2015 in video games

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The year 2015 saw releases of numerous video games as well as a follow-up to Nintendo's portable 3DS console, the New Nintendo 3DS. Top-rated games originally released in 2015 included Madden NFL 16, NBA 2K16, NBA Live 16, WWE 2K16, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Bloodborne, Undertale, and Fallout 4. Sales of video games in 2015 reached $61 billion, according to analysis firm SuperData, an 8% increase from 2014. Of this, the largest sector was in computer game sales and subscription services, accounting for $32 billion. Mobile games revenues were at $25.1 billion, a 10% increase from 2014. Digital sales on consoles made up the remaining $4 billion.[1]

Series with new installments in 2015 include Anno, Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Disgaea, Dirt, Fallout, Fatal Frame, Five Nights at Freddy's, Forza Motorsport, Guitar Hero, Halo, Heroes of Might and Magic, Hotline Miami, Just Cause, King's Quest, Kirby, Magicka, Mario Party, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario & Luigi, Metal Gear, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat, Need for Speed, OlliOlli, Resident Evil, Rock Band, StarCraft, Star Wars: Battlefront, Tales, The Witcher, Tomb Raider, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Total War, Toy Soldiers, Xenoblade Chronicles, Yakuza and Yoshi.

In addition, 2015 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Bloodborne, Dying Light, Evolve, Life Is Strange, Ori, Rocket League, Splatoon, Undertale, and Until Dawn.

Financial performance

In the United States, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the NPD Group estimated total video game market revenues at $23.5 billion, a 5% increase from 2014. Of this, the total software market was $16.5 billion,[2] with the NPD Group estimating retail sales subset at $13.1 billion.[3] The ESA reported that there were 2,457 companies in the United States involved in developing or publishing video games that directly supported 65,678 workers (37,122 in developing, 28,556 in publishing) with about another 154,000 indirectly supporting the industry, such as through contracting or video game journalism. The total contribution to the US's gross national product from the industry was $11.7 billion.[4]

In the United Kingdom, the total video game market was valued at nearly £4.2 billion, according to figures from Ukie and MCV. The largest segments were in digital software (£1.2 billion) and mobile games (£664 million), while sales of consoles dropped to £689 million.[5]

Highest-grossing games

The following were 2015'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). Three of the top ten highest-grossing games are published or owned by Tencent, including the top-grossing title League of Legends.

More information Rank, Game ...
Rank Game Revenue Publisher(s) Genre Platform(s) Business model Ref.
1 League of Legends $1,628,000,000 Riot Games / Tencent MOBA PC Free-to-play [6]
2 Monster Strike $1,557,800,000 Mixi Physics Mobile Free-to-play [a]
3 Clash of Clans $1,345,000,000 Supercell (SoftBank Group) Strategy Mobile Free-to-play [6]
4 Puzzle & Dragons $1,290,000,000 GungHo Online Entertainment (SoftBank Group) Puzzle Mobile Free-to-play [9]
5 Crossfire $1,110,000,000 Smilegate / Tencent FPS PC Free-to-play [6]
6 Dungeon Fighter Online $1,052,000,000 Neople (Nexon) / Tencent Beat 'em up
7 Call of Duty: Black Ops III $1,000,000,000 Activision (Activision Blizzard) FPS PC, Console Buy-to-play [10]
8 World of Warcraft $814,000,000 Blizzard Entertainment (Activision Blizzard) MMORPG PC Subscription [6]
9 Game of War: Fire Age $799,000,000 MZ Strategy Mobile Free-to-play
10 Fallout 4 $750,000,000 Bethesda Softworks (ZeniMax Media) Action RPG PC, Console Buy-to-play [10]
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Best-selling games

More information Rank, Japan (retail) ...
Rank Japan (retail)[11] United Kingdom (retail)[12] United States (retail)[13] Steam (digital)[14]
1 Monster Hunter X FIFA 16 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Grand Theft Auto V
2 Yo-kai Watch Blasters Call of Duty: Black Ops III Madden NFL 16 Fallout 4
3 Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Fallout 4 Fallout 4 Ark: Survival Evolved
4 Splatoon Star Wars Battlefront Star Wars Battlefront Rocket League
5 Dragon Quest VIII Grand Theft Auto V Grand Theft Auto V Just Survive
6 Fire Emblem Fates Batman: Arkham Knight NBA 2K16 Cities: Skylines
7 Rhythm Heaven: The Best Plus FIFA 15 Minecraft Besiege
8 Super Mario Maker Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare FIFA 16 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
9 Dragon Quest Heroes Assassin's Creed Syndicate Mortal Kombat X Dying Light
10 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Lego Jurassic World Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Life Is Strange
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Top-rated games

Critically acclaimed titles

Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.

