2020 in video games
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In the video game industry, 2020 saw the launch of the next generation of video game consoles, with both Microsoft and Sony Interactive Entertainment having released the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles, respectively, in November 2020. The industry was heavily affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which had begun in March and was characterized by COVID-19 lockdowns and remote work. While this caused numerous delays in software and hardware releases and the cancellation of live conferences and events in favor of virtual shows, it also created a boom for the industry as people turned to gaming as a means to pass the time. The industry also reacted to various political/cultural events.
Mobile gaming continued its growth as a major platform for video gaming; as part of this, Epic Games initiated the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit over mobile app store revenue cut policies. Major planned acquisitions included Xbox Game Studios' acquisition of ZeniMax Media and its subsidiaries, and Electronic Arts outbidding Take-Two Interactive for Codemasters.[1]
Series with new installments include Animal Crossing, Assassin's Creed, Bloodstained, Bomberman, Call of Duty, Cook, Serve, Delicious!, Cookie Run, Crash Bandicoot, Danganronpa, Deadly Premonition, Dirt, Doom, Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Granblue Fantasy, Half-Life, Kingdom Hearts, Kirby, The Last of Us, The Legend of Zelda, Mafia, Mana, Medal of Honor, Megami Tensei, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Minecraft, MLB: The Show, Mystery Dungeon, Nioh, Oddworld, One Piece, Ori, Paper Mario, Persona, Project CARS, Resident Evil, Rune Factory, Serious Sam, Shantae, Spelunky, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Streets of Rage, Super Mario, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Total War, Trails, Vampire: The Masquerade, Wasteland, Watch Dogs, Windjammers, Yakuza, Command and Conquer, and Zombie Army.
Financial performance
The global market for video games based on 2020 revenues was estimated to exceed $179.7 billion according to the International Data Corporation; the growth of 20% over 2019 revenues is attributes to the surge in spending in video games from the COVID-19 pandemic along with the releases of the new consoles.[2]
SuperData Research estimated the global video game market grew by 12% in 2020 to a total $139.9 billion in revenues. Mobile games accounted for over $73.8 billion or 58% of the market, with computer games at $33.1 billion and console games at $19.7 billion. Virtual and augmented reality had about $6.7 billion, while video gaming content such as online streamers generated an additional $9.3 billion.[3][4]
Newzoo estimated the global market for video games in 2020 was $177.8 billion, a 23.1% increase from 2019, buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Newzoo anticipated that the 2021 market will see a small decline as the world recovers from COVID-19 and spending on video games slows down, but otherwise the industry would remain on track to break $200 billion in revenue by 2023.[5]
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, while the overall global entertainment and media market dropped by 3.8% during 2020, the video game market grew by 10% over the year, due to the use of video games to help with social distancing during COVID-19 lockdowns.[6]
Largest markets
According to market research firm Newzoo, the following countries were the largest video game markets in 2020.[7]
| Rank | Country | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $45,642,000,000 |
| 2 | United States | $39,065,000,000 |
| 3 | Japan | $20,763,000,000 |
| 4 | South Korea | $7,530,000,000 |
| 5 | Germany | $5,702,000,000 |
| 6 | United Kingdom | $5,117,000,000 |
| 7 | France | $4,024,000,000 |
| 8 | Canada | $3,551,000,000 |
| 9 | Italy | $3,205,000,000 |
| 10 | Brazil | $2,288,000,000 |
Highest-grossing games
The following are the top ten highest-grossing video games of 2020. Each of the top ten titles grossed more than $1 billion, while the top four grossed more than $2 billion each.[3][8] The majority of the top ten titles are published by Asian companies, including three from Chinese conglomerate Tencent which holds the top two spots.[3]
