Numerous video games were released in 2018. Best-selling games included Madden NFL 19, NBA 2K19, NBA Live 19, WWE 2K19, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Marvel's Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Far Cry 5, God of War, Monster Hunter: World, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and Dragon Ball FighterZ.[1][2][3] Games highly regarded by video game critics released in 2018 included Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Marvel's Spider-Man, Forza Horizon 4, Monster Hunter: World, Dead Cells, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Celeste. The year's highest-grossing games included Fortnite, Honor of Kings/Arena of Valor, Dungeon Fighter Online, League of Legends, and Pokémon Go.
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Among major trends in 2018 included the explosive growth of battle royale games such as Bluehole's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Epic Games' Fortnite Battle Royale,[4][5] the resurgence of Pokémon Go,[6] ongoing governmental review of loot boxes in light of national gambling restrictions, Sony Interactive Entertainment agreeing to allow cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and other console users, and the entry of Fortnite-related internet memes into popular culture. With Fortnite's success, Epic was able to establish the Epic Games Store for personal computers as a strong competitor to the dominant but criticized position held by Valve's Steam digital storefront by significantly increasing the revenue split it gave to developers. Additionally, with a number of major sudden studio closures, including Telltale Games, there was an increasing call for video game developers to unionize.[7] A nearly year-long freeze on video game approvals by the Chinese government had a major impact on publishers Tencent and NetEase, and was anticipated to impact future revenues in the industry.[8]
Top-rated games
Major awards
Critically acclaimed games
Metacritic is an aggregator of video game journalism reviews. It generally considers expansions and re-releases as separate entities.
| Title | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Release | Platform(s) | Average score out of 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | Rockstar Studios | Rockstar Games | October 26, 2018 | PS4, XBO | 97 |
| God of War | Santa Monica Studio | Sony Interactive Entertainment | April 20, 2018 | PS4 | 94 |
| Celeste | Extremely OK Games | Matt Makes Games | January 26, 2018 | XBO | 94 |
| Undertale | 8-4 | September 18, 2018 | NS | 93 | |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Bandai Namco Studios, Sora Ltd. | Nintendo | December 7, 2018 | NS | 93 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | Playground Games | Xbox Game Studios | October 2, 2018 | XBO | 92 |
| Divinity: Original Sin II - Definitive Edition | Larian Studios | August 31, 2018 | PS4, XBO | 92 | |
| Celeste | Extremely OK Games | Matt Makes Games | January 25, 2018 | NS | 92 |
| Bayonetta 2 | PlatinumGames | Nintendo | February 16, 2018 | NS | 92 |
| Inside | Playdead | June 28, 2018 | NS | 91 | |
| Sonic Mania Plus | Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games, Headcannon | Sega | July 17, 2018 | NS | 91 |
| Dead Cells | Motion Twin | August 7, 2018 | XBO | 91 | |
| Shadow of the Colossus | Bluepoint Games | Sony Interactive Entertainment | February 6, 2018 | PS4 | 91 |
| Celeste | Extremely OK Games | Matt Makes Games | January 25, 2018 | PS4 | 91 |
| Nier: Automata Become As Gods Edition | PlatinumGames | Square Enix | June 26, 2018 | XBO | 90 |
| Bastion | Supergiant Games | September 13, 2018 | NS | 90 | |
| Monster Hunter: World | Capcom | January 26, 2018 | PS4, XBO | 90 | |
| Hollow Knight | Team Cherry | June 12, 2018 | NS | 90 | |
| Into the Breach | Subset Games | February 27, 2018 | Win | 90 | |
| Astro Bot Rescue Mission | Japan Studio | Sony Interactive Entertainment | October 2, 2018 | PS4 | 90 |
| Bayonetta + Bayonetta 2 | PlatinumGames | Nintendo | February 16, 2018 | NS | 90 |
Financial performance
According to industry analysis firm NewZoo, the video game industry was worth $134.9 billion by revenues in 2018, a 10.9% growth over 2017. Of this, 47% of the revenues were generated from mobile gaming, with consoles taking 28% and personal computers taking the remaining 25%.[17] The top five largest video game markets of 2018 were China ($34.4 billion), the United States ($31.5 billion), Japan ($17.7 billion), South Korea ($5.8 billion), and Germany ($5 billion).[18]
According to the NPD Group, total revenue from the video game industry, including hardware, software, and accessories, in the United States grew by 17% to US$43.4 billion, nearly matching revenues for the American film industry for 2018.[19][20] Of that, US$35.8 billion were from software sales, digital content, and subscriptions. Hardware sales, at US$7.5 billion, were up 15% from 2017, as despite the fact that there was no new hardware releases, several system-exclusive titles helped to drive hardware sales.[19]
Licensed merchandise based on video game franchises generated $20.68 billion in 2018 retail sales, a rise of 6.1% compared to 2017.[21]
Highest-grossing games
The following were 2018's top ten highest-grossing video games in terms of worldwide digital revenue (including digital purchases, microtransactions, free-to-play and pay-to-play) across all platforms (including mobile, PC and console platforms). Six of the top ten highest-grossing games are published or owned by Tencent, including the top five titles.
