In the video game industry, 2021 saw the release of many new titles. The numerous delays in software and hardware releases due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted development schedules, leading to several games being delayed into 2022 or even postponed indefinitely. Additionally, computer and console hardware were impacted by the combined effects of a semiconductor shortage (partially from post-COVID-19 effects) and a rising growth of bitcoin mining that strained the supply of critical components.[1]
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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.
Financial performance
According to market research firm Newzoo, the global video game market reached total revenues of US$180.3 billion, a 1.4% growth from 2020. Of this, 52% of the revenue was attributed to the mobile game market and the larger growth over the prior year, 28% to the console games market (including hardware and software), and 20% to the personal computer market.[5]
Largest markets
According to market research firm Newzoo, the following countries were the largest video game markets in 2021.[6]
| Rank | Country | Revenue | Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $46,010,000,000 | 685,480,000 |
| 2 | United States | $40,540,000,000 | 191,120,000 |
| 3 | Japan | $22,090,000,000 | 75,620,000 |
| 4 | South Korea | $7,550,000,000 | 33,010,000 |
| 5 | Germany | $5,870,000,000 | 46,120,000 |
| 6 | United Kingdom | $5,310,000,000 | 37,660,000 |
| 7 | France | $4,130,000,000 | 38,080,000 |
| 8 | Canada | $3,690,000,000 | 20,980,000 |
| 9 | Italy | $3,290,000,000 | 36,550,000 |
| 10 | Spain | $2,330,000,000 | 29,730,000 |
Highest-grossing mobile games
The following titles are the top ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2021.[7][8]
| Rank | Game | Revenue | Publisher(s) | Genre(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PUBG Mobile / Game for Peace | $2,900,000,000 | Tencent / Krafton | Battle royale |
| 2 | Honor of Kings / Arena of Valor | $2,800,000,000 | Tencent | MOBA |
| 3 | Genshin Impact | $1,900,000,000 | miHoYo | Action RPG |
| 4 | Roblox Mobile | $1,400,000,000 | Roblox Corporation | GCS / MMO |
| 5 | Coin Master | $1,400,000,000 | Moon Active | Casual / Casino |
| 6 | Pokémon Go | $1,300,000,000 | Niantic | Augmented reality |
| 7 | Candy Crush Saga | $1,300,000,000 | King (Activision Blizzard) | Puzzle |
| 8 | Garena Free Fire | $1,200,000,000 | Garena | Battle royale |
| 9 | Uma Musume Pretty Derby | $990,000,000 | Cygames | Simulation / Social |
| 10 | Three Kingdoms Tactics | $931,000,000 | Alibaba Group / Koei Tecmo | Strategy (4X) |
Highest-grossing games in China
The following titles were 2021's top six highest-grossing video games in China.[9]
| Rank | Game | Revenue | Genre | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honor of Kings | $2,600,000,000 | MOBA | Mobile | Tencent |
| 2 | PUBG Mobile / Peacekeeper Elite | $1,700,000,000 | Battle royale | ||
| 3 | League of Legends | $1,100,000,000 | MOBA | PC | |
| 4 | Dungeon Fighter Online | $876,000,000 | Beat 'em up | ||
| 5 | Crossfire | $795,000,000 | Shooter | ||
| 6 | Fantasy Westward Journey | $713,000,000 | MMORPG | Mobile | NetEase |
The following titles were 2021's top ten best-selling premium games by region (excluding microtransactions and free-to-play titles) on PC and console platforms, for Japan, the United States, and Europe.