| Rank | Game | Revenue | Publisher(s) | Genre(s) | Business model | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) | $2,824,000,000 | Tencent / Bluehole | Battle royale | Free-to-play / buy-to-play | [a] |
| 2 | Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor | $2,564,000,000 | Tencent | MOBA | Free-to-play | [b] |
| 3 | Roblox | $2,290,000,000 | Roblox Corporation | GCS, MMO | Free-to-play | [3] |
| 4 | Garena Free Fire | $2,130,000,000 | Garena | Battle royale | ||
| 5 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons | $2,000,000,000 | Nintendo | Social sim | Buy-to-play | [12] |
| 6 | Pokémon Go | $1,920,000,000 | Niantic / Nintendo | AR | Free-to-play | [3] |
| 7 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Warzone | $1,913,000,000 | Activision (Activision Blizzard) | FPS, Battle royale | Buy-to-play / free-to-play | |
| 8 | League of Legends | $1,750,000,000 | Riot Games / Tencent | MOBA | Free-to-play | |
| 9 | Candy Crush Saga | $1,660,000,000 | King (Activision Blizzard) | Puzzle | ||
| 10 | AFK Arena | $1,450,000,000 | Lilith Games | RPG |
Highest-grossing free-to-play games
The following titles were the top ten highest-grossing free-to-play games in 2020. Three of the top ten free-to-play titles are published by Tencent, which holds the top two spots.[3]
| Rank | Game | Revenue | Publisher(s) | Genre(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PUBG Mobile / Game for Peace | $2,700,000,000 | Tencent / Bluehole | Battle royale | [9] |
| 2 | Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor | $2,564,000,000 | Tencent | MOBA | [b] |
| 3 | Roblox | $2,290,000,000 | Roblox Corporation | GCS, MMO | [3] |
| 4 | Garena Free Fire | $2,130,000,000 | Garena | Battle royale | |
| 5 | Pokémon Go | $1,920,000,000 | Niantic / Nintendo | AR | |
| 6 | League of Legends | $1,750,000,000 | Riot Games / Tencent | MOBA | |
| 7 | Candy Crush Saga | $1,660,000,000 | King (Activision Blizzard) | Puzzle | |
| 8 | AFK Arena | $1,450,000,000 | Lilith Games | RPG | |
| 9 | Gardenscapes: New Acres | $1,430,000,000 | Playrix | Puzzle | |
| 10 | Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO) | $1,410,000,000 | Nexon / Tencent | Beat 'em up, Action RPG |
Fortnite grossed more than $1 billion in 2020, but less than $1.41 billion. It fell out of the top ten, dropping from its top spot in 2019.[3]
Best-selling premium games
The following titles were the best-selling premium games (including buy-to-play titles) in 2020. Three of the top ten best-selling titles are published by Nintendo, including the year's top-selling game.
| Rank | Game | Units sold | Revenue | Genre(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 31,800,000[13] | $2,000,000,000[12] | Social sim | Nintendo |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | < 25,250,000[c] | < $1,913,000,000[d] | FPS, Battle royale | Activision (Activision Blizzard) |
| 3 | FIFA 20 | Unknown | $1,083,000,000[3] | Sports | EA Sports (Electronic Arts) |
| 4 | Grand Theft Auto V / Online | 20,000,000[16] | $911,000,000[3] | Action-adventure | Rockstar Games (Take-Two Interactive) |
| 5 | Cyberpunk 2077 | 13,000,000[17] | $609,000,000[3] | Action RPG | CD Projekt |
| 6 | Among Us | 12,700,000[e] | Unknown | Party, Social deduction | Innersloth |
| 7 | Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout | 11,000,000[21] | Unknown | Battle royale, Platformer | Devolver Digital |
| 8 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | 10,450,000[13][22] | Unknown | Kart racing | Nintendo |
| 9 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars | 8,320,000[13] | Unknown | Platformer | |
| 10 | NBA 2K21 | 8,000,000[23] | $889,000,000[3] | Sports | 2K Sports (Take-Two Interactive) |
Best-selling games by region
The following were 2020's top ten best-selling video games by region (excluding microtransactions and free-to-play titles) on PC and console platforms, for Australia,[24] Japan,[25] Europe,[26] and the United States.[27]
Top-rated games
Critically acclaimed games
Metacritic is an aggregator of video game journalism reviews. It generally considers expansions and re-releases as separate entities.