More information Game, Publisher ...
2015 games and expansions scoring at least 90/100 (MC) or 90% (GR)[15][16]
Game Publisher Release Date Platform MC score GR score
Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar Games April 14, 2015 WIN 96/100 95.07%
Out of the Park Baseball 16 Out of the Park Developments March 23, 2015 WIN 91/100 95.25%[17]
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Konami September 1, 2015 XBO 95/100 90.38%
Journey Sony Computer Entertainment July 21, 2015 PS4 92/100 94.8%
Undertale Toby Fox September 15, 2015 WIN 92/100 94.11%
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition Larian Studios October 27, 2015 WIN 94/100 90%[18]
Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 2 Nintendo April 23, 2015 WiiU 90/100 93.5%
The Swapper Curve Studios June 5, 2015 XBO 92/100 93.33%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt CD Projekt May 19, 2015 WIN 93/100 92.11%
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Konami September 1, 2015 PS4 93/100 91.59%
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Konami September 1, 2015 WIN 91/100 92.75%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt CD Projekt May 19, 2015 PS4 92/100 92.23%
Bloodborne Sony Computer Entertainment March 24, 2015 PS4 92/100 90.66%
Shovel Knight Yacht Club Games April 21, 2015 PSV 92/100 90.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone CD Projekt October 13, 2015 PS4 90/100 91.19%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt CD Projekt May 19, 2015 XBO 91/100 90.7%
Shovel Knight Yacht Club Games April 21, 2015 PS4 90/100 91%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Hearts of Stone CD Projekt October 13, 2015 XBO 90/100 91%
80 Days Inkle September 29, 2015 WIN 84/100 91%
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows Yacht Club Games September 17, 2015 WIN 89/100 90.5%[19]
Nuclear Throne Vlambeer December 5, 2015 WIN 88/100 90.43%
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Nintendo February 13, 2015 3DS 89/100 90.39%
Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 5 – The Vault of the Traveler Telltale Games October 20, 2015 PS4 90/100 89.89%
Broken Age Double Fine Productions April 28, 2015 PSV 90/100 89%[20]
Roche Fusion amulware January 23, 2015 WIN 85/100 90%
Odallus: The Dark Call Joymasher July 15, 2015 WIN 80/100 90%
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Major awards

More information Category/Organization, 33rd Golden Joystick Awards October 30, 2015 ...
Category/Organization33rd Golden Joystick Awards
October 30, 2015[21]		The Game Awards 2015
December 3, 2015[22]		19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards
February 18, 2016[23]		16th Game Developers Choice Awards
March 17, 2016[24]		12th British Academy Games Awards
April 7, 2016[25]
Game of the Year The Witcher 3: Wild HuntFallout 4The Witcher 3: Wild HuntFallout 4
Independent / Debut[i] Kerbal Space Program Rocket League Ori and the Blind Forest Her Story
Mobile/Handheld[i]Mobile Fallout ShelterLara Croft GoFallout ShelterHer Story
Handheld Helldivers
Innovation First-person mode in Grand Theft Auto VN/aHer Story
Artistic Achievement[i]Animation The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Ori and the Blind Forest Ori and the Blind Forest Ori and the Blind Forest
Art Direction Ori and the Blind Forest
Audio[i]Music Ori and the Blind ForestMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainOri and the Blind ForestCrypt of the NecroDancerEverybody's Gone to the Rapture
Sound Design N/aStar Wars BattlefrontEverybody's Gone to the Rapture
Character or Performance Ashly Burch as Chloe Price
Life Is Strange		Viva Seifert as Hannah Smith
Her Story		Lara Croft
Rise of the Tomb Raider		N/aMerle Dandridge as Kate Collins
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Game Direction
or Design[i]		Game Design N/aThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntRocket LeagueBloodborne
Game Direction Fallout 4
Narrative The Witcher 3: Wild HuntHer StoryThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntHer StoryLife Is Strange
Technical Achievement N/aThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntN/a
Multiplayer/Online Grand Theft Auto OnlineSplatoonRocket LeagueN/aRocket League
Action/Shooter N/aSplatoonStar Wars BattlefrontN/a
Adventure N/aMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Family SplatoonSuper Mario MakerN/aRocket League
Fighting N/aMortal Kombat XN/a
Role-Playing N/aThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntFallout 4
Sports/RacingSports N/aRocket LeagueRocket LeagueN/aRocket League
Racing Forza Motorsport 6
Strategy/Simulation N/aHeroes of the StormN/a
Special AwardLifetime AchievementIndustry Icon AwardHall of FameLifetime Achievement AwardBAFTA SpecialBAFTA Fellowship
Satoru IwataBrett Sperry and Louis CastleHideo KojimaTodd HowardAmy Hennig[26]John Carmack
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  1. [i]
    Certain award presentations combine these categories.

