Overview of the events of 2014 in video games
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The year 2014 saw a number of events in the video game industry. No new major consoles were released, but updates and upgrades were: the New Nintendo 3DS was released in Japan and Oceania, and Sony released new model 2000 PS Vita systems in Europe & North America. In video game-related corporate acquisitions, Amazon purchased the online video game streaming service Twitch, and Facebook acquired the virtual reality company and product Oculus. Nintendo released Amiibo in 2014, companion figurines that could be scanned by the 3DS and Wii U systems. On Twitter and other Internet social media, the Gamergate controversy began.
Among video games originally released in 2014, critics gave the highest reviews to Madden NFL 15, NBA 2K15, NBA Live 15, WWE 2K15, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Dark Souls II, Bayonetta 2, Shovel Knight, Velocity 2X, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mario Kart 8, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Other significant games that won awards included Destiny, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Monument Valley, Grand Theft Auto Online, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Watch_Dogs
Top-rated games
Major awards
Critically acclaimed titles
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
Highest-grossing games
The following were 2014'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, personal computer, and console platforms).
Events
| Month | Date(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | unknown | Atari emerges from Bankruptcy and plans to enter the Social Casino market. |
| 6 | 2K Games discontinued the MLB 2K series. | |
| 7 | PlayStation Now, a cloud-streaming from Sony Computer Entertainment was announced. | |
| 15 - 16 | Steam Dev Days held in Seattle, Washington. | |
| 27 | Microsoft acquired the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games. | |
| February | 5 | Double Helix Games was acquired by Amazon.com |
| 18 | Irrational Games, the creator of the BioShock series was shut down. | |
| March | 12 | 10th British Academy Video Games Awards held in Tobacco Dock, London. |
| 17 – 21 | Game Developers Conference 2014 held in San Francisco, California. | |
| 18 | Project Morpheus, a virtual reality initiative from Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 is announced. | |
| 25 | Oculus VR was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion. | |
| 28 – 30 | Rezzed 2014 held at the NEC Birmingham. | |
| April | 11 – 13 | PAX East 2014 held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. |
| 12 – 13 | Midwest Gaming Classic 2014 held at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel in Brookfield, Wisconsin. | |
| May | 20 | Nintendo discontinues the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection servers for Wii and Nintendo DS games. |
| 29 | Electronic Arts shut down Mythic Entertainment | |
| June | 5 | Nintendo announces that their president, Satoru Iwata won't attend E3 due to medical issues. |
| 10 – 12 | E3 2014 held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. | |
| 12 | Nordic Games acquired the publishing label of THQ. | |
| 14 – 17 | DreamHack-Summer held in Jönköping, Sweden. | |
| 25 | Google releases the Google Cardboard a VR accessory designed for smartphones. | |
| 30 | Crytek's IP's Homefront: The Revolution was acquired by Koch Media. Crytek UK, formerly Free Radical Design, and Crytek USA was shut down. | |
| Deep Silver set up a new subsidiary known as Deep Silver Dambuster. | ||
| Electronic Arts shut down more than 50 multiplayer games. | ||
| July | 10 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's creator Neversoft was merged into Infinity Ward by Activision. |
| 17 – 20 | QuakeCon 2014: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas. | |
| 24 – 27 | SDCC 2014 held at the San Diego Convention Center. | |
| 29 | The Nvidia Shield Tablet is released in North America. | |
| Unknown | Airtight Games was shut down approximately one month after the release of Murdered: Soul Suspect. | |
| August | 7 | Activision revived the brand of Sierra Entertainment. |
| 11 | Electronic Arts launched a subscription video game service called EA Access for the Xbox One. | |
| 13 – 17 | Gamescom 2014 held in Cologne, Germany. | |
| 20 – 22 | Unite 2014 held in Seattle, Washington. | |
| 25 | Twitch was acquired by Amazon.com for $970 million. | |
| 28 | The Gamergate controversy came to public attention due to the introduction of the GamerGate hashtag. | |
| 29 | Nintendo announced the New Nintendo 3DS XL. | |
| 29 – September 1 |
PAX Prime 2014 held at the Washington State Convention Center. | |
| September | 18 – 21 | Tokyo Game Show 2014 at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo. |
| 25 – 28 | EGX London 2014 held in Earls Court, London. | |
| 27 | Naughty Dog celebrated its 30th anniversary. | |
| October | 2 – 5 | GIGACON 2014 held in Telenor Arena, Oslo, Norway. |
| 3 – 5 | EGS 2014 held in Centro Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico. | |
