Editing Pixel art (section)

==History==
{{Main|Computer graphics#History}}

===Origin===
[[File:Cross-stitch embroidery on black background.jpg|thumb|Traditional cross-stitch embroidery]]

Some traditional art forms, like [[counted-thread embroidery]] (including [[cross-stitch]]) and some kinds of [[mosaic]] and [[beadwork]], are very similar to pixel art and could be considered as non-digital counterparts or predecessors.<ref name=":10"/> These art forms construct pictures out of small colored units similar to the pixels of modern digital computing.

Some of the earliest examples of pixel art could be found in analog electronic advertising displays, such as the ones from New York City during the early 20th century, with simple monochromatic light bulb matrix displays extant circa 1937.<ref>{{citation |title=New York in the mid-1930's in Color! | date=3 August 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpXnEvW0XD0 |language=en |access-date=2022-09-10}}</ref> Pixel art as it is known today largely originates from the [[golden age of arcade video games]], with games such as ''[[Space Invaders]]'' (1978) and ''[[Pac-Man]]'' (1980), and [[third generation of video game consoles|8-bit consoles]] such as the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] (1983) and [[Master System]] (1985).

The term ''pixel art'' was first published in a journal letter by [[Adele Goldberg (computer scientist)|Adele Goldberg]] and [[Robert Flegal]] of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in 1982.{{sfnp |Goldberg|Flegal|1982|pp=861-862}} The practice, however, goes back at least 11 years before that, for example in Richard Shoup's [[SuperPaint]] system in 1972, also at Xerox PARC.{{sfnp |Perry|Wallich|1985|pp=62-76}}

===1970s===
Because of the severe restrictions of early graphics, the first instances of pixel art in video games were relatively abstract. The low resolution of computers and game consoles forced game designers to carefully design game assets by deliberate placement of individual pixels, to form recognizable symbols, characters, or items. Simple function-based avatars (or player-surrogates) such as spaceships, cars, or tanks required a minimum of animation and computing power, while enemies, terrain, and power-ups were often represented by symbols or simple designs.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Wolf |first1=Mark J. P. |title=The Video Game Theory Reader |last2=Perron |first2=Bernard |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=0-415-96578-0 |location=New York and London |pages=47–64 |language=en}}</ref> Due to the limited hardware of the 1970s, abstraction, as in the case of [[Pong]]'s relatively simple design, sometimes led to better game readability and commercial success than attempting more detailed representational art.

Although computers had been used to create art since the 1960s and microcomputers were used in the late 1970s<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Swalwell |first1=Melania |last2=Garda |first2=Maria B. |date=15 February 2019 |title=Art, Maths, Electronics and Micros: The Late Work of Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski |journal=Arts |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=23 |doi=10.3390/arts8010023 |doi-access=free|hdl=1959.3/448415 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and there are examples of digital art utilizing a more pixelated aesthetic,<ref>Clark, Sean, and Geoff Davis. "Revisiting and Re-presenting 1980s Micro Computer Art." (2021).</ref> There is no well-known tradition of pixel art from the 1970s that differentiated between the deliberate placement of pixels or the aestheticization of individual pixels in contrast to other forms of digital painting or digital art. For this reason, one could argue that pixel art was not a recognized medium or artform in the 1970s.

===1980s===
[[File:Maniac Mansion.png|thumb|''[[Maniac Mansion]]'' (1987) on Commodore 64]]
In what is sometimes referred to as the golden age of video games or [[golden age of arcade video games]], the 1980s saw a period of innovation in video games, both as a new artform and a form of entertainment. During the early 1980s, video game creators were mainly programmers and not graphic designers. Technological innovation led to market pressure for more representational and "realistic" graphics in games.<ref name=":0"/> As graphics improved, it became possible to replace hand-drawn game assets with imported pictures or 3D polygons, which contributed to pixel art developing as a separate art form.