Major events
| Month | Day(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 4 | Nintendo purchased Canadian video game developer Next Level Games, with the finalizations of the deal being done by March 1.[13] |
| 13 | Lucasfilm revived the Lucasfilm Games brand and announced a new Star Wars game from Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment, terminating the exclusive license held by Electronic Arts for the property.[14] | |
| 15 | YoYo Games, the developers of the GameMaker software, were acquired by Opera to help establish an Opera Gaming division.[15] | |
| 22 | Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard Entertainment with its staff of over 200 becoming employees of Blizzard.[16] | |
| 25 | The Carlyle Group completed its acquisition of Jagex.[17] | |
| February | 1 | Google shuttered its internal Stadia Games and Entertainment division, with plans to refocus the service as a publisher for third-party games.[18] |
| 2 | Embracer Group acquired Gearbox Software, Aspyr Media, and Easybrain.[19][20][21] | |
| 9 | The Pokémon Company announced that the World Championships has been canceled due to concerns of COVID-19.[22] | |
| 18 | Electronic Arts completed its estimated $1.2 billion acquisition of Codemasters.[23] | |
| 19–20 | Blizzard Entertainment held its virtual BlizzCon event.[24] | |
| March | 2 | Epic Games acquired Tonic Games Group, including developer Mediatonic.[25] |
| 9 | Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios completed its acquisition of ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary studios.[26] | |
| tinyBuild offered its initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.[27] | ||
| 10 | The Roblox Corporation held its direct public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.[28] | |
| 16 | Take-Two Interactive acquired HB Studios, which became a part of 2K.[29] | |
| 18 | Sony Interactive Entertainment and Endeavor jointly acquired the Evolution Championship Series.[30] | |
| Super Nintendo World opens to the public in Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.[31] | ||
| April | 2 | Focus Home Interactive acquired Streum On Studio.[32] |
| 22 | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosted the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, held as an online livestreamed event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[33] | |
| 25 | Colette, a short documentary film co-produced by Oculus and Respawn Entertainment for Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject), making it the first Oscar awarded to a video game-related project.[34] | |
| 29 | Electronic Arts completed its estimated $2.1 billion acquisition of mobile game developer Glu Mobile.[35][36] | |
| May | 3–24 | The trial for the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit was held.[37][38] |
| June | 12–15 | E3 2021 was held as an online event.[39] |
| 29 | Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Housemarque, which became a part of PlayStation Studios.[40] | |
| July | 1 | Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Nixxes Software, which became a part of PlayStation Studios.[41] |
| 15–18 | PAX Online was held after cancelling the planned in-person PAX East event from June.[42] | |
| 19 | Tencent announced its acquisition of Sumo Group for $1.3 billion.[43] | |
| 19–23 | The Game Developers Conference and Independent Games Festival was held as an online event.[44][45] | |
| 20 | The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) initiated a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard following a two-year investigation asserting the company maintained a hostile workplace that discriminated and harassed female employees, leading to thousands of employees signing onto an open letter and performing a walkout, demanding management take appropriate reaction.[46][47] | |
| August | 3 | Blizzard Entertainment President J. Allen Brack left the company in the wake of the DFEH lawsuit.[48] |
| 5 | Embracer Group acquired eight additional studios, including 3D Realms, Ghost Ship Games and Slipgate Ironworks.[49] | |
| Focus Home Interactive acquired Dotemu.[50] | ||
| 6–8, 13–15 | Evolution Championship Series 2021 was held as an online event.[51] | |
| 10 | Krafton completed its initial public offering on the Korea Exchange, with an initial valuation of around $19 billion.[52] | |
| 19–21 | Quakecon 2021 was held as an online event.[53] | |
| 25–27 | Gamescom 2021 was held as an online event.[54] | |
| 30 | China announces a law that restricts people under the age of 18 to play video games only up to 3 hours a week.[55][56] | |
| September | 8 | Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Firesprite, which became a part of PlayStation Studios.[57] |
| 10 | In Epic Games v. Apple, Apple was given a permanent injunction preventing them from blocking apps that included links to third-party payment systems.[58] | |
| 28 | Netflix acquired Night School Studio as its first game studio.[59] | |
| 30 | Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Bluepoint Games, which became a part of PlayStation Studios.[60] | |
| 30– | Tokyo Game Show 2021 was held as an online event.[61] | |
| October | 3 | |