Major awards
Major events
| Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| January 21 | Daybreak Games was split into three separate game development studios: Dimensional Ink Games, Darkpaw Games, and Rogue Planet Games; and Daybreak was reorganized into a publisher. | [35] |
| January 22 | Tencent announced that it would fully acquire Norwegian developer and publisher Funcom. | [36] |
| January 24 | Activision Blizzard entered a multiyear deal with Google to exclusively broadcast all their esport content, via YouTube following the conclusion of a prior deal with Twitch. | [37] |
| January 24 | The Call of Duty League launched its inaugural season. | [38] |
| February 5 | Rod Fergusson left his role as lead on the Gears of War series at The Coalition to oversee the Diablo series at Blizzard Entertainment. | [39] |
| February 8 | The 2020 Overwatch League season began. | |
| February 11–13 | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosted the 2020 D.I.C.E. Summit and 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Connie Booth inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame. | [40][41] |
| February 19 | World War Z developer Saber Interactive was acquired by Embracer Group for US$525 million. | [42] |
| February 25 | Sanzaru Games was acquired by Oculus Studios. | [43] |
| February 27 – March 1 | PAX East was held in Boston, Massachusetts. | |
| March 4 | Star Theory Games was shut down. | [44] |
| March 11 | Rockstar Games' co-founder and lead writer Dan Houser left the company. | [45] |
| March 11 | Entertainment Software Association announced that E3 2020 has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | [46] |
| March 16–20 | The 2020 Game Developers Conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | [47] |
| March 31 | The Pokémon Company announced that the World Championships has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | [48] |
| April 3 | Science Adventure developer Mages was acquired by Colopl for ¥1.612 billion (approximately US$14.92 million). | [49] |
| April 17 | Video game-centric crowdfunding and investment firm Fig was acquired by Republic, a larger investment firm, to expand Fig's capabilities for funding options. | [50] |
| May 1 | The first Summer Game Fest is held. | [51] |
| May 22 | Bandai Namco Entertainment officially celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pac-Man. | [52] |
| June 11 | Sony Interactive Entertainment held its "PS5 – The Future of Gaming" event where it unveiled the PlayStation 5 design and several new and upcoming games. | |
| June 22 | Microsoft announces the closure of its Mixer stream service on July 22, instead transitioning and partnering with Facebook Gaming. | [53] |
| June 22 | Ready at Dawn was acquired by Oculus Studios. | [54] |
| June 29 | Deck13 Interactive was acquired by Focus Home Interactive. | [55] |
| July 22 | Microsoft's video game livestreaming service Mixer is shut down after four years. | [56][57] |
| August 10–16 | Playcrafting hosted its fourth annual Play NYC event online this year. Panels included talks from Avalanche Studios, Private Division, and Rockstar Games. The event was also home to the annual Graffiti Games. This year's initiative highlighted the work of black game developers. | [58] |
| August 13 | Embracer Group, using the Saber Interactive label, acquired 4A Games and New World Interactive. | [59] |
| August 13 | Epic Games released a version of Fortnite Battle Royale on iOS and Android that bypassed the stores' payment systems, leading to both Apple and Google to delist the game immediately, with Epic further turning around the same day to file lawsuits challenging the monopolistic behavior of both stores. | [60] |
| August 27–30 | An online version of Gamescom 2020 was held, after Germany banned physical events through August 2020. | [61][62][63] |
| September 4 | Nintendo celebrated the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. by announcing new games, re-released games, and merchandise. | [64] |
| September 12–20 | An online-only version of PAX East, called the Global PAX Online Experience, was held. | [65] |
| September 16 | Embracer Group acquired Vertigo Games for €50 million. | [66] |
| September 18 | Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel announced he would be leaving from the video game industry to focus full-time on a wildlife sanctuary. Ancel stated via Instagram that his two upcoming projects, Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Wild were in capable hands with his departure. | [67] |
| September 19–20 | The Game Devs of Color Expo was held. | [68] |
| September 21 | Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media announced plans for Xbox Game Studios to acquire ZeniMax and its subsidiaries Bethesda Game Studios, Arkane Studios, id Software, MachineGames, and Tango Gameworks for US$7.5 billion, to be completed by the first half of 2021. | [69] |
| September 23–27 | A digital version of Tokyo Game Show was held. | [70] |
| September 24 | Amazon announced they would launch a cloud gaming service Luna. Games on the service would be offered via a channel-style subscription service, with the company's own games and those from Ubisoft available at the service's launch in October. | [71] |
| October 14 | Rockstar Games acquired Ruffian Games, which became part of the company as Rockstar Dundee. | [72][73] |
| October 15 | Blizzard Entertainment announced that they are no longer producing new content for Starcraft II after ten years. | [74] |
| October 21 | Serious Sam developer Croteam was acquired by Devolver Digital. | [75] |
| November 10 | Take-Two Interactive and Codemasters agreed to a Take-Two buyout of Codemasters in a stock and cash deal around US$994 million, expected to be completed by early 2021. | [76] |
| November 19 | Roblox Corporation filed for its initial public offering, estimated at US$37 billion. | [77] |
| December 3 | BioWare general manager and Mass Effect director Casey Hudson and Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah both announced that they were leaving the studio. | [78] |
