Editing Pixel art (section)

===2020s===
[[File:Tmnt shredders revenge screenshot.png|thumb|''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge'' (2022)]]
Although some commenters had predicted the decline of "retro" pixel art after a wave of pixel art games in the 2010s, pixel art has continued to remain popular in the current decade.<ref name=":6"/> One major contributing factor seems to have been the COVID-19 pandemic, as people around the world spent more time online, playing games, using social media and developing new hobbies. A second contributing factor seems to have been the rise of [[non-fungible token|NFTs]], as pixel art became an inexpensive way to produce large numbers of artworks.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hughes |first=Stephanie |date=2021-08-19 |title=Reeling from the pandemic, more artists turn to augmented reality NFTs |language=en |work=Financial Post |url=https://financialpost.com/fp-finance/reeling-from-the-pandemic-more-artists-turn-to-augmented-reality-nfts |access-date=2022-09-03}}</ref> As the market for NFTs grew rapidly, many pixel artists embraced the new technology as a new source of income. Many notable professional artists also expressed skepticism and disapproval of NFTs, citing environmental factors, [[pyramid scheme]] claims, and money laundering as reasons for rejecting offers. One of the most profiled examples of pixel artists expressing opposition to NFTs is Castpixel, citing environmental effects and artificial scarcity.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jiang |first=Sisi |date=2021-11-10 |title=These Game Developers Are Choosing To Turn Down NFT Money |url=https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/11/these-game-developers-are-choosing-to-turn-down-nft-money/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110210536/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/11/these-game-developers-are-choosing-to-turn-down-nft-money/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 10, 2021 |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Kotaku Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref> Furthermore, as is the case with other forms of digital art,<ref>{{cite web |date=2022-01-29 |title='Huge mess of theft and fraud:' artists sound alarm as NFT crime proliferates |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/jan/29/huge-mess-of-theft-artists-sound-alarm-theft-nfts-proliferates |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> pixel artists have also discovered many cases of plagiarism and fraud by actors who download pixel art without permission to sell as NFTs. Although the discussion around pixel art theft is not new,<ref name=":7"/> the issue has certainly become more controversial with the rise of NFTs.

Perhaps linked to the increased influence and attraction of social media platforms like Twitter, [[Mastodon (software)|Mastodon]], Reddit, and Instagram, older pixel art communities on Pixelation and DeviantArt declined in the 2020s. Discord became an important platform for pixel art communities like Pixel Joint, PAD (Pixel Art Discord), Lospec, and Trigonomicon. In the early fall of 2022, Pixelation announced the closing of its webforum and a transition to Twitter.

Pixel art continued to be a popular style in games across platforms, with releases such as  [[Eastward (video game)|''Eastward'']] (2021), ''[[Loop Hero]]'' (2021), ''[[Vampire Survivors]]'' (2022), ''[[Pizza Tower]]'' (2023), ''[[Blasphemous 2]]'' (2023), ''[[Dave the Diver]]'' (2023) and ''[[Balatro]]'' (2024), ''[[Antonblast]]'' (2024) Some argued that the recent wave of pixel art games, released thirty years after the release of the SNES, was largely influenced by nostalgia and freedom from publishers, responding to unoriginal stories in modern video game blockbusters and wanting to integrate contemporary themes, such as ecological concerns and representation of queer characters.<ref>{{cite news |date=2022-06-06 |title=La console Super Nintendo inspire toujours des jeux vidéo modernes au design rétro, trente ans après sa sortie |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2022/06/06/trente-ans-apres-sa-sortie-la-console-super-nintendo-inspire-toujours-des-jeux-video-modernes-au-design-retro_6129132_4408996.html |access-date=2022-09-03}}</ref>