Events

More information Date, Event ...
Date Event Ref.
January 7 Zombie Studios, the creator of the Spec Ops series, was shut down. [27]
January 23–25 PAX South 2015 held in Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center [citation needed]
January 30 Sega continues reduction of western businesses and focus on digital that began in 2012. [28]
February 3 Sony sold Sony Online Entertainment to Columbus Nova. The company was renamed into Daybreak Game Company. [29]
February 3 Video game critic Joystiq was shut down by AOL. [citation needed]
February 19 Sega Networks, a subsidiary of Sega, acquired Demiurge Studios. [30]
February 20 tri-Ace, the developer of Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile, was acquired by Nepro Japan. [31]
February 25 The website version of video game critic Computer and Video Games was merged into GamesRadar+ by Future plc. [citation needed]
March 2–6 Game Developers Conference 2015 held in San Francisco, California. [citation needed]
March 2–6 Independent Games Festival held in San Francisco, California. [citation needed]
March 4 Electronic Arts shut down the headquarters of Maxis in Emeryville, which has created franchises such as SimCity and Spore. [32]
March 6–8 PAX East 2015 held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. [citation needed]
March 12–14 EGX Rezzed 2015 held at the Tobacco Dock, London. [citation needed]
March 17 Nintendo Co. Ltd. announced their affiliation with Japanese mobile game developer DeNA and Nintendo Switch, a new console. [33]
March 23 Raven Software celebrated its 25th anniversary. [34]
April 1 Bandai Namco Games was renamed into Bandai Namco Entertainment. [35]
April 15 2K Australia, the developer of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was shut down by Take-Two Interactive. [36]
April 17 Phil Harrison, the World Wide Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Studios departed from Microsoft. [37]
April 20 Matthew Armstrong, creator of the Borderlands series, left Gearbox Software. [38]
April 27 Following the cancellation of Silent Hills, Konami delisted itself from the New York Stock Exchange. [39]
April 30 Services of OnLive were discontinued as the asset was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment. [40]
May 4 Spark Unlimited, the developer of Lost Planet 3 and Call of Duty: Finest Hour was shut down. [41]
May 22 BioWare celebrated its 20th anniversary. [42]
May 22 The Pac-Man franchise celebrated its 35th anniversary in Japan. [43]
May 26 Oskari Häkkinen, head of franchise development of Remedy Entertainment, left Remedy. [44]
June 3 CEO of Remedy Entertainment, Matias Myllyrinne, departed from the company for Wargaming. [45]
June 8 Paul Sams replaced Ru Weerasuriya as Ready at Dawn's CEO. [46]
June 9 Chris Avellone, co-founder of Obsidian Entertainment, departed from the company. [47]
June 11 Housemarque celebrated its 20th anniversary. [48]
June 12 Arc System Works purchased the rights to develop video games for the Double Dragon, River City Ransom, and Super Dodge Ball series from the now-defunct Technos. [49]
June 16–18 E3 2015 held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. [50]
June 16 Square Enix unveiled new studio Tokyo RPG Factory. [51]
June 21 Tale of Tales, the developer of Sunset, was closed down. [52]
June 24 People Can Fly, formerly Epic Games Poland, was split from Epic Games. It became an independent studio and acquired the Bulletstorm IP. [53]
June 29 Disney Infinity publisher Disney Interactive was merged with Disney Consumer Products, the developer of Playmation to form a new division called "Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media" [54]
June 30 Club Nintendo was discontinued in North America. [citation needed]
July 4–5 MineCon has been held at the ExCeL London Exhibition and Conference Centre. [citation needed]
July 11 Satoru Iwata, President and CEO of Nintendo, died at age 55. [55]
July 13 Electronic Arts formed new studio called EA Motive. The studio is led by former Ubisoft director Jade Raymond. [56]
July 17–19 SGC 2015 to be held at the Embassy Suites Frisco Hotel & Convention Centre. [citation needed]
July 22 John Smedley stepped down as Daybreak Game Company's President and CEO. [57]
July 23–26 QuakeCon 2015 to be held in Dallas, Texas. [citation needed]
July 27 China's government fully lifts the ban on the sales of video game consoles within the country. [58]
July 27 Razer Inc. acquired all the software assets of Ouya. [59]
July 29 Windows 10 was released. [60]
July 29 Yager Development filed for insolvency for its production division Yager Productions GmbH [citation needed]
August 5–9 Gamescom 2015 was held in Cologne, Germany. [citation needed]
August 21 Remedy Entertainment celebrated its 20th anniversary. [61]
August 26 Google releases the YouTube Gaming app. [62][63]
August 28–31 PAX Prime to be held in Seattle, Washington. [citation needed]
September 2 2015 GameStop Expo at The Venetian Las Vegas resort. [citation needed]
September 13 The Super Mario series celebrated its 30th anniversary in Japan. [64]
September 14 Tatsumi Kimishima is appointed president of Nintendo after the death of Satoru Iwata in July 2015. Nintendo EAD and Nintendo SPD was merged, forming Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development. [65][66]
September 15 Sony announced that Project Morpheus was renamed into PlayStation VR. [67]
September 17–20 Tokyo Game Show 2015 at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo. [citation needed]
September 24 Maxis was reassigned to the EA Mobile division of Electronic Arts. [68]
September 24–27 EGX 2015 at the NEC in Birmingham, UK. [citation needed]
September 30 Club Nintendo was discontinued in Europe and Japan. [citation needed]
September 30 Twisted Pixel Games was separated from Microsoft Studios and became an independent studio again. [69]
October 2 Microsoft purchased Havok from Intel. [70]
October 2–4 EGS was held at Centro Banamex in Mexico City. [citation needed]
October 3 FiraxiCon was held by Firaxis Games at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. [71]
October 6 Ubisoft acquired The Crew's developer Ivory Tower. [72]
October 8–12 Brasil Game Show 2015 held in Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, Brasil. [citation needed]
October 11–13 Firstlook Festival 2015 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands. [citation needed]
October 13 Ubisoft acquired Longtail Studios and renamed it to Ubisoft Halifax. [73]
October 28 Paris Games Week in Paris, France. [citation needed]
October 29 Paradox Interactive purchased White Wolf Publishing and all its assets, including World of Darkness and Vampire: The Masquerade from CCP Games. [74]
November 2 Activision Blizzard acquired Candy Crush Saga developer King for $5.9 billion. [75]
November 4 Konami shuttered its Los Angeles division. [76]
November 6–7 BlizzCon 2015 at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. [citation needed]
November 6 Activision Blizzard established a new TV and film studio Activision Blizzard Studios. [77]
November 6 2K China closed by Take-Two Interactive. Their next game, Borderlands Online was cancelled. [78]
November 6 NCSoft launched a new mobile division named Iron Tiger. [79]
November 12–15 G-STAR 2015 in Bexco, Busan, South Korea. [citation needed]
December 3 The Game Awards 2015 held in Los Angeles, California. [citation needed]
December 5–6 PlayStation Experience 2015 held in San Francisco, California. [80]
December 7 Flying Wild Hog opened a new studio in Kraków, Poland. [citation needed]
December 9 A new development studio was established by Bethesda Game Studios in Montreal. [81]
December 10 Electronic Arts established Competitive Gaming Division, a new division headed by Peter Moore which focuses on ESports. [82]
December 11–13 GaymerX held at the San Jose Marriott Convention Center in San Jose, California. [citation needed]
December 12 Gearbox Software opened new studio in Quebec. [83]
December 16 Crystal Dynamics' studio head Darrell Gallagher left the company. [84]
December 16 Kojima Productions was reestablished as an independent studio headed by Hideo Kojima. [85]
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Notable deaths

