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The top five largest video game markets of 2018 were China ( $34.4 billion), the United States ( $31.5 billion), Japan ( $17.7 billion), South Korea ( $5.8 billion), and Germany ( $5 billion). Of this, 47% of the revenues were generated from mobile gaming, with consoles taking 28% and personal computers taking the remaining 25%.
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Highly scoring games with fewer than 10 reviews included Owlboy, The Banner Saga 3, and the Nintendo Switch ports of Undertale and Bastion.Īccording to industry analysis firm NewZoo, the video game industry was worth $134.9 billion by revenues in 2018, a 10.9% growth over 2017. Releases scoring higher than 90/100 in 2018 Titleĭivinity: Original Sin II - Definitive EditionĬhristian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games, Headcannon It generally considers expansions and re-releases as separate entities. Metacritic is an aggregator of video game journalism reviews. ^ Certain award presentations combine these categories.Top-rated games Major awards Category/Organizationġ9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards A nearly year-long freeze on video game approvals by the Chinese government had a major impact on publishers Tencent and NetEase, and is expected to impact future revenues in the industry. Additionally, with a number of major sudden studio closures, including Telltale Games, there was an increasing call for video game developers to unionize. With Fortnite 's success, Epic was able to establish the Epic Games Store for personal computers as a strong competitor to the dominant but criticized position held by Valve's Steam digital storefront by significantly increasing the revenue split it gave to developers.
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The year's highest-grossing games included Fortnite, Honor of Kings/ Arena of Valor, Dungeon Fighter Online, League of Legends, and Pokémon Go.Īmong major trends in 2018 included the explosive growth of battle royale games such as Bluehole's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Epic Games' Fortnite Battle Royale, the resurgence of Pokémon Go, ongoing governmental review of loot boxes in light of national gambling restrictions, Sony Interactive Entertainment agreeing to allow cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and other console users, and the entry of Fortnite-related internet memes into popular culture. Ultimate, Marvel's Spider-Man, Forza Horizon 4, Monster Hunter: World, Dead Cells, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Celeste. Games highly regarded by video game critics released in 2018 included Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Far Cry 5, God of War, Monster Hunter: World, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Best-selling games included Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Marvel's Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Smash Bros. Numerous video games were released in 2018. Overview of the events of 2018 in video games
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