| Rank | Game | Revenue | Publisher(s) | Genre | Business model | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fortnite | $5,477,000,000 | Epic Games (Tencent) | Battle royale, survival | Free-to-play | [22] |
| 2 | Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor | $2,510,000,000 | Tencent | MOBA | Free-to-play | [23] |
| 3 | League of Legends | $1,900,000,000 | Riot Games / Tencent | MOBA | Free-to-play | [23] |
| 4 | Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO) | $1,700,000,000 | Nexon / Tencent | Beat 'em up | ||
| 5 | Crossfire | $1,453,000,000 | Smilegate / Tencent | FPS | ||
| 6 | Monster Strike | $1,387,419,755 | Mixi | Physics | ||
| 7 | Pokémon Go | $1,300,000,000 | Niantic / Nintendo / The Pokémon Company | Augmented reality | Free-to-play | [4] |
| 8 | PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) | $1,224,800,000 | Bluehole / Tencent | Battle royale | Buy-to-play / free-to-play | [a] |
| 9 | Fate/Grand Order (FGO) | $1,200,000,000 | Aniplex (Sony Music Entertainment Japan) | RPG | Free-to-play | [4] |
| 10 | Candy Crush Saga | $1,100,000,000 | King (Activision Blizzard) | Puzzle |
The video game franchise that has generated the highest licensed merchandise sales is Pokémon. Other video game franchises with significant licensed merchandise sales include Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Roblox, Halo, Fortnite and Minecraft.[21]
Best-selling games by region
The following were 2018's top ten best-selling video games by region, in terms of software units sold (excluding microtransactions and free-to-play titles) on PC and console platforms, for the United States, Japan, and Europe.
Major events
| Month | Day(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 4 | Video game peripheral maker Mad Catz was re-established.[28] |
| 7–12 | The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. | |
| 8 | Rebellion Developments acquired Radiant Worlds and rebranded the studio as Rebellion Warwick.[29] | |
| 10 | The inaugural season of the Overwatch League began. | |
| 22 | Yuji Naka announced that he joined Square Enix.[30] | |
| February | 14 | THQ Nordic acquired Koch Media.[31] |
| 20–22 | The 2018 D.I.C.E. Summit was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. | |
| March | 9–18 | The 2018 South by Southwest Festival was held in Austin, Texas. |
| 19–23 | The 2018 Game Developers Conference was held in San Francisco, California. | |
| 20 | Vivendi formally ended its attempt to acquire Ubisoft, selling all of its 30 million shares of Ubisoft to other companies, including Tencent.[32] | |
| April | 1 | Kaz Hirai stepped down as CEO of Sony Corporation while remaining as chairman of the board, with CFO Kenichiro Yoshida replacing him as CEO.[33] |
| 5–8 | PAX East was held in Boston, Massachusetts. | |
| 21 | Valve acquired developer Campo Santo.[34] | |
| May | 14 | Cliff Bleszinski's studio Boss Key Productions closed down.[35] |
| Bigben Interactive acquired Cyanide.[36] | ||
| 15 | 2K Games developer Hangar 13 opened a fourth game development studio in Brighton, England.[37] | |
| 16 | Polish developer People Can Fly opened a new studio in Rzeszów, Poland.[38] | |
| June | 1 | Facebook launched Facebook Gaming as a competitor to Twitch. |
| 10 | Microsoft announced its acquisitions of Undead Labs, Playground Games, Compulsion Games, and Ninja Theory and the formation of a new studio named The Initiative in Santa Monica.[39] | |
| 12–14 | E3 2018 (Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018) was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.[40] | |
| July | 11 | Electronic Arts announced its acquisition of Industrial Toys.[41] |
| August | 13 | Crystal Dynamics opened Crystal NorthWest.[42] |
| 14 | Sumo Group Plc acquired The Chinese Room.[43] | |
| 20–25 | The International 2018, a Dota 2 tournament with the largest prize pool in esports history, was held at the Rogers Arena in Canada.[44] | |
| 21–25 | Gamescom was held in Cologne, Germany. | |
| 26 | A mass shooting occurred at a Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, with the shooter, a participant in the tournament who lost, killing two people and injuring ten others before committing suicide.[45] | |
