2012 in video games
Numerous video games were released in 2012. Many awards went to games such as Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Journey, Mass Effect 3, The Walking Dead and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The year began with the worldwide release of Sony's handheld game console, the PlayStation Vita, originally launched in Japan in December 2011. The end of the year marked the worldwide release of Nintendo's home game console, the Wii U.
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Critically acclaimed titles
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
Highest-grossing games
The following were 2012'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).
| No. | Game | Revenue | Publisher(s) | Genre | Platform(s) | Business model | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Call of Duty: Black Ops II | $1,000,000,000 | Activision (Activision Blizzard) | FPS | Multi-platform | Buy-to-play | [9] |
| CrossFire | $1,000,000,000 | Smilegate / Tencent | FPS | PC | Free-to-play | [10] | |
| 3 | World of Warcraft | $986,000,000 | Blizzard Entertainment (Activision Blizzard) | MMORPG | PC | Subscription | [11] |
| 4 | FIFA 13 | $444,000,000 | EA Sports (Electronic Arts) | Sports | Multi-platform | Buy-to-play | [12][13] |
| 5 | Borderlands 2 | $300,000,000 | 2K Games | ARPG | Multi-platform | Buy-to-play | [14][15] |
| 6 | World of Tanks | $280,000,000 | Wargaming.net | Vehicular combat | PC | Free-to-play | [16] |
| 7 | Pokémon Black 2 / White 2 | $267,000,000 | Nintendo / The Pokémon Company | RPG | DS | Buy-to-play | [17][18] |
| 8 | New Super Mario Bros. 2 | $238,000,000 | Nintendo | Platformer | 3DS | Buy-to-play | [17][19] |
| 9 | Minecraft | $237,000,000 | Mojang | Sandbox | Multi-platform | Buy-to-play | [20] |
| 10 | League of Legends | $200,000,000 | Riot Games / Tencent | MOBA | PC | Free-to-play | [21] |
Events
| Month | Day(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| February | 3-29 | Sega reduces western business after the release of Binary Domain, and focuses on digital on PC and Mobile |
| March | 5–9 | Game Developers Conference 2012 held in San Francisco, California. |
| April | 6–8 | PAX East 2012 held in Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. |
| May | 2-5 | Korean e-Sports Association, Ongamenet, Blizzard Entertainment and GOM TV announced the introduction of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to professional competitions in South Korea with StarCraft: Brood War being completely phased out in October.[22] |
| June | 5–7 | E3 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.[23] |
| July | 7-9 | Metal Gear franchise completes 25 years. |
| August | 2–5 | QuakeCon 2012: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas. |
| 15–19 | Gamescom 2012 held in Cologne, Germany. | |
| 24-31 | Street Fighter franchise completes 25 years. | |
| September | 20-23 | Tokyo Game Show 2012 held in Chiba, Japan. |
| 26-29 | Eurogamer Expo 2012 held in Earls Court, London. | |
| December | 7-9 | Spike Video Game Awards |
| 17-19 | Mega Man franchise completes 25 years. |
Hardware releases
The list of game consoles released in 2012 in North America.
| Month | Day | Console |
|---|---|---|
| February | 15 | PlayStation Vita |
| August | 19 | Nintendo 3DS XL |
| September | 25 | PlayStation 3 Super Slim |
| November | 18 | Wii U |
| December | 7 | Wii mini (Canada only) |
| 18 | Neo Geo X |
Series with new entries
Series with new installments in 2012 include Alan Wake, Assassin's Creed, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Darksiders, Dead or Alive, Diablo, Fable, Far Cry, Forza Motorsport, Halo, Hitman, Mario Party, Marvel vs. Capcom, Mass Effect, Max Payne, Medal of Honor, Modern Combat, Need for Speed, Ninja Gaiden, PlanetSide, Pokémon, Prototype, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Sniper Elite, Spec Ops, Super Mario, Tekken, The Darkness, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Transformers, Trials, and X-COM.
In addition, 2012 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Asura's Wrath, Dishonored, Journey, Lollipop Chainsaw, and Sleeping Dogs.
Game releases
The list of games released in 2012 in North America.
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January–March
April–June
July–September
October–December
References
- "Best Video Games for 2012". Metacritic. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2012 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Super Hexagon for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Best Video Games for 2013". Metacritic. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Highest-Ranking Games of 2013 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "NBA 2K13 for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "The Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- "Call of Duty®: Black Ops II Grosses $1 Billion In 15 Days" (Press release). Santa Monica, California: Activision. December 5, 2012. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
- Morris, Chris (June 7, 2013). "Tapping China's Gaming Gold Mine". CNBC. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- "Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Activision Blizzard. pp. 14, 57, 77. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- "FIFA 13 sales hit 7.4 million in four weeks". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- Kain, Erik (October 11, 2012). "EA Sells Last Year's FIFA On Wii And Calls It New". Forbes. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "Borderlands 2 Has Shipped 5 Million Copies". IGN. October 31, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "Review: Borderlands 2". Destructoid. September 17, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "Создатель World of Tanks заработал за год 218 млн евро на виртуальных битвах". NEWSru. May 7, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "Financial Results Briefing for the Nine-Month Period Ended December 2012" (PDF). Nintendo. January 31, 2013. p. 6. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- "Review: Pokemon Black and White 2". Destructoid. October 4, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- Sterling, Jim (July 30, 2012). "Review: New Super Mario Bros. 2". Destructoid. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "Minecraft racked up $237m last year". The Inquirer. February 4, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- Snider, Mike (July 11, 2013). "'League of Legends' makes big league moves". USA Today. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- "The Arrival of KeSPA". Cyber-sports.net. Archived from the original on November 27, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- "Attendance and Stats". IGN. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Gallegos, Anthony (September 29, 2012). "EVE Online Retribution Announced, Detailed". IGN.