| 7–17 | The International 2021, the tenth iteration of the annual Dota 2 global esports tournament, was held in Bucharest, Romania. It holds the record for the largest esports prize pool of all time at $40 million.[62] | |
| 21 | NetEase acquired Grasshopper Manufacture from GungHo Online Entertainment.[63] | |
| 28 | Mark Zuckerberg rebrands Facebook as Meta Platforms. Zuckerberg announced that "The Metaverse" will be a hybrid of social media, fitness, gaming, and more.[64][65][66] | |
| 29 | Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds Entertainment.[67] | |
| November | 2 | Netflix launched its video game service via its mobile app for subscribers.[68] |
| 4 | Devolver Digital went public on the Alternative Investment Market and acquired Dodge Roll, Nerial and Firefly Studios.[69][70] | |
| 15 | Take-Two Interactive acquired Roll7, which became a part of Private Division.[71] | |
| 16 | G4, the gaming-focused TV network that shut down in 2014, was relaunched on various linear TV and streaming services.[72] | |
| 23 | Epic Games acquired Harmonix.[73] | |
| December | 9 | The Game Awards 2021 was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.[74][2] |
| 10 | Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Valkyrie Entertainment, which became a part of PlayStation Studios.[75] | |
| 15 | Embracer Group acquired board game publisher Asmodee.[76] | |
| 17 | Tencent acquired Turtle Rock Studios.[77] | |
| 21 | Embracer Group acquired Perfect World Entertainment along with its publishing group and Cryptic Studios,[78] as well as Dark Horse Media, the parent company of Dark Horse Comics and Dark Horse Entertainment.[79] | |
| 27 | Riot Games agreed to settle its workplace gender discrimination lawsuit with two former employees for $100 million.[80] |
Notable deaths
- February 3 – Robert A. Altman, 73, co-founder and CEO of ZeniMax Media.[81][82]
- March 11 – Gordon Hall, 51, co-founder of Rockstar Leeds.[83]
- April 4 – Ralph Schuckett, 73, co-composer on the video game Pokémon Puzzle League.[84]
- April 9 – DMX, 50, rapper who appeared in Street Hoops and Def Jam Vendetta.[85][86]
- May 28 – Benoît Sokal, 66, creator of the Syberia series.[87]
- June 4 – Ebbe Altberg, ca. 57, CEO of Linden Lab, creators of Second Life.[88]
- ca. June 27 – "Near" aka "Byuu", ca. 38,[89] developer of the higan emulator for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.[90][91]
- ca. August – David Lawson, 62, co-founder of Imagine Software and Psygnosis[92]
- August 29 – Ed Asner, 91, actor known for voicing Carl Fredrickson in Up.
- September 12 – Brandon Ashur, 36, Minecraft YouTuber and livestreamer also known as Bashurverse.[93][94][95]
- September 16 – Clive Sinclair, 81, founder of Sinclair Research, the company behind several early personal computers like the ZX Spectrum[96]
- September 18 – Mick McGinty, 69, traditional artist for television, film, and video games, including artwork for Street Fighter II and other games in the 1980s and 1990s.[97]
- September 30 – Koichi Sugiyama, 90, composer of the Dragon Quest series among others.[98]
- October 16 – Hiroshi Ono, 64, graphic artist for Namco who did most of their pixel art for their early arcade games, and was otherwise known as "Mr Dotman".[99]
- December 6 – Masayuki Uemura, 78, lead architect of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.[100]
- December 14 – Ian Hetherington, 69, co-founder of Imagine Software and Psygnosis, chairman of Evolution Studios and Realtime Worlds.[101]
- December 28 – John Madden, 85, American football coach and commentator, and namesake of Electronic Arts' Madden NFL series.[102]
Hardware releases
The list of game-related hardware released in 2021.
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| June | 15 | Atari VCS[b][103] |
| October | 8 | Nintendo Switch (OLED model)[104] |
| November | 3 | Evercade VS[105] |
| 12 | Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda[106] | |
| December | 13 | Analogue Pocket[107] |
Game releases
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Series with new entries
Series with new installments include Age of Empires, Alex Kidd, Alien, Angelique, Aragami, A-Train, Baldur's Gate, Battlefield, Big Brain Academy, Blaster Master, Blue Reflection, Bus Simulator, Bravely Default, The Caligula Effect, Call of Duty, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Cookie Run ,The Dark Pictures Anthology, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, DC Super Hero Girls, Diablo, Disgaea, Doctor Who, Dragon Quest, Drakengard, Dynasty Warriors, Everspace, Evil Genius, Far Cry, Final Fantasy, Five Nights at Freddy's, Forza, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guilty Gear, Halo, Hitman, Hot Wheels, The House of the Dead, The Idolmaster, King's Bounty, Jurassic Park, League of Legends, The Legend of Heroes, Life Is Strange, Little Nightmares, Little Tail Bronx, Lone Echo, Mario Golf, Mario Party, Megami Tensei, Metroid, Monster Hunter, No More Heroes, Oddworld, Pac-Man, Psychonauts, Ratchet & Clank, Resident Evil, Rune Factory, R-Type, Samurai Warriors, Sniper: Ghost Warrior, Star Wars, Stronghold, Story of Seasons, Subnautica, Super Mario, Syberia, System Shock, Tales, Vampire: The Masquerade, Wario, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, The World Ends with You, Wonder Boy, and Yakuza.