2013 in video games

Numerous video games were released in 2013. Many awards went to games such as Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, WWE 2K14, NBA Live 14, BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. New video game consoles released in 2013 include the PlayStation 4 from Sony Computer Entertainment and the Xbox One from Microsoft.

Series with new installments in 2013 include Ace Attorney, ARMA, Army of Two, Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham, Battlefield, BioShock, Call of Duty, Crysis, Dead Rising, Dead Space, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Forza Motorsport, God of War, Gears of War, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, Killer Instinct, Killzone, The Legend of Zelda, Lost Planet, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Party, Metal Gear, Metro, Need for Speed, Pokémon, Rayman, Pikmin, Saints Row, SimCity, Sly Cooper, Sonic The Hedgehog, StarCraft, Super Mario, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider, Total War, and Zoo Tycoon.

In addition, 2013 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Beyond: Two Souls, The Last of Us, Papers, Please, Tearaway, Cookie Clicker and The Wonderful 101.

Highest-grossing games

The following were 2013'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 Puzzle & Dragons $1,522,000,000 GungHo Online Entertainment (SoftBank Group) Puzzle Mobile Free-to-play [1]
2 Candy Crush Saga $1,460,000,000 King Digital Entertainment Puzzle Mobile Free-to-play [2]
3 World of Warcraft $1,041,000,000 Blizzard Entertainment (Activision Blizzard) MMORPG PC, Console Subscription / pay-to-play [3]
4 Grand Theft Auto V $1,000,000,000 Rockstar Games (Take-Two Interactive) Action-adventure Console Buy-to-play [4]
5 Call of Duty: Ghosts $1,000,000,000 Activision (Activision Blizzard) FPS PC, Console Buy-to-play [5]
6 Crossfire $1,000,000,000 Smilegate / Tencent FPS PC Free-to-play [6]
7 League of Legends $624,000,000 Riot Games / Tencent MOBA PC Free-to-play [7]
8 Pokémon X / Y $464,000,000 Nintendo / The Pokémon Company RPG Console Buy-to-play [8][9]
9 Dungeon Fighter Online $426,000,000 Neople / Nexon Beat 'em up PC Free-to-play [7]
10 World of Tanks $372,000,000 Wargaming.net Vehicular combat, MMO PC Free-to-play [7]

Top-rated games

Critically acclaimed titles

Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.

2013 games and expansions scoring at least 90/100 (MC) or 90% (GR)[10][11]
Game Publisher Release Date Platform MC score GR score
Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar Games September 17, 2013 PS3 97/100 97.01%
Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar Games September 17, 2013 X360 97/100 96.1%
BioShock Infinite 2K Games March 26, 2013 PS3 94/100 95.94%
The Last of Us Sony Computer Entertainment June 14, 2013 PS3 95/100 95.09%
BioShock Infinite 2K Games March 26, 2013 WIN 94/100 92.62%
Flower Sony Computer Entertainment November 15, 2013 PS4 91/100 93.57%
Fez Trapdoor May 1, 2013 WIN 91/100 93.5%
Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection Konami July 9, 2013 PS3 93/100 93.33%[12]
Super Mario 3D World Nintendo November 21, 2013 WiiU 93/100 92.56%
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 505 Games September 3, 2013 WIN 90/100 93.12%
Rayman Legends Ubisoft August 29, 2013 WiiU 92/100 93%
BioShock Infinite 2K Games March 26, 2013 X360 93/100 91.89%
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut Square Enix October 22, 2013 WIN 91/100 92.5%[13]
Rayman Legends Ubisoft August 29, 2013 PS3 91/100 91.81%
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Nintendo September 20, 2013 WiiU 90/100 91.08%
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Nintendo November 22, 2013 3DS 91/100 90.55%
Spelunky Mossmouth August 8, 2013 WIN 90/100 91%
Mass Effect 3: Citadel Electronic Arts March 5, 2013 PS3 90/100 90.67%[14]
The Stanley Parable Galactic Cafe October 13, 2013 WIN 88/100 90.25%
Dota 2 Valve July 9, 2013 WIN 90/100 89.27%
Rayman Legends Ubisoft August 29, 2013 WIN 90/100 89%[15]
Rayman Legends Ubisoft August 29, 2013 X360 90/100 88.88%
Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods Paradox Interactive May 28, 2013 WIN 88/100 90%[16]
XCOM: Enemy Within 2K Games November 12, 2013 PS3 88/100 90%[17]
Rage of the Gladiator Gamelion Studios September 19, 2013 3DS 88/100 90%[18]