Hardware release

The following is a list of game-related hardware released in 2015.

The New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL made their launches in North America & Europe after initially releasing in Japan, Australia, & New Zealand the previous year.

More information Date, Console ...
Date Console Manufacturer Ref.
January 6 New Nintendo 3DSEU[b] [92]
February 13 New Nintendo 3DS XLNA/EU [93]
April 29 Razer Forge TV [citation needed]
May 28 Nvidia Shield TV [citation needed]
November 27 Samsung Gear VR [citation needed]
September 10 New Nintendo 3DSKR [94]
September 25 New Nintendo 3DSNA [95]
November 10 Steam Controller [citation needed]
Steam Link [citation needed]
Steam Machine [citation needed]
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Games released in 2015

Main article: List of video games released in 2015

Cancelled video games

Cancelled

On hold

Video game-based film and television releases

More information Title, Date ...
Title Date Type Distributor Franchise Original game publisher Ref.
Dead Rising: Watchtower March 27, 2015 Feature film Crackle Dead Rising Capcom [111]
Persona 3 The Movie: No. 3, Falling Down April 4, 2015 Anime film Aniplex Persona Atlus [112]
Talking Tom & Friends April 30, 2015 3D animated webseries YouTube Talking Tom & Friends Outfit7 [113]
Hoopa and the Clash of Ages July 18, 2015 Anime film Toho Pokémon Game Freak [114]
Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything July 22, 2015 Television series Disney XD N/a N/a [115]
Pixels July 24, 2015 Feature film Sony Pictures Pixels N/a [116]
Game Shakers September 12, 2015 Television series Nickelodeon N/a N/a [117]
The Lost Arcade November 14, 2015 Documentary film 26 Aries N/a N/a [118]
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Monster Strike:
    • January–March – $333.8 million[7]
    • April–December – $1.224 billion[8]
  2. [b]
    Initially released as an "Ambassador Edition" exclusive, released in retail on February 13, 2015.

References

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