| 6 | Ubisoft Reflections, formerly known as Reflections Interactive, celebrated its 30th anniversary. | |
| 11 – 12 | Play Expo 2014 held at EventCity, Manchester. | |
| 11 – 12 | FirstLook 2014 held at Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, the Netherlands. | |
| 19 | 2014 League of Legends World Championship was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium | |
| 24 | 32nd Golden Joystick Awards was held | |
| 24 - 26 | Milan Games Week held at Fieramilanocity in Milan, Italy. | |
| November | 31 – 2 | PAX Australia 2014 held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia. |
| 6 | Microsoft Studios acquired Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5 billion. | |
| 7 – 8 | BlizzCon 2014 held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. | |
| 12 - 17 | E-Sports World Championship 2014 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan | |
| 27 – 30 | DreamHack-Winter held in Jönköping, Sweden. | |
| December | ||
| 4 | 2K Games announced a new subsidiary called Hangar 13. | |
| 5 | The Game Awards 2014 held in Las Vegas. | |
| 6 | Ralph H. Baer, credited as the creator of the Magnavox Odyssey, died at the age of 92. | |
| 6 – 7 | PlayStation Experience held at The Venetian Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. |
Notable deaths
- January 23 – Justin Carmical, 42, retro game enthusiast known online as JewWario.
- February 14 – Harold Ramis, 69, actor, writer, and director who created the Ghostbusters franchise and co-wrote the 2009 video game.
- April 19 – Bob Hoskins, 71, actor who played Mario in 1993's Super Mario Bros..
- April 8 – The Ultimate Warrior, 54, pro wrestler who appeared in WWE games (cover star of WWF WrestleMania Challenge, WWF European Rampage Tour, WWF Superstars, and WWE All Stars).
- August 11 – Robin Williams, 63, actor who appeared in ads for The Legend of Zelda alongside his daughter whose name originates from the series.
- December 6 – Ralph H. Baer, 92, game designer credited for creating the first home console.
- December 22 – Christine Cavanaugh, 51, voice actor best known for the voice of Chuckie in the Rugrats franchise.
Series with new entries
Series with new installments in 2014 include Assassin's Creed, Bayonetta, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Castlevania, Civilization, Dark Souls, Divinity, Donkey Kong, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Elite, Far Cry, Final Fantasy, Forza Horizon, Infamous, Kinect Sports, Kirby, LittleBigPlanet, Mario Golf, Mario Kart, Metal Gear, MX vs. ATV, Ninja Gaiden, Persona, Pokémon, Professor Layton, Shantae, Sniper Elite, Sonic the Hedgehog, Strider Hiryu, Super Smash Bros., Tales, The Sims, Thief, Trials, Tropico, Wolfenstein, and World of Warcraft.
In addition, 2014 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Destiny, Five Nights at Freddy's, Shovel Knight, Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall, The Evil Within and Watch Dogs.
Game releases
The list of games released in 2014 in North America.
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January–March
April–June
July–September
October–December
Video game-based film and television releases
| Title | Date | Type | Distributor(s) | Franchise | Original game publisher(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-Frag! | January 6, 2014 (2014-01-06) | Anime television series | TV Tokyo (Japan) | — | — | |
| Need for Speed | March 14, 2014 (2014-03-14) | Feature film | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Need for Speed | Electronic Arts | |
| Free to Play | March 19, 2014 | Documentary film | Valve | Dota | Valve | |
| No Game No Life | April 9, 2014 (2014-04-09) | Anime television series | Tokyo MX (Japan) | — | — | |
| Piggy Tales | April 17, 2014 | Animated television series | Toons.TV | Angry Birds | Rovio Entertainment | |
| Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist | May 23, 2014 | Web series | Machinima | Street Fighter | Capcom | |
| Persona 3 The Movie: No. 2, Midsummer Knight's Dream | June 7, 2014 | Anime film | Aniplex | Persona | Atlus | |
| Video Games: The Movie | July 15, 2014 | Documentary film | Variance Films | — | — | |
| Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction | July 19, 2014 (2014-07-19) | Anime film | Toho (Japan) | Pokémon | Nintendo The Pokémon Company |
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| Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie | July 21, 2014 | Independent film | Screenwave Media (DVD/Blu-ray) Indie Rights (VOD) |
Angry Video Game Nerd | — | |
| Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge | August 6, 2014 | Martial arts film | SP Distribution | Tekken | Bandai Namco Entertainment | |
| Heavenly Sword | September 2, 2014 | 3D animated film | TriCoast Worldwide | Heavenly Sword | Ninja Theory | |
| Sonic Boom | November 8, 2014 (2014-11-08) | 3D animated television series | Lagardère Entertainment Rights M6 Group |
Sonic the Hedgehog | Sega | |
| Atari: Game Over | November 20, 2014 | Documentary film | Microsoft Movies & TV | — | Atari |
See also
Notes
- The release date is for Japan only.