Gradually, professional artists and graphic designers had a bigger impact in the video game industry. [[Sierra Entertainment]] released [[Mystery House]], pixelled by [[Roberta Williams]], and the ''[[King's Quest]]'' series; and [[Lucasfilm Games]] released games such as ''[[Maniac Mansion]]'', ''[[Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders]]'', and ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure]]''. Mark J. Ferrari, an artist at Lucasfilm Games, later said:<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Benjaminsson |first=Klas |title=The Masters of Pixel Art volume 3 |publisher=Nicepixel Publications |year=2020 |isbn=978-91-519-3539-3 |pages=51, 140, 156, 198 |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>When I was first hired by Lucasfilm Games in 1987 to do artwork for their computer games, pixel graphics was not thought of by anyone as an 'art form'. The use of pixels was not an aesthetic choice – as it certainly is now. If anything, pixels were an unavoidable and very irksome obstacle to the creation of any 'real art' for use in the exciting but bewildering new realm of computer entertainment. There were no pixel artists then – at all! There were only traditional artists.</blockquote>[[File:Laser Squad o8 ubt.jpg|thumb|''[[Laser Squad]]'' (1988) screenshot, ZX Spectrum]]
Nevertheless, the aesthetic of 1980s video games had a major impact on contemporary and future pixel art, both in video games, the [[demoscene]] graphics and among independent artists. As computers became more affordable in the 1980s, software such as DEGAS Elite (1986) for the Atari ST, [[Deluxe Paint]] (1985) and Deluxe Paint 2 (1986) for the [[Amiga|Commodore Amiga]], and Paint Magic for the [[Commodore 64]], inspired many later pixel artists to create digital art by careful placement of pixels. In the case of the Commodore 64 and the [[Amstrad CPC]], some early pixel artists used joysticks and keyboards to pixel.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Benjaminsson |first=Klas |title=The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1 |publisher=Nicepixel Publications |year=2020 |isbn=978-91-639-0485-1 |pages=7, 52, 77 |language=en}}</ref>

With the rise of the [[demoscene]] movement in Europe in the late 1980s, artists who were proficient with creating pixel art using [[8-bit computing|8-bit computers]] like the Commodore 64 and [[ZX Spectrum]] or [[16-bit computing|16-bit computers]] like the [[Atari ST]] began to publish their pixel art as demos. [[Demogroup]]s would often include coders (programmers), musicians, and graphicians, where graphicians were a common name for graphic designers and/or pixel artists. Although some graphicians worked on adding art to cracked video games ([[crack intro|cracktros]]), the demoscene contributed to artistic communities creating pixel art for its own sake as art. These were often shared via floppy disks that were handed from person to person or via the postal service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Benjaminsson |first=Klas |title=Masters of Pixel Art volume 2 |publisher=Nicepixel Publications |year=2017 |isbn=978-91-639-0486-8 |pages=56}}</ref> The golden age of the demoscene and its associated pixel art milieu, however, is often regarded as beginning in the early 1990s.<ref name=":1"/>

===1990s===
[[File:ChaosEngine1 s11.png|thumb|''The Chaos Engine'' (1993) on Amiga]]
Before the 1990s, display systems were mostly based on a small [[8-bit color|4-bit palette]] of imposed colors (16 fixed shades innate to each system, often incompatible with one another). The coming decade greatly improved the graphics standard with the appearance of increased [[color depth]] and [[indexed color|indexed color palettes]] (For example, 512 colors for the [[Atari ST]] and the [[Mega Drive]], 4,096 for the [[Amiga Enhanced Chip Set|Amiga ECS]], 32,768 for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Nintendo]], and 16,777,216 for the [[Amiga AGA]] and the [[VGA]] mode of the PCs). During the 1990s, 2D games with manually painted graphics saw increasing competition from 3-dimensional  games and games using pre-rendered 3D assets.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |date=14 October 2014 |title=Nostalgia, Norwegian money and the unlikely resurgence of pixel art |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/nostalgia-norwegian-money-and-the-unlikely-resurgence-of-pixel-art/ |access-date=2 September 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Still, pixel art games like [[Flashback (1992 video game)|''Flashback'']], ''[[The Secret of Monkey Island]]'', ''[[The Chaos Engine]]'', ''[[Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike]]'', ''[[Super Mario World]]'', and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]'' had a major influence on future artists in the game industry, the contemporary demoscene and the aesthetic of pixel art in later decades.<ref name=":2"/>

In addition to pixel art influenced by video games, pixel artists (or graphicians) in the demoscene continued to make pixel art for demos and cracktros. Some demoscene pixel artists active in the 1990s have cited movies and urban graffiti as important influences for their art, particularly in designing logos.<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 52, 174. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref><ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 3''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 51. {{ISBN|978-91-519-3539-3}}.</ref> In addition to copying sprites from existing video games, demoscene pixel artists also copied the work of popular artists and illustrators such as [[Ian Miller (illustrator)|Ian Miller]] and [[Simon Bisley]].<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 14, 45. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref> Competition gradually became an increasingly important part of demoscene gatherings, including pixel art (graphics) competitions, and as teenagers and young adults were the major demographic in these gatherings, a lot of demoscene pixel art referenced familiar fantasy, science fiction and cyberpunk tropes. Demoscene competitions had a major effect in shaping the direction of pixel art. Prominent artists would look for ways to innovate, display superior technique, overcome technical restrictions, and in many cases aim for photorealism through [[anti-aliasing]].<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 130, 133, 177. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref>

