Until You Fall

Lore & Background

During development, Schell Games spent time tuning each weapon to give them a unique playstyle and weight. The core gameplay of attacking and blocking came together quickly, but the team was unsure of the supporting systems. They scrapped mechanics like weapon durability, looting enemies, holsters, and weapon throwing, feeling these slowed down the core gameplay. The game refocused on empowering the player, with a developer noting that when combat was in full swing, the player felt incredibly heroic, and the team decided to lean into that feeling of power. Mechanics that did not support this focus were cut, while dashing and weapon summoning became essential. To make combat more bombastic, the team delineated three levels of feedback—small, standard, and big—based on swing size, encouraging larger swings while preventing injury. Sound design, graphics, and haptic feedback reinforced the power fantasy. A roguelike structure was chosen to let players master combat at their own speed through repeated playthroughs.

Reader's Guide

Until You Fall is notable for its deliberate design focus on player empowerment in virtual reality. Schell Games cut several common VR mechanics—such as weapon durability, enemy looting, holsters, and weapon throwing—because they slowed down the core attacking and blocking gameplay. Instead, the team emphasized wide swings and blocking choreography, which encouraged players to stand or sit up straighter and lose VR-shyness. The three-tiered feedback system for swing effort ensured players engaged physically without risking injury. The roguelike structure allowed gradual mastery of combat mechanics. Critics praised the weapon variety for encouraging different playstyles and experimentation. Road to VR highlighted how combat markers allowed the game to set the pace of combat, making it both challenging and rewarding. Destructoid noted that the wireless freedom of the Oculus Quest added significantly to the experience, especially when facing multiple enemies. The game's reception was generally favorable, with OpenCritic recording 100% critic recommendation.

Did You Know?

• Schell Games scrapped weapon durability, looting enemies, holsters, and weapon throwing during development.
• The full game released for Microsoft Windows on October 27, 2020, with PlayStation 4 and Oculus Quest ports two days later.

The Pandemic's Unplanned Reshaping

The coronavirus outbreak of 2020 through 2022 fundamentally altered how the video game industry operated. Development studios across the globe were forced into remote work to keep production alive during lockdowns, and while some teams adapted, the shift contributed to a wave of delays that persisted well into subsequent years. Yet the crisis also ignited an unprecedented surge in player engagement. Online gaming participation climbed, microtransaction spending rose, live-stream viewership grew, and overall sales spiked. The World Health Organization itself pointed to video games as a means of distraction and social connection during isolation, and roughly half of all players reported longer play sessions, citing stress relief. Titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons were celebrated as a digital refuge, while Among Us saw its explosive popularity directly tied to lockdown conditions. Even the industry's public face changed: the 2020 E3 was cancelled entirely, and the brand was eventually retired in 2023, giving way to Summer Game Fest as the new showcase.

The Ninth Generation and the Hardware Leap

The ninth generation of consoles officially kicked off in November 2020 with the Xbox Series X, Series S, and PlayStation 5, marking a significant jump in raw capability. These machines deliver faster computation, real-time ray tracing, 4K and in some cases 8K output, and rendering speeds aimed at 60 frames per second or beyond. A defining internal change was the adoption of solid-state drive systems designed as high-throughput memory, effectively shrinking or eliminating the loading screens that had long been a part of console gaming. Meanwhile, the eighth generation—Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One—remained in widespread use throughout the decade, with the Xbox One and Nintendo 3DS both discontinued in 2020. Cloud gaming services like Google Stadia and Amazon Luna also occupied this transitional space, though Stadia was shut down in 2023. The decade also saw standalone VR headsets gain traction through the Meta Quest line, HTC Vive XR Elite, and Apple Vision Pro. Finally, the Nintendo Switch 2 arrived in most territories on June 5, 2025, extending the lineage.

A Decade of Defining Titles and New Franchises

The 2020s produced an extraordinary volume of standout games that reshaped player expectations. Franchises born in this era include Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Fall Guys, Genshin Impact, Ghost of Tsushima, Hades, Hi-Fi Rush, Hogwarts Legacy, Atomic Heart, Black Myth, and Grounded, among others. Established series delivered landmark entries as well: Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth, The Last of Us Part II, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, and Resident Evil Village all became cultural touchstones. The decade also saw subscription models like Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo Switch Online grow substantially in popularity, offering monthly access to broad game libraries. Steam hit record user numbers, and chip shortages in 2021 drove up hardware prices, particularly for graphics cards, a situation worsened by speculative buying and markups. The sheer breadth of quality titles across genres—from co-op adventures like It Takes Two to competitive shooters like Valorant and Helldivers 2—reflected an industry at peak creative output.

Labor, Consolidation, and the Esports Crossroads

Beneath the surface of record sales, the 2020s brought serious structural challenges. Game development studios faced mounting criticism over crunch culture, where workers were pushed into grueling hours ahead of launch windows. A wave of mass layoffs swept through the industry beginning in 2022, reshaping the workforce. Corporate consolidation accelerated when Microsoft announced its 68.7 billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022. Geopolitics also played a role: following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, multiple companies halted sales and operations in Russia and Belarus. In competitive gaming, the decade was a mixed bag. The International Olympic Committee announced the creation of Olympic Esports Games, and Saudi Arabia hosted the 2024 Esports World Cup, signaling mainstream legitimacy. Yet the Overwatch League and Major League Gaming both ceased operations, reminding the industry that even high-profile competitive structures can collapse. The long-term dominance of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft also faces uncertain pressure from cloud gaming and the smartphone and tablet market.