Numerous video games were released in 2016. New hardware came out as well, albeit largely refreshed and updated versions of consoles in the PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 4 Slim, and Xbox One S. Commercially available virtual reality headsets were released in much greater numbers and at much lower price points than the enthusiast-only virtual reality headsets of earlier generations. Top-rated games originally released in 2016 included Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Inside, Overwatch, Forza Horizon 3, NBA 2K17, Dark Souls III, and Battlefield 1.
Video 2016 in video gaming
Major awards
1These awards are sometimes given as one (e.g. Best Mobile/Handheld, Excellence in Audio) or two awards (e.g. Best Mobile, Best Handheld; Audio Achievement, Best Music).
Maps 2016 in video gaming
Financial performance
Analysis firm SuperData estimated that the global video game software market brought in $91 billion in revenues in 2016; this was an increase over the $74 billion estimated for 2015, but SuperData noted that their 2016 estimates included a larger data set. Of the $91 billion, $41 billion was attributed to mobile gaming, particularly the titles Clash Royale and Pokémon Go, with the largest mobile gaming section in Asia with total revenues near $25 billion. Personal computer gaming made up $34 billion, with $19 billion contributed from free-to-play games, and console games, retail and downloadable, were $26 and $6.6 billion, respectively. The firm also identified that virtual reality (VR), professional video game sports, and streaming were still growing markets in the year. DFC Intelligence reported similar numbers for revenues in the various sectors, and noted that mobile gaming revenues overtook both console and personal computer revenues in 2016.
Newzoo estimated that $70.4 billion of video game revenues were made by the top 25 publicly-trading companies, led by Tencent ($10.2B), Sony ($7.9B), Activision Blizzard ($6.6B), Microsoft ($6.5B) and Apple, Inc. ($5.9B). The top ten companies brought in more than 54% of total revenues during 2016, up from 43% in 2015.
IHS Markit estimated that worldwide revenue related to console hardware, software, and services was $34.7 billion, down about 2.5% from 2015; hardware sales were down from $12.8 billion to $10.5 billion, while software and service revenues were up. Sony held about 57% of the market share during 2016, followed by Microsoft and Nintendo.
Within the United States, revenues from the video game industry in 2016 was estimated at $30.4 billion by the Entertainment Software Association and NPD Group, slightly up from 2015's $30.2 billion. Of that, $24.5 billion was spent on video game software, an increase of 6% from 2015. Digital purchases, which included full game purchases, downloadable content, game subscriptions, and mobile game microtransactions, made up 74% of this number, continuing a steady increase of digital sales over retail since 2010. Sales were driven by the introduction of VR, Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sun and Moon, and the games Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Madden NFL 17, NBA 2K17 and Tom Clancy's The Division.
Series with new entries and new intellectual property
Additional entries were released in numerous series in 2016, including new installments for the franchises Ace Attorney, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Civilization, Cossacks, Dark Souls, Dead Rising, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Doom, Far Cry, FIFA, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Forza Horizon, Gears of War, Hearts of Iron, Hitman, Homefront, Homeworld, Kirby, Mafia, Mario Party, Master of Orion, Metroid, Mirror's Edge, Persona, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Pokémon, Ratchet & Clank, Shadow of the Beast, Shadow Warrior, Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Fox, Star Ocean, Street Fighter, Titanfall, Total War, Uncharted, Watch Dogs, XCOM and Zero Escape.
New and successful intellectual properties included Overwatch, Quantum Break, Tom Clancy's The Division and The Last Guardian, and indie titles such as Abzû, Hyper Light Drifter, Inside, No Man's Sky, Owlboy, Stardew Valley and The Witness.
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Events
Hardware releases
The list of game-related hardware released in 2016 in North America.
Game releases
The list of games released in 2016 in North America.
January-March
April-June
July-September
October-December
Video game-based film releases
Cancelled games
Cancelled
- Batman: Arkham Knight (Mac, Lin)
- EverQuest Next (Win, PS4)
- Fable Legends (Win, XBO)
- Halo Online (Win)
- Hyper Light Drifter (PSVita, Wii U)
- Nosgoth (Win)
- Not a Hero (PSVita)
- Project: Knoxville (XBO)
- Rising Thunder (Win)
- Scribblenauts: Fighting Words (iOS)
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (PS3, X360)
- Triad Wars (Win)
- The Walking Dead: Season Three (PS3, X360)
- Unnamed extreme sports game by Criterion Games
- Whore of the Orient (Win, PS4, XBO)
- Yooka-Laylee (Wii U)
Discontinued
- Darkspore (Win)
- Dust 514 (PS3)
- Might & Magic: Duel of Champions (Win)
- PlanetSide (Win)
- Project Spark (Win, X360, XBO)
- The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot (Win)
- Tom Clancy's EndWar Online (Win)
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms (Win)
Critically praised games according to Metacritic
Metacritic is an aggregator of video game journalism reviews. It generally considers expansions and re-releases as separate entities.
Highly scoring games released in 2016 with fewer than 10 reviews include Out of the Park Baseball 17, Stephen's Sausage Roll, Kentucky Route Zero - Act IV, Axiom Verge, and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.
See also
- List of PlayStation 2 games for PlayStation 4
- List of Virtual Console games for Wii U (Japan)
- List of Virtual Console games for Wii U (North America)
- List of Virtual Console games for Wii U (PAL region)
- List of Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS (Japan)
- List of Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS (North America)
- List of Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS (PAL region)
- List of Xbox 360 games compatible with Xbox One
References
Notes
- A The release date is slated 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 2017, which begins on April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.
Footnotes
Source of article : Wikipedia
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