates zombies and other supernatural enemies). The world is changed by the events of Black Ops II​​​​​​, and, as such, the governments of the world have formed into two blocks that are engaged in a third Cold War. However, despite this, the game has seemingly realistic looks at issues like climate change and the progression of military technology, as well as a common futuristic media theme of robotic advancements taking over from humanity.
5 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
While 13 Sentinels may be an unusual take on a video game, it has some familiar tropes about how it expects the future of humankind to look. Set in several time periods, mostly 1985 and 2065, the game has thirteen different protagonists who are followed on their journeys to eventually each unlocking a “sentinel” which is a Mecha capable of fighting the Kaiju-style Deimos seeking to destroy Earth.
These characters and their interweaving stories are told across eras, and while the storytelling is excellent, the game has been criticized for the weaker real-time strategy sequences. However, this has not stopped 13 Sentinels from gaining a cult following and becoming beloved for its unique non-linear storytelling.
4 2064: Read Only Memories
The cyberpunk genre has always had a unique vision of the future, one which many players would love to see because of the colorful, intriguing worlds the games often build. Inspired by 80s and 90s adventure games, 2064: Read Only Memories is set in 2064 in Neo-San Francisco and is based around the first sapient machine and a journalist hunting for a missing robotics engineer.
2064: Read Only Memories was funded through Kickstarter and managed to create a world worthy of the money put into it. The memorable characters were praised as well as the storytelling, while it was considered slightly weaker in some of the puzzle and action elements. It is a beautiful adventure and a journey through a more realistic cyberpunk setting than most games in the sub-genre deal with.
3 Command And Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
The Command and Conquer series of real-time strategy games took some steps away from the genre, which generally focused on resource gathering. Instead, Tiberian Twilight is set in 2062, with the planet expected to become uninhabitable by 2068 due to the violent, rampant spread of Tiberium.
After an alliance is formed to stop the spread, extremists from both sides spark a new conflict, leading to the fourth Tiberium War. While this game is wrapped up more in the history of the franchise and what it has led to, rather than telling a story about what the world could really be like by the 2060s, it is intriguing and a great game to play for any real-time strategy enthusiasts.
2 Electrocop
For a more fun look at how early video gaming viewed the 2060s, players can check out the third-person shooter Electrocop. While criticized for the convoluted graphics, and simply ridiculous names of the enemy robots such as Walter, Python, and Mine, Electrocop is a hilariously fun retro throwback to the early days of gaming.
Electrocop is set in 2069 in Washington D.C, and the player character is a robot who is given a one-hour time limit in which to rescue the President’s daughter from the clutches of The Criminal Brain. As ridiculous as it sounds, Electrocop is a perfect throwback for players and is a lot of fun.
1 Syndicate
Rebooting the Syndicate real-time tactics games with this 2012 cyberpunk FPS was a bold move, but Syndicate offers a bold look at a future world that was praised for many aspects but was so excessively violent that it ended up being banned in Australia.
Syndicate is set in 2069 and focuses on a cybernetic-augmented agent in a corrupted and deceitful world where evil corporations crave more power and compete constantly with each other for it. With a slightly confusing story but an interesting world and a great voice cast including Brian Cox and Rosario Dawson, Syndicate is an FPS worth checking out for cyberpunk fans.