After Greek mythology, what do you think (or hope) will be the new hip trend in RPGs?

There are only so many original ideas floating around the universe. Sometimes, it can feel like all the execs from game studios got together over beers and decided, “Let’s make ninja games this year.”

Right now, Greek mythology is having a bit of a moment. Following on the heels of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, last year has brought us several titles with similar settings, including another big-budget project in Immortals Fenyx Rising and the indie sensation Hades. Heck, even the Kyrian in Shadowlands have taken clear artistic cues from that chapter of ancient history.

But trends come and trends go. So after studios large and small take their spin on the stories of gods and mortals from the Hellenic era, what will the next hot thing be in open-world games and RPGs?

I’m expecting a reaction against the dive into ancient history. I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of studios try to capitalize on the deeply divided reactions to Cyberpunk 2077 by pursuing projects with a similar aesthetic. (Please do that without crunching your team to exhaustion or releasing a… let’s say not-quite-finished version for consoles, devs. Thanks.) Robots, cybernetics, and hackers have been mainstays in RPGs for a long time, but I think we’ll see even more than usual thanks to all the Cyberpunk buzz.

Or maybe we’ll stick in the annals of history and see even more stories about Vikings, with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and the upcoming God of War: Ragnarok sparking developers’ imaginations.

Or maybe you Blizzard Watch readers have a crystal ball and can predict the next trends. What will the next hot thing be for role-playing games?