2013 in video games
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Numerous video games were released in 2013. Many awards went to games such as Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, WWE 2K14, NBA Live 14, BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. New video game consoles released in 2013 include the PlayStation 4 from Sony Computer Entertainment and the Xbox One from Microsoft.
Series with new installments in 2013 include Ace Attorney, ARMA, Army of Two, Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham, Battlefield, BioShock, Call of Duty, Crysis, Dead Rising, Dead Space, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Forza Motorsport, God of War, Gears of War, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, Killer Instinct, Killzone, The Legend of Zelda, Lost Planet, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Party, Metal Gear, Metro, Need for Speed, Pokémon, Rayman, Pikmin, Saints Row, SimCity, Sly Cooper, Sonic The Hedgehog, StarCraft, Super Mario, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider, Total War, and Zoo Tycoon.
In addition, 2013 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Beyond: Two Souls, The Last of Us, Papers, Please, Tearaway, Cookie Clicker and The Wonderful 101.
Highest-grossing games
The following were 2013's top ten highest-grossing video games in terms of worldwide revenue (including physical sales, digital purchases, subscriptions, microtransactions, free-to-play and pay-to-play) across all platforms (including mobile, PC and console platforms).
Top-rated games
Critically acclaimed titles
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
| Game | Publisher | Release Date | Platform | MC score | GR score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto V | Rockstar Games | September 17, 2013 | PS3 | 97/100 | 97.01% |
| Grand Theft Auto V | Rockstar Games | September 17, 2013 | X360 | 97/100 | 96.1% |
| BioShock Infinite | 2K Games | March 26, 2013 | PS3 | 94/100 | 95.94% |
| The Last of Us | Sony Computer Entertainment | June 14, 2013 | PS3 | 95/100 | 95.09% |
| BioShock Infinite | 2K Games | March 26, 2013 | WIN | 94/100 | 92.62% |
| Flower | Sony Computer Entertainment | November 15, 2013 | PS4 | 91/100 | 93.57% |
| Fez | Trapdoor | May 1, 2013 | WIN | 91/100 | 93.5% |
| Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection | Konami | July 9, 2013 | PS3 | 93/100 | 93.33%[12] |
| Super Mario 3D World | Nintendo | November 21, 2013 | WiiU | 93/100 | 92.56% |
| Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons | 505 Games | September 3, 2013 | WIN | 90/100 | 93.12% |
| Rayman Legends | Ubisoft | August 29, 2013 | WiiU | 92/100 | 93% |
| BioShock Infinite | 2K Games | March 26, 2013 | X360 | 93/100 | 91.89% |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut | Square Enix | October 22, 2013 | WIN | 91/100 | 92.5%[13] |
| Rayman Legends | Ubisoft | August 29, 2013 | PS3 | 91/100 | 91.81% |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD | Nintendo | September 20, 2013 | WiiU | 90/100 | 91.08% |
| The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds | Nintendo | November 22, 2013 | 3DS | 91/100 | 90.55% |
| Spelunky | Mossmouth | August 8, 2013 | WIN | 90/100 | 91% |
| Mass Effect 3: Citadel | Electronic Arts | March 5, 2013 | PS3 | 90/100 | 90.67%[14] |
| The Stanley Parable | Galactic Cafe | October 13, 2013 | WIN | 88/100 | 90.25% |
| Dota 2 | Valve | July 9, 2013 | WIN | 90/100 | 89.27% |
| Rayman Legends | Ubisoft | August 29, 2013 | WIN | 90/100 | 89%[15] |
| Rayman Legends | Ubisoft | August 29, 2013 | X360 | 90/100 | 88.88% |
| Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods | Paradox Interactive | May 28, 2013 | WIN | 88/100 | 90%[16] |
| XCOM: Enemy Within | 2K Games | November 12, 2013 | PS3 | 88/100 | 90%[17] |
| Rage of the Gladiator | Gamelion Studios | September 19, 2013 | 3DS | 88/100 | 90%[18] |
Major awards
- Certain award presentations combine these categories.
