In the

video game industry The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...

, 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

shortage (partially from post-COVID-19 effects) and a rising growth of

bitcoin mining The bitcoin protocol is the set of rules that govern the functioning of bitcoin. Its key components and principles are: a peer-to-peer decentralized network with no central oversight; the blockchain technology, a public ledger that records all ...

that strained the supply of critical components.

Top-rated games

Major awards

Critically acclaimed games

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

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 , 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.

Largest markets

According to market research firm Newzoo, the following countries were the largest video game markets in 2021.

Highest-grossing mobile games

The following titles are the top ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2021.

Highest-grossing games in China

The following titles were 2021's top six highest-grossing video games in China.

Best-selling premium games by region

The following titles were 2021's top ten best-selling premium games by region (excluding

microtransactions Microtransaction (mtx) refers to a business model where users can purchase in-game virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransactions ...

and

free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

titles) on PC and

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

platforms, for Japan, the United States, and Europe.

Major events

Notable deaths

* February 3 – Robert A. Altman, 73, co-founder and CEO of

ZeniMax Media ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. ...

. * March 11 – Gordon Hall, 51, co-founder of

Rockstar Leeds Rockstar Leeds Limited (formerly Möbius Entertainment Limited) is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Leeds. Ian J. Bowden, Dave Box, Gordon Hall, and Jason McGann founded the company as Möbius Entertainme ...

. * April 4 – Ralph Schuckett, 73, co-composer on the video game '' Pokémon Puzzle League''. * April 9 – DMX, 50, rapper who appeared in '' Street Hoops'' and '' Def Jam Vendetta''. * May 28 – Benoît Sokal, 66, creator of the ''

Syberia ''Syberia'' is a franchise of graphic adventure games created by Belgian comic artist and video game developer Benoît Sokal. Set within an alternate universe designed by Sokal and introduced in the 1999 video game ''Amerzone'', the series is ...

'' series. * June 4 – Ebbe Altberg, ca. 57, CEO of

Linden Lab Linden Research, Inc., doing business as Linden Lab, is an American technology company that is best known as the developer of ''Second Life''. The company's head office is in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in Boston, Massach ...

, creators of ''

Second Life ''Second Life'' is a multiplayer virtual world that allows people to create an Avatar (computing), avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user-created content within a multi-user online environment. Developed for person ...

''. * ca. June 27 – "Near" aka "Byuu", ca. 38, developer of the

higan is a Buddhist holiday exclusively celebrated by Japanese sects for seven days; three days before and after both the Spring equinox ( shunbun) and Autumnal equinox ( shūbun). It is observed by nearly every Buddhist school in Japan. The tradi ...

emulator for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

. * ca. August – David Lawson, 62, co-founder of

Imagine Software Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polishe ...

and

Psygnosis Psygnosis Limited (; known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Het ...

* August 29 –

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...

, 91, actor known for voicing Carl Fredrickson in '' Up''. * September 12 – Brandon Ashur, 36, ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

and livestreamer also known as Bashurverse. * September 16 –

Clive Sinclair Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics ...

, 81, founder of

Sinclair Research Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge in the 1970s. In 1980, the company entered the home computer market with the ZX80 at £99.95, at that time the cheapest personal computer ...

, the company behind several early personal computers like the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

* September 18 –

Mick McGinty Mick McGinty (December 7, 1952 – September 18, 2021) was an American artist who specialized in airbrush, digital, and fine art oil painting. He graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, in 1979, and went to work for t ...

, 69, traditional artist for television, film, and video games, including artwork for ''

Street Fighter II is a 1991 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcade game, arcades. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter (video game), Street Fighter''. Designed by Yoshiki O ...

'' and other games in the 1980s and 1990s. * September 30 –

Koichi Sugiyama was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing for the ''Dragon Quest'' franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, television shows, and pop songs. Classically trained, Sugiyama was c ...

, 90, composer of the ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...