As [[the Internet|the internet]] became more available in the 1990s, pixel artists and demosceners gradually began to spread their pixel art via websites, instant messaging, and online file sharing. While the demoscene was arguably most popular among young men, an online movement began in the late 1990s known as pixel dolls or 'dollz', which was popular among young women. The increased popularity of [[online chat]]ting and [[personal web page|personal webpages]] at a time before digital cameras were common led to an increased demand for personal representation through personalized [[avatar (computing)|avatars]]. These avatars often took the form of pixel dolls, being pixel art characters that could be outfitted with different clothing and accessories. As pixel dolls grew more and more common, many pixel artists gradually began to develop this as an independent artform.

===2000s===
[[File:GBA Advance Wars.png|thumb|''Advance Wars'' (2001) on Game Boy Advance]]
The 2000s were a pivotal decade for pixel art establishing itself as an artform practiced around the world, separate from other forms of digital art. In particular, the Pixelation forum and Pixel Joint gallery are credited as the most influential English-speaking online communities, connecting pixel artists all over the world in a way that the mostly Western European demoscene movement had not.<ref>{{cite web |date=2006-09-15 |title=Art, One Click at a Time |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/15pogues-posts-2/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Pogue's Posts Blog |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2010-08-30 |title=Weekly art websites: pixel art |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/weekly-art-websites-pixel-art-2067093.html |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3"/> Pixelation was a web forum where artists could share pixel art to give and receive feedback. Its main focus was critiquing, developing skills and understanding of pixel art, more so than simply sharing art for the sake of admiration, entertainment, or competition. Pixel Joint is an online gallery where members can submit personal work and comment on other members' pixel art. It has features such as weekly challenges, a forum, a hall of fame, and a monthly top 10-pixel art competition based on member voting.

Over time, the overlapping but separate communities of Pixelation and Pixel Joint were engaged in online discourse about the nature of pixel art, inspiring widely shared tutorials and arguably contributing to a new paradigm that was different from the pixel art of the 1990s.<ref name=":4">Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 3''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 194. {{ISBN|978-91-519-3539-3}}.</ref> A major concern was to establish pixel art as its own medium and/or art form, separate from other types of digital art, such as Oekaki. In particular, highly restricted palettes (e.g. a maximum of 8 or 16 colors) were argued by some to be a defining feature of pixel art. One example is the so-called "8 color gentlemen's club", consisting of pixel artists who celebrated pixel art with 8 colors.<ref name=":5">Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 3''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 39, 40, 115. {{ISBN|978-91-519-3539-3}}.</ref> The use of transparent layers and smudging tools was also considered non-pixel art and unacceptable for the Pixel Joint gallery. Whereas the demoscene had, to a large degree, revolved around physical gatherings and groups of artists, musicians, and programmers collaborating, pixel art communities on Pixel Joint and Pixelation were based mostly on online interaction among individual artists. On Pixel Joint, pixel art made through collaboration between artists was not accepted in the gallery but considered a separate pursuit. The relatively strict ideas of what constituted acceptable pixel art, enforced by moderators on Pixel Joint, led to repeated conflict but also contributed to pixel art standing out as a separate medium at a time when many types of digital paintings were shared on the internet, on websites like DeviantArt. In particular, several prominent artists mention Cure's tutorials as significant for learning about pixel art as a separate art medium or art form.<ref name=":4"/>

After the golden age of demoscene pixel art in the 1990s, many notable pixel artists of that milieu took a break from pixel art in the 2000s - although some made an early transition to join Pixelation and Pixel Joint, such as Gas 13 and Tomic.<ref name=":5"/> While activity did decline, the demoscene continued to explore pixel art on platforms from the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly using the Commodore 64 and Atari computers.<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2017). ''Masters of Pixel Art volume 2''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 14, 129, 155. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0486-8}}.</ref>

Pixel doll communities grew rapidly during the 2000s, in large part due to the continued growth of forums, message boards, and chat services. With websites like the Doll Palace, Eden Enchanted, DeviantArt, and many personal websites, pixel dolls were increasingly recognized as a new art form, with public feedback, competition, tutorials, best practices, and rules of conduct. The 2000s were arguably the height of pixel doll popularity, in part because of various online communities that made use of pixel dolls for avatars and the popularity of internet forums in an age before social media. Despite this, there was relatively little interaction between the pixel doll communities and other pixel art communities such as Pixel Joint, Pixelation, or the demoscene.