| December 10 | The Game Awards 2020 was held, hosted and livestreamed from locations in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo. | [79] |
| December 14 | Electronic Arts outbid Take-Two in acquiring Codemasters in a deal valued at about US$1.2 billion, expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2021. | [80] |
| December 23 | Tencent completed their acquisition of Leyou, the parent company of Digital Extremes and Splash Damage among others, for US$1.5 billion. | [81] |
| December 31 | Adobe Flash, which was used for certain online games, is officially discontinued. | [82] |
Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
The highly contagious coronavirus disease 2019, first observed in China in December 2019, began a major outbreak across the world in January 2020, which is ongoing as of November 2021. Within China, steps to prevent spread of the disease came around such as large-scale quarantine of affected populations which have impacted production within the country. This has had a large number of impacts on social, medical, and economic systems worldwide. The video game industry has been impacted by the outbreak in various ways, most often due to concerns over travel to and from China or elsewhere, or related to slowdowns in manufacturing processes within China. Numerous games have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most industry events were cancelled or reformated into virtual showcases.
The video game industry in general was boosted by the pandemic, since people under pandemic lockdowns were forced to stay home, with video games becoming a popular pastime. Total spending in video games grew to US$33.7 billion in the United States during the first nine months of 2020 compared to US$27.9 billion for the same period in 2019.[83] Easy-to-learn games with little to no narrative and large audience enjoyment potential, including Fall Guys, Among Us, and the Jackbox Party Packs, saw great increases in popularity during the pandemic as a means to avoid the "cultural trauma" of the situation.[84][85][86][87]
Reactions to the George Floyd protests
In the wake of the George Floyd protests and resurgence of support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement across several entertainment sectors in June 2020, the video game industry also responded. Most large publishers and developers shared their support of the protests and BLM as with other larger entertainment companies.[88][89][90] A number of video game announcement events had been planned on the week of June 6 and onward as a virtual replacement for E3 2020 (cancelled from the COVID-19 pandemic), but most of these were shifted by a week or more to allow the voices of the protests to have the necessary focus.[91][92] Many companies announced plans to donate funds towards black-oriented organizations, including Electronic Arts, 2K Games, Riot Games and Humble Bundle committing US$1 million to such foundations, while others like Ubisoft, Square Enix and The Pokémon Company also committed to significant donations.[88][93][94] Itch.io raised over US$8.1 million for black charities through sales of a game bundle with games from over 1,300 developers.[95] Electronic Arts and Infinity Ward pledged to combat racism that they were aware had persisted by users in their games in light of the events.[96][97]
Sexual misconduct accusations
In late June and early July, as a continuation of prior #MeToo movement effects on the industry from 2017, several people started speaking out of specific accounts of sexual misconduct and harassment towards others in the industry. Initial complaints had been directed towards Twitch streamers but soon had reached major companies including Insomniac Games, and Electronic Arts, with most studios taking actions to deal with the accused and instituting better policies to handle internal and external issued related to sexual misconduct.[98][99] In particular, charges were made toward the CEO of Evolution Championship Series (EVO), Joey Cuellar, who was subsequently let go. Multiple publishers that had backed the event had pulled out on this news, and the EVO event, which had already been reworked as an online event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was subsequently cancelled.[100] A large number of cases were found through Ubisoft's executive-level staff, leading to a number of high-level departures and major internal review of how the company handled such complaints in the future.[101]
Notable deaths
- January 26 – Kobe Bryant, 41, basketball player who appeared in every NBA 2K game since NBA 2K9 (cover star of NBA 2K10, NBA 2K17, NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K24)[102][103]
- February 25 – Kazuhisa Hashimoto, 61, video game developer and creator of the Konami code[104][105]
- April 8 – Rick May, 79, voice actor best known for the voice of Soldier in Team Fortress 2.[106]
- April 11 – Paul Haddad, 56, voice actor best known for the original voice of Leon Kennedy in the 1998 Resident Evil video game sequel Resident Evil 2.[107]
- May 17 – Shad Gaspard, 39, pro wrestler who appeared in the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw games and provided motion capture for God of War.[108]
- July 2 – Reckful, 31, Twitch streamer and esports player.[109][110]
- July 25 – Regis Philbin, 88, TV host who appeared in 1999's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and other video games based on the series.[111][112]
- August 31 – Norm Spencer, 62, actor best known for portraying Cyclops in the Marvel vs. Capcom games.[113]
- November 8 – Alex Trebek, 80, TV game show host who appeared in the Jeopardy! games.[114]
- November 18 – Kirby Morrow, 47, voice actor (Gundam, Inuyasha, Ninjago).[115]
- December 1 – Eric Engstrom, one of the three Microsoft "Beastie Boys" that helped to pioneer DirectX.[116]
- December 26 – Brodie Lee, 41, pro wrestler (WWE 2K, AEW Fight Forever).[117]
Hardware releases
The list of game-related hardware released in 2020.