Events
| Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| February 14 | Nintendo starts the "Year of Luigi" to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the titular character. | [19] |
| February 20 – 22 | Sony's eighth generation console PlayStation 4 (PS4) reveal held at New York City, New York. | [citation needed] |
| March | The beta for Kahoot! is released with the full version released in September. | [citation needed] |
| March 22 – 24 | PAX East 2013 held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. | [citation needed] |
| March 23 – 25 | Midwest Gaming Classic 2013 held at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel in Brookfield, Wisconsin. | [citation needed] |
| March 25 – 29 | Game Developers Conference 2013 held in San Francisco, California. | [citation needed] |
| May | Cloud9 is founded in Santa Monica, California. | [citation needed] |
| May 21 – 23 | Microsoft's eighth generation console Xbox One reveal held at Microsoft Redmond Campus, Washington. | [citation needed] |
| June 11 – 13 | E3 2013 was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. | [20] |
| June 22 – 23 | Rezzed 2013 was held at the NEC Birmingham. | [21] |
| July 18 – 21 | SDCC 2013 was held at the San Diego Convention Center. | [citation needed] |
| July 19 – 22 | PAX Australia 2013 was held at the Melbourne Showgrounds. | [citation needed] |
| August 1 – 4 | QuakeCon 2013: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas. | [citation needed] |
| August 7 – 11 | The International 2013, the third iteration of the annual Dota 2 global esports tournament, was held in Seattle. | [citation needed] |
| August 9 – 11 | The Pokémon World Championships was held in Canada instead of the United States. | [citation needed] |
| August 22 – 25 | Gamescom 2013 held in Cologne, Germany. | [citation needed] |
| August 30 – September 2 | PAX Prime 2013 held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. | [citation needed] |
| September 9 | The Spyro series celebrated its 15th anniversary. | [citation needed] |
| September 19 – 22 | Tokyo Game Show 2013 at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo. | [citation needed] |
| September 26 – 29 | Eurogamer Expo 2013 held in Earls Court, London. | [citation needed] |
| October 3 – 6 | Indiecade 2013 festival held in Culver City, California. | [citation needed] |
| October 4 – 7 | EB Games Expo 2013 held at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales. | [citation needed] |
| October 25 – 27 | Games Week 2013 held in Milan, Italy. | [citation needed] |
| October 30 – November 3 | Paris Games Week 2013 held in Paris, France. | [citation needed] |
| November 8 – 9 | BlizzCon 2013 held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. | [citation needed] |
| December 7 | The final Spike Video Game Awards are held. | [22] |
Notable deaths
- September 19 – Hiroshi Yamauchi, 85, Japanese businessman and third president of Nintendo (1949-2002)[23]
- October 1 – Tom Clancy, 66, novelist and namesake of the Tom Clancy's series.[24]
- November 28 – Danny Wells, 72, actor who played Luigi in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and provided voice work in Descent 3, Wizardry 8, Evolution Worlds, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.[25]
Hardware releases


The list of game consoles released in 2013.
| Date | Console | Manufacturer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 10 | Xbox 360 ENA | [26] | |
| June 20 | Xbox 360 EEU | [27] | |
| June 25 | Ouya | [citation needed] | |
| July 31 | Nvidia Shield | [citation needed] | |
| October 12 | Nintendo 2DSNA/PAL | [citation needed] | |
| November 14 | PlayStation TV | [citation needed] | |
| November 15 | GameStick | [citation needed] | |
| PlayStation 4NA | [28] | ||
| November 22 | Xbox One | [citation needed] | |
| November 26 | Nintendo 2DSBR | [citation needed] | |
| November 29 | PlayStation 4PAL | [28] | |
| December 7 | Nintendo 2DSKOR | [citation needed] | |
| December 10 | MOJO | [citation needed] |