References
- "Full List of Golden Joystick 2014 Award Winners". PlayStation LifeStyle. October 25, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- "Best Video Games for 2014". Metacritic. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2014 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Fez for PlayStation Vita". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Child of Light for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Best Video Games for 2016". Metacritic. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- "The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- "$6 billion on from Puzzle & Dragons' launch, whatever happened to Gungho Online?". Pocket Gamer. February 7, 2018.
- "Missing girl lived in Internet cafes, made money playing Crossfire". Digital Trends. November 25, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- Dredge, Stuart (February 13, 2015). "Candy Crush Saga players spent £865m on the game in 2014 alone". The Guardian. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- Hayward, Andrew (March 30, 2015). "Freemium Field Test: Angry Birds Stella Pop is a slick-but-typical bubble-bursting clone". Macworld. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ "Hearthstone, Dota 2 can't compete with League of Legends in terms of player spending". VentureBeat. October 23, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- "How Much Money Has Every Call of Duty Game Made?". Money Nation. December 23, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- Thier, Dave (May 13, 2014). "'Grand Theft Auto 5' Has Sold Nearly $2 Billion". Forbes. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- McWhertor, Michael (February 3, 2015). "Grand Theft Auto 5 sells 45M copies, boosted by PS4 and Xbox One versions". Polygon. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- "GTA 5 was the best selling game of 2013 with 32.5 million units sold". The Inquirer. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - Ohlheiser, Andy (September 11, 2014). "Activision's Destiny ships $500 million in one day". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
- "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- Levy, Karyne. "Google Figured Out How To Turn Any Phone Into A Virtual Reality Headset For Next To Nothing". Business Insider. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- "50 EA games will have their servers shut down • Eurogamer.net". Eurogamer. June 5, 2014. Archived from the original on June 5, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- "Twitter message". Archived from the original on January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- "Justin Carmical, Import Game Aficionado Who Advised Others, Dead At 42". Kotaku Australia. January 27, 2014. Archived from the original on January 29, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- "Super Mario Bros. Movie Actor Bob Hoskins Passes Away Aged 71". Nintendo Life. April 30, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
- Fowler, Matt (April 9, 2014). "Ultimate Warrior Passes Away". IGN. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
- Graser, Marc (August 13, 2014). "Robin Williams and His Longtime Love of Videogames". Variety. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- "Robin Williams and Zelda Team Up for Four Swords Adverts". Nintendo Life. October 4, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- Byrne, Kerry (September 26, 2023). "Meet the American who invented video games, Ralph Baer, a German Jew who fled Nazis, served US Army in WWII". Fox News. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- Seemayer, Zach (December 30, 2015). "'Rugrats' and 'Babe' Voice Actress Christine Cavanaugh Dead at 51". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- "D-Fragments TV Anime's Staff, Cast Unveiled". Anime News Network. October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
- "'Need For Speed' Release Date Moved To March 14, 2014". Deadline. March 29, 2013. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- Albert, Brian (March 21, 2014). "Free to Play Review". IGN. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
- "No Game No Life anime broadcasts" (in Japanese). NGNL.jp. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- "Rovio's Piggy Tales returns to the small screen". Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- Farokhmanesh, Megan (May 23, 2014). "'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist' now available on YouTube". Polygon. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- Hilliard, Kyle. "Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream Getting Subtitled Western Release". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- Albert, Brian (July 16, 2014). "Video Games: The Movie Review". IGN. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- "1st Pokémon XY Film's Teaser Confirms July 19 Opening". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- "Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Review | Teen Ink". www.teenink.com. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- "REVIEW: Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge (2014) – ManlyMovie". Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- Tassi, Paul. "Cinedigm and Sony Making A 'Heavenly Sword' Movie Starring Fringe's Anna Torv". Forbes. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- "Canal J : "Sonic Boom" débarque le 19 novembre". Média+ (in French). Nore&Press-média+. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- DiLeo, Adam (November 25, 2014). "Atari: Game Over Review". IGN. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
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