| Date | Console | Manufacturer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 22 | Evercade | Blaze Entertainment | [118] |
| May 22 | TurboGrafx-16 Mini | Konami | [119][120] |
| June 6 | Game Gear Micro | Sega | [121] |
| October 13 | Oculus Quest 2 | Reality Labs | [122] |
| November 10 | Xbox Series X and Series S | Microsoft | [123] |
| November 12 | PlayStation 5 | Sony | [124] |
| November 13 | Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. | Nintendo | [125] |
| December 14 | Atari VCS[i] | Atari | [126] |
Major hardware discontinuations in 2020 include the Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital versions, which were discontinued on July 16.[127] The Nintendo 3DS family was discontinued on September 17.[128]
Games released in 2020
Video game-based film and television releases
| Title | Date | Type | Distributor(s) | Franchise | Original game publisher(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin's Game | January 3, 2020 | Anime television series | Tokyo MX (Japan) | N/a | N/a | [129] |
| Pokémon: Twilight Wings | January 15, 2020 | Limited anime webseries | YouTube | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company |
[130] |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | February 14, 2020 | Feature film | Paramount Pictures | Sonic the Hedgehog | Sega | [131] |
| Glitch Techs | February 21, 2020 | Animated series | Netflix | N/a | N/a | [132] |
| Sakura Wars: The Animation | April 3, 2020 | Anime television series | Funimation | Sakura Wars | Sega | [133] |
| Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge | April 12, 2020 | Animated film | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | Mortal Kombat | Midway Games | [134] |
| Pokétoon | June 5, 2020 | Web anime | YouTube | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company |
[135] |
| Ninjala | June 23, 2020 | Limited animated webseries | Ninjala | GungHo Online Entertainment | [136] | |
| The Sims Spark'd | July 17, 2020 | Reality competition TV series | TBS | The Sims | Electronic Arts | [137] |
| Dragon's Dogma | September 17, 2020 | Anime series | Netflix | Dragon's Dogma | Capcom | [138] |
| Console Wars | September 23, 2020 | Documentary film | CBS All Access | Console Wars | N/a | [139] |
| Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai | October 3, 2020 | Anime television series | Toei Animation | Dragon Quest | Square Enix | [140] |
| Grand Blues! | October 8, 2020 | Funimation | Granblue Fantasy | Cygames | [141] | |
| Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series | December 11, 2020[j] | TV Tokyo (Japan) Netflix (United States) |
Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company |
[143][142] | |
| Monster Hunter | December 18, 2020 | Feature film | Screen Gems | Monster Hunter | Capcom | [144] |
| Secrets of the Jungle | December 25, 2020[k] | Anime film | Toho (Japan) Netflix (international) |
Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company |
[146] |
See also
Notes
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)
- PUBG Mobile (Game for Peace / Peacekeeper Elite) – $2.7 billion (free-to-play)[9]
- PC (buy-to-play) – $124 million (February & May)[10]
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and free-to-play battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone grossed a combined $1.913 billion in 2020.[3]
- Best-selling games by physical unit sales
- Highest-grossing games by sales revenue
- Not including digital sales
- Kickstarter backers only, wide release was on June 15, 2021.