'' series among others. * October 16 – Hiroshi Ono, 64, graphic artist for

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

who did most of their pixel art for their early arcade games, and was otherwise known as "Mr Dotman". * December 6 – Masayuki Uemura, 78, lead architect of the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. * December 14 – Ian Hetherington, 69, co-founder of Imagine Software and Psygnosis, chairman of

Evolution Studios Evolution Studios Ltd. was a British video game developer based in Runcorn, Cheshire. The company was founded in 1999 by Martin Kenwright and Ian Hetherington, following the purchase of their studio Digital Image Design's publisher Ocean So ...

and

Realtime Worlds Realtime Worlds Ltd. (formerly Rage Games (Scotland) Limited and Real Time Worlds Ltd.) was a British video game developer based in Dundee. The studio was formed in February 2000 when Rage Software hired David Jones to lead its Scottish opera ...

. * December 28 –

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

, 85, American football coach and commentator, and namesake of

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

' ''

Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football sports video game series developed by EA Orlando for EA Sports. The franchise, named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden, has ...

'' series.

Hardware releases

The list of game-related hardware released in 2021.

Game releases

Series with new entries

Series with new installments include ''

Age of Empires ''Age of Empires'' is a series of historical real-time strategy video games, originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. The first title in the series, ''Age of Empires'', focused on events in Europe, Afri ...

'', ''

Alex Kidd is a platform video game series developed by Sega. Games The franchise includes seven titles. * '' Alex Kidd in Miracle World'' - 1986, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars'' - 1986, Arcade, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: High-Tech ...

'', '' Alien'', '' Angelique'', '' Aragami'', '' A-Train'', ''

Baldur's Gate ''Baldur's Gate'' is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms '' Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting. The series has been divided into two sub-series, known as the ''Bhaalspawn Saga'' and the ''Dark Alliance'', both t ...

'', ''

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

'', '' Big Brain Academy'', ''

Blaster Master ''Blaster Master'' is a video game series that was originally developed and published by Sunsoft. It began with the 1988 video game ''Blaster Master (video game), Blaster Master'' for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the series has been Re ...

'', '' Blue Reflection'', '' Bus Simulator'', ''

Bravely Default ''Bravely Default'', known in Japan as ''Bravely Default: Flying Fairy'', is a 2012 role-playing video game developed by Silicon Studio and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo 3DS. It was originally released in 2012 and later rereleased ...

'', '' The Caligula Effect'', ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...

'', '' Chivalry: Medieval Warfare'', '' Cookie Run'', ''

Cut the Rope Cut or CUT may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** ...

'','' The Dark Pictures Anthology'', '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'', ''

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'', also released as ''DC Superhero Girls'', is an American animated superhero web series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the third quarter ...

'', '' Diablo'', ''

Disgaea is a video game series, series of tactical role-playing game, tactical role-playing video games created and developed by Nippon Ichi. The series debuted in Japan on January 30, 2003 in video gaming, 2003, with ''Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'', later ...

'', ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', ''

Drakengard ''Drakengard'', known in Japan as is a series of action role-playing video games originally developed by Cavia (company), Cavia and published by Square Enix. The Drakengard (video game), eponymous first game in the series was released in 2003 ...

'', ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...

'', '' Everspace'', '' Evil Genius'', ''

Far Cry ''Far Cry'' is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games published by Ubisoft. The first game, '' Far Cry'', was developed by Crytek to premiere their CryEngine software, and released in March 2004. Subsequently, Ubisoft obtained ...

'', ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...

'', ''

Five Nights at Freddy's ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' (''FNaF'') is a video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon that includes video games, novels, graphic novels, and films. The story arcs typically follow a night guard or other character trying t ...

'', ''

Forza ''Forza'' ( , ; Italian for "force" and "strength") is a racing video game series for Xbox consoles and Microsoft Windows published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise has sold 16 million copies as of December 2016 and has garnered critical ac ...

'', '' Ghosts 'n Goblins'', ''

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Comic book teams 1969 team The 1969 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), Guardians of the Galaxy were the origi ...