In video games for computers and consoles during the 2000s, pixel art was largely abandoned in favor of more modern graphics, particularly based on 3D. Many professional game artists who had been working with pixel art either left the industry or switched to other forms of digital art. This arguably contributed to pixel art establishing itself as an independent art form, practiced mostly by independent artists rather than game industry employees. There are a few notable exceptions, such as ''[[Habbo|Habbo Hotel]]'', which inspired a great amount of isometric pixel art, and ''[[Advance Wars]]'', for [[Game Boy Advance]].

===2010s===
[[File:Sword and Sworcery - Gameplay.png|thumb|''Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP'' (2011)]]
The popularity of pixel art accelerated during the 2010s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Creativity Bytes: A Brief Guide To Pixel Art |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/creativity-bytes-a-brief-guide-to-pixel-art/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Vice.com |date=23 February 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Nintendo SNES Classic Mini review: amazing games marred by hardware oversights |language=en-GB |magazine=Wired UK |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/snes-mini-classic-review |access-date=2022-09-03 |issn=1357-0978}}</ref><ref name=":3"/> One major contribution to this trend was the success of several 'retro' pixel art games such as ''[[Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP]]'' (2011), ''[[Terraria]]'' (2011), [[Fez (video game)|''Fez'']] (2012), ''[[Papers, Please]]'' (2013), ''[[Shovel Knight]]'' (2014), ''[[Undertale]]'' (2015), ''[[Owlboy]]'' (2016), ''[[Stardew Valley]]'' (2016), ''[[Deltarune]]'' (2018), [[Celeste (video game)|''Celeste'']] (2018), and ''[[Octopath Traveler]]'' (2018).<ref name=":9">{{cite web |date=2013-04-10 |title=Talking Shop: Shovel Knight's Pixel Artist |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/talking-shop-shovel-knights-pixel-artist |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en}}</ref> Many of these games combined low-resolution game assets with non-pixel art (NPA) elements such as filters, high definition UI, or special effects.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sucasas |first=Ángel Luis |date=2018-07-07 |title="No necesitamos el fotorrealismo para gozar de los videojuegos" |language=es |work=El País |url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2018/07/07/1up/1530961471_496336.html |access-date=2022-09-03 |issn=1134-6582}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite magazine |last=Moher |first=Aidan |title=The Pixel Art Revolution Will Be Televised |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/modern-pixel-art-games/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> The increased attention on pixel art in media and the game industry coincided with the rapid growth of pixel art communities. Owlboy's art director, Simon Andersen, explained that he wanted to show the advantages of the pixel as an art medium, pushing the potential of the artistic technique and showcase pixel art done properly, without millions of colors or 3D captures.<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-11-07 |title=Owlboy: the indie platformer that took 10 years to build |url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/07/owlboy-indie-platformer |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> In contrast, the heavily stylized and abstract ''Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP'' made extensive use of filters and non-pixel art graphics. Superbrothers: ''Sword and Sworcery'' also allowed players to share various in-game achievements on [[Twitter]], the #sworcery hashtag went viral, contributing to the renewed interest in pixel art in video games.<ref>{{cite web |date=2011-04-16 |title=Sword and Sworcery – review |url=http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/17/sword-and-sworcery-ipad-review |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