| September | 18 | Wargaming opened a UK studio[46] |
| Capcom Vancouver shut down.[47] | ||
| 20–23 | The 2018 Tokyo Game Show was held in Tokyo. | |
| The UK's largest games show, EGX was held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.[48] | ||
| 21 | Telltale Games announced a "majority studio closure", laying off more than 90% of its staff and cancelling several in-progress games.[49] | |
| 26 | Sony Interactive Entertainment revises its policy on cross-platform play and allows PlayStation 4 players of Fortnite: Battle Royale to matchmake across all supported platforms.[50] | |
| October | 6 | Skybound Entertainment acquires the rights and capabilities to finish off Telltale's work-in-progress, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, after Telltale's shutdown.[51] |
| November | 2–3 | The 2018 BlizzCon was held in Anaheim, California. |
| 9 | It was announced video game guide creator Prima Games would be shutting down after 28 years in business.[52] | |
| 10 | Microsoft announced the acquisitions of InXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment.[53] | |
| December | 3 | Starbreeze Studios files for financial restructuring after the commercial failure of Overkill's The Walking Dead.[54] |
| 6 | The Game Awards 2018 were held in Los Angeles, California. |
Notable deaths
- March 3 – David Ogden Stiers, 75, voice actor best known for the voice of Doctor Jumba Jookiba in the "Lilo & Stitch" franchise.[55]
- May 24 – TotalBiscuit, 33, English video gaming commentator and game critic on YouTube.[56]
- June 18 – Big Van Vader, 63, pro wrestler (cover star of WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling and WWF In Your House).[57]
- July 4 – Ronnie Edwards, 25, content creator MatPat's The Game Theorists.[58]
- August 23 – McSkillet, 18, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive youtuber.[59]
- September 6 – Burt Reynolds, 82, voice actor known for the voice of Avery Carrington in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City".[60]
- November 12 – Stan Lee, 95, comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer for Marvel Comics. Numerous of his characters have appeared in video games.[61]
- November 26 – Stephen Hillenburg, 57, animator and creator of SpongeBob SquarePants which had numerous video games.[62]
Hardware releases
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| May | 1 | Oculus Go |
| May | GPD Win 2 | |
| July | 20 | Phoenix One |
| 24 | NEOGEO mini | |
| October | 9 | THEC64Mini |
| 24 | Atari Flashback 9 | |
| November | 15 | Atari Flashback 9 Gold |
| 30 | Go! Retro Portable | |
| December | 3 | PlayStation Classic |
Game releases
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Series with new entries
Series with new installments in 2018 include Anno, Assassin's Creed, Battlefield, Bloons Tower Defense, Bayonetta, Bit.Trip, BlazBlue, Bomberman, Call of Duty, Darksiders, Digimon, Donkey Kong, Dragon Ball, Dynasty Warriors, Earth Defense Force, Fallout, Far Cry, Forza, God of War, Hitman, Just Cause, Kirby, Life Is Strange, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Ni no Kuni, Persona, Pillars of Eternity, Pokémon, Red Dead, Sakura Wars, Science Adventure, Shantae, Soulcalibur, Spider-Man, Spyro, State of Decay, Super Smash Bros., The Bard's Tale, The Crew, The Walking Dead, Tomb Raider, Tropico, Valkyria Chronicles, WarioWare, Warhammer, Wolfenstein, and Yakuza.
In addition, 2018 saw the introduction of several new properties, including, Among Us, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, A Way Out, Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, Celeste, Dead Cells, Deltarune, Detroit: Become Human, Firewall, Frostpunk, InnerSpace, Just Shapes & Beats, Marvel's Spider-Man, Moss, Octopath Traveler, Overload, Paladins: Champions of the Realm, Past Cure, The Persistence, Rust, Sea of Thieves, Subnautica, and Vampyr.
January–March
April–June
July–September
October–December
Video game-based film and television releases
See also
References
Notes
- A The release date is for Japan only.
- B A western or worldwide release of previously regional exclusive games.
- C These games were targeted to be released in fiscal year 2018, which began on April 1, 2018, and ended on March 31, 2019.