'', ''

Guilty Gear ''Guilty Gear'' is a series of fighting games by Arc System Works, created and designed by artist Daisuke Ishiwatari. Guilty Gear (first video game), The first game was published in 1998, and has spawned several sequels. It has also adapted to o ...

'', ''

Halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

'', ''

Hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

'', ''

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...

'', '' The House of the Dead'', ''

The Idolmaster is a Japanese media franchise that began in 2005 with a Life simulation game, raising simulation and Rhythm game, rhythm video game series created by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The series primarily centers on the career of a pr ...

'', '' King's Bounty'', ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'', ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', ''

Life Is Strange ''Life Is Strange'' is a series of adventure games published by Square Enix's Square Enix External Studios, External Studios. Created by Dontnod Entertainment, the series debuted with the Life Is Strange (video game), eponymous first install ...

'', ''

Little Nightmares ''Little Nightmares'' is a puzzle-platform horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, released in April 2017. A Nintendo Switch version was released i ...

'', '' Little Tail Bronx'', '' Lone Echo,'' '' Mario Golf'', ''

Mario Party is a series of party video games created by Hudson Soft and owned by Nintendo. It features List of Mario franchise characters, characters from the Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise in which up to four local players or Artificial inte ...

'', ''

Megami Tensei ''Megami Tensei'', marketed internationally as ''Shin Megami Tensei'' (formerly ''Revelations''), is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji Okada, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed ...

'', ''

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic M ...

'', ''

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games, beginning with first installment '' Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of pl ...

'', '' No More Heroes'', ''

Oddworld ''Oddworld'' is a video game series and fictional universe, created by developers Oddworld Inhabitants under the direction of Lorne Lanning. The series has been released on various platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation 3, Game Boy, Wi ...

'', ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'', ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'', ''

Psychonauts ''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platformer, platform game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Majesco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Xbox (console), Xbox and PlayStation 2. Set in a Retrofuturism, retro-futuristic version of t ...

'', ''

Ratchet & Clank ''Ratchet & Clank'' is a series of Action-adventure game, action-adventure Platform game, platform and third-person shooter video games created and developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. High Impact Games ...

'', ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'', ''

Rune Factory is a franchise of fantasy role-playing video game, role-playing Social simulation game, social simulation games created by Yoshifumi Hashimoto and primarily published by Marvelous Inc, Marvelous. The games are developed by Hashimoto's studio Ma ...

'', ''

R-Type is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful a ...

'', ''

Samurai Warriors is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based closely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and is a sister series of the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, releas ...

'', '' Sniper: Ghost Warrior'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', '' Stronghold'', ''

Story of Seasons ''Story of Seasons'', known in Japan as and formerly known as ''Harvest Moon'', is an agricultural farming life simulation video game series created by Yasuhiro Wada and developed by Victor Interactive Software (acquired by Marvelous Enterta ...

'', ''

Subnautica ''Subnautica'' is a 2018 action-adventure survival game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. The player controls Ryley Robinson, a survivor of a spaceship crash on an alien oceanic planet, which they are free to explore. The ...

'', ''

Super Mario (also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...

'', ''

System Shock ''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game ...

'', '' Tales'', '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', ''

Wario is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise that was designed as an Archenemy, archnemesis to Mario. Wario first appeared as the main antagonist and final Boss (video games), boss in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mar ...

'', '' Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', ''

The World Ends with You ''The World Ends with You'' is an action role-playing game co-developed by Square Enix and Jupiter for the Nintendo DS. Set in the modern-day Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, ''The World Ends with You'' features a distinctive art style and ur ...

'', ''

Wonder Boy The series, also known as the series, is a franchise of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape). Beginning with the original ''Wonder Boy (video game), Wonder Boy'' arcade game released in April ...

'', and ''

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

Top-rated games

Major awards

Critically acclaimed games

Financial performance

Largest markets

Highest-grossing mobile games

Highest-grossing games in China

Best-selling premium games by region

Major events

Notable deaths

Hardware releases

Game releases

Series with new entries

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Video game-based film and television releases

Discontinued games

See also

Notes

References