Pixel Joint and Pixelation remained important communities with a growing number of contributors, but the 2010s saw the rise of new communities on [[Reddit]], [[DeviantArt]], [[Instagram]], and Twitter. While Pixelation, in particular, had a core of very dedicated, often professional, pixel artists and Pixel Joint had moderators who accepted or rejected submissions to its online gallery, new pixel art communities in social media were naturally less cohesive, yet more open. Not only did social media contribute significantly to the continued growth of pixel art, and more traffic to older pixel art websites, but websites like [[Tumblr]], Twitter, and Instagram also gave significant global attention to new pixel artists outside of the traditional pixel art communities, such as Waneella and Pixel Jeff.<ref>{{cite web |title=Futuristic Landscapes Get a Retro Look, Thanks to Pixel Art |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/futuristic-landscape-gifs-waneella/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Vice.com |date=12 December 2016 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite web |title=An E-Gallery Of Video Games' Finest Pixel Art, But Who Owns It? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/tumblr-user-edits-e-gallery-of-video-games-finest-pixel-art/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Vice.com |date=December 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Papers, Please (video game screenshot).jpg|thumb|''Papers Please'' (2013)]]
During the 2010s, the demoscene arguably entered a [[silver age]], as several older artists returned to their hobbies after a hiatus.<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 191. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref><ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2017). ''Masters of Pixel Art volume 2''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 57, 181. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0486-8}}.</ref> In addition, the increasing popularity of pixel art in this decade also attracted new artists to the demoscene, who had not been active during the 1990s and 2000s.<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2017). ''Masters of Pixel Art volume 2''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 57, 159, 185. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0486-8}}.</ref> It is important to note that the demoscene and its graphics competitions never stopped, but the 2010s could nevertheless be considered a period of rejuvenation.

As advanced digital painting software like [[Adobe Photoshop|Photoshop]] became more widely available and easier to use, the pixel doll community split into a group of artists using traditional pixel art, known as pixel-shaders, and a group of artists using more advanced tools, known as tool-shaders. As internet forums lost popularity and drawn avatars were increasingly replaced by photos in internet communities, the pixel dolling community gradually became less active in this decade.


Perhaps because of the rise of pixel art in video games and social media, pixel art was also seen in other areas of [[popular culture]] and even made its way to public museums. Ivan Dixon and Paul Robertson received international attention for making a pixel art version of ''[[The Simpsons]]''' introduction sequence.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Watch 'The Simpsons' Totally Reimagined as Stunning Pixel Art |url=https://time.com/3692217/simpsons-pixel-art-video/ |access-date=2022-09-04 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref> Eboy became well known for their isometric pixel art displays, often used for advertisement or sold as independent art.<ref name=":11">{{cite web |title=Creativity Bytes: A Brief Guide To Pixel Art |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/creativity-bytes-a-brief-guide-to-pixel-art/ |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=Vice.com |date=23 February 2011 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2010-08-30 |title=Weekly art websites: pixel art |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/weekly-art-websites-pixel-art-2067093.html |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3"/> The work of pixel artists such as Octavi Navarro and Gustavo Viselner was featured in major newspapers and magazines.<ref>{{cite web |title=Intricate Pixel Art Peels Back The Layers Of Imaginary Worlds |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/intricate-pixel-art-peels-back-the-layers-of-imaginary-worlds/ |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=Vice.com |date=19 September 2014 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2018-01-14 |title=Si las series de hoy se parecieran a los videjouegos de los 90 |url=https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2018/01/14/articulo/1515930475_766740.html |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=Verne |language=es}}</ref> French urban artist [[Invader (artist)|Invader]] received international attention for his urban pixel art mosaics, seen around the world.<ref>{{cite web |date=2021-07-06 |title=Pixel art hors de prix : un portrait du Dalaï-Lama composé de Rubik's Cubes vendu 450.000 euros |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/encheres/pixel-art-hors-de-prix-un-portrait-du-dalai-lama-compose-de-rubik-s-cubes-vendu-450-000-euros-20210706 |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=LEFIGARO |language=fr}}</ref> Among 1980s-inspired [[synthwave]] artists and groups, pixel art was used to make music videos, such as Valenberg's work for [[Perturbator]] and a [[Gunship (band)|Gunship]] music video by pixel artists Jason Tammemagi, Gyhyom, Mary Safro, and Waneella.<ref>{{cite web |last=Liptak |first=Andrew |date=2018-03-11 |title=Ernie Cline's Ready Player One gets a tiny adaptation in this music video |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/11/17106194/ready-player-one-gunship-ernie-clines-art3mis-parzival-music-video-synthwave-nostalgia-watch |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref> In 2012, the [[Smithsonian Institution]] museum of Washington created an exhibition called [[The Art of Video Games]], attended by almost 700,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Art of Video Games {{!}} Smithsonian American Art Museum |url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/games |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=americanart.si.edu |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Here's how many people saw The Smithsonian's Art of Games |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2012-10-02-heres-how-many-people-saw-the-smithsonians-art-of-games.html |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=finance.yahoo.com |date=2 October 2012 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===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>