Major awards

Category/Organization 31st Golden Joystick Awards
October 25, 2013
VGX
December 7, 2013
17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards
February 6, 2014
10th British Academy Games Awards
March 12, 2014
14th Game Developers Choice Awards
March 19, 2014
Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto V The Last of Us
Independent / Debut[i] Mark of the Ninja Gone Home N/a Gone Home
Downloadable N/a Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons N/a Papers, Please
Mobile/Handheld[i] Mobile XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time Tearaway The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Handheld Assassin's Creed III: Liberation The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Innovation Oculus Rift N/a The Last of Us Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Papers, Please
Artistic Achievement[i] Animation BioShock Infinite N/a The Last of Us Tearaway BioShock Infinite
Art Direction The Last of Us
Audio[i] Music N/a Grand Theft Auto V BioShock Infinite BioShock Infinite
Sound Design N/a The Last of Us
Character or Performance[i] Actor N/a Troy Baker as Joel
The Last of Us
The Lutece Twins
BioShock Infinite
Ellie
The Last of Us
Ashley Johnson as Ellie
The Last of Us
N/a
Actress Ashley Johnson as Ellie
The Last of Us
Game Direction or Design N/a The Last of Us Grand Theft Auto V The Last of Us
Narrative The Last of Us N/a The Last of Us
Technical Achievement[i] Gameplay Engineering N/a Grand Theft Auto V N/a Grand Theft Auto V
Visual Engineering The Last of Us
Multiplayer/Online[i] Multiplayer Payday 2 N/a World of Tanks Grand Theft Auto V N/a
Online World of Tanks
Action/Adventure Action/Shooter N/a BioShock Infinite The Last of Us
Adventure N/a Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag The Last of Us
Casual or Family Casual N/a Animal Crossing: New Leaf Plant vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time Tearaway
Family Super Mario 3D World
Fighting N/a Injustice: Gods Among Us N/a
Role-Playing N/a Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Diablo III
Sports/Racing Sports N/a NBA 2K14 FIFA 14 FIFA 14
Racing Forza Motorsport 5
Strategy/Simulation N/a XCOM: Enemy Within Papers, Please
Special Award Lifetime Achievement N/a Hall of Fame Pioneer Award BAFTA Fellowship Lifetime Achievement Award
Ken Levine Sam Houser,
Dan Houser,
Leslie Benzies
Eugene Jarvis Rockstar Games Ken Kutaragi
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Certain award presentations combine these categories.

Events

Date Event Ref.
February 14 Nintendo starts the "Year of Luigi" to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the titular character. [19]
February 20 – 22 Sony's eighth generation console PlayStation 4 (PS4) reveal held at New York City, New York.
March The beta for Kahoot! is released with the full version released in September.
March 22 – 24 PAX East 2013 held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
March 23 – 25 Midwest Gaming Classic 2013 held at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
March 25 – 29 Game Developers Conference 2013 held in San Francisco, California.
May Cloud9 is founded in Santa Monica, California.
May 21 – 23 Microsoft's eighth generation console Xbox One reveal held at Microsoft Redmond Campus, Washington.
June 11 – 13 E3 2013 was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. [20]
June 22 – 23 Rezzed 2013 was held at the NEC Birmingham. [21]
July 18 – 21 SDCC 2013 was held at the San Diego Convention Center.
July 19 – 22 PAX Australia 2013 was held at the Melbourne Showgrounds.
August 1 – 4 QuakeCon 2013: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas.
August 7 – 11 The International 2013, the third iteration of the annual Dota 2 global esports tournament, was held in Seattle.
August 9 – 11 The Pokémon World Championships was held in Canada instead of the United States.
August 22 – 25 Gamescom 2013 held in Cologne, Germany.
August 30 – September 2 PAX Prime 2013 held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.
September 9 The Spyro series celebrated its 15th anniversary.
September 19 – 22 Tokyo Game Show 2013 at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo.
September 26 – 29 Eurogamer Expo 2013 held in Earls Court, London.
October 3 – 6 Indiecade 2013 festival held in Culver City, California.
October 4 – 7 EB Games Expo 2013 held at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales.
October 25 – 27 Games Week 2013 held in Milan, Italy.
October 30 – November 3 Paris Games Week 2013 held in Paris, France.
November 8 – 9 BlizzCon 2013 held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
December 7 The final Spike Video Game Awards are held. [22]

Notable deaths

Hardware releases

The list of game consoles released in 2013.

Date Console Manufacturer Ref.
June 10 Xbox 360 ENA [26]
June 20 Xbox 360 EEU [27]
June 25 Ouya
July 31 Nvidia Shield
October 12 Nintendo 2DSNA/PAL
November 14 PlayStation TV
November 15 GameStick
PlayStation 4NA [28]
November 22 Xbox One
November 26 Nintendo 2DSBR
November 29 PlayStation 4PAL [28]
December 7 Nintendo 2DSKOR
December 10 MOJO

Games released in 2013

Video game-based film and television releases

Title Date Type Distributor(s) Franchise Original game publisher(s) Ref.
Angry Birds Toons March 17, 2013 Animated mini series Toons.TV Angry Birds Rovio Entertainment [29]
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures June 15, 2013 3D anime series Tokyo MX Pac-Man Namco [30]
Danganronpa: The Animation July 4, 2013 Anime mini series Mainichi Broadcasting System Danganronpa Spike Chunsoft [31]
Genesect and the Legend Awakened July 13, 2013 Anime film Toho (Japan) Pokémon Nintendo
The Pokémon Company
[32]
Rabbids Invasion August 3, 2013 3D animated series Nickelodeon Rabbids Ubisoft [33]
Pokémon Origins October 2, 2013 Anime mini series TV Tokyo Pokémon Nintendo
The Pokémon Company
[34]
The Smash Brothers October 11, 2013 Documentary series East Point Pictures Super Smash Bros. Nintendo [35]
Bayonetta: Bloody Fate November 23, 2013 Anime film Gonzo Bayonetta Platinum Games [36]
Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring of Birth Anime film Aniplex Persona Atlus [37]
How Videogames Changed the World November 30, 2013 Documentary series Channel 4 N/a N/a [38]
Moshi Monsters: The Movie December 20, 2013 Animated film Universal Pictures Moshi Monsters Mind Candy [39]

See also

References

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  10. ^ "Best Video Games for 2013". Metacritic. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  11. ^ "Highest-Ranking Games of 2013 (with at least 5 reviews)". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  12. ^ "Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  13. ^ "Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  14. ^ "Mass Effect 3: Citadel for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  15. ^ "Rayman Legends for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
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  17. ^ "XCOM: Enemy Within for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  18. ^ "Rage of the Gladiator for 3DS". GameRankings. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
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