Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, Maryland. Following its first commercial video game release, ZZT (1991), the company became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on Mark Rein, who has been its vice president since. After moving the headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio changed its name to Epic Games.
Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas. The studio is best known for its work on the Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong series and has contributed to several other Nintendo-developed projects, such as Mario Kart 7.
Marvel Games is the licensing and publishing brand for video games based on Marvel properties, and is also the video game division of Disney Interactive. Before the incorporation of Marvel Games, video games based on Marvel properties released between 1982 and 1985 were handled by Marvel Comics Group, with Marvel video games from 1986 to 1998 being handled by Marvel Entertainment Group, while video games based on Marvel properties prior to the incorporation of Marvel Games were handled directly by Marvel Enterprises.
David Adams is an American video game designer best known for his work on Darksiders and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium. In 2014, Adams founded Gunfire Games
The year 2015 saw releases of numerous video games as well as a follow-up to Nintendo's portable 3DS console, the New Nintendo 3DS. Top-rated games originally released in 2015 included Madden NFL 16, NBA 2K16, NBA Live 16, WWE 2K16, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Bloodborne, Undertale, and Fallout 4. Sales of video games in 2015 reached $61 billion, according to analysis firm SuperData, an 8% increase from 2014. Of this, the largest sector was in computer game sales and subscription services, accounting for $32 billion. Mobile games revenues were at $25.1 billion, a 10% increase from 2014. Digital sales on consoles made up the remaining $4 billion.
Numerous video games were released in 2016. New hardware came out as well, albeit largely refreshed and updated versions of consoles in the PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 4 Slim, and Xbox One S. Commercially available virtual reality headsets were released in much greater numbers and at much lower price points than the enthusiast-only virtual reality headsets of earlier generations. Augmented reality also became mainstream with Pokémon Go. Top-rated games originally released in 2016 included Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Inside, Overwatch, Forza Horizon 3, Madden NFL 17, WWE 2K17, NBA 2K17, Dark Souls III, and Battlefield 1 and Doom 2016. The top five highest-grossing video games of 2016 were League of Legends, Honor of Kings/Arena of Valor, Monster Strike, Clash of Clans, and Dungeon Fighter Online.
Divekick is a 2D competitive fighting game originally developed by One True Game Studios, an independent collective of competitive gamers. A demo of the game was showcased at several competitive events, and after a positive reaction, the group created a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of a full version for release on Microsoft Windows. The Kickstarter project was canceled after it was announced that developer Iron Galaxy Studios had agreed to co-develop and release the game.
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Armature Studio and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is a companion game and sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins (2013), and part of the Batman: Arkham series. Set three months after Arkham Origins, the game follows Batman as he attempts to stop a prison riot at the Blackgate Penitentiary, which has been taken over by three of Gotham City's most notorious crime bosses: the Joker, the Penguin, and Black Mask. The story also depicts Batman's first encounter with Catwoman, who aids Batman throughout the game with ulterior motives.
Killer Instinct is a fighting game, the third in the Killer Instinct series, originally developed by Double Helix Games, followed by Iron Galaxy, under supervision of Ken Lobb and Rare, and published by Microsoft Studios, released as a free-to-play launch game for the Xbox One in 2013. The game is a reboot of the series, though some plot elements from Killer Instinct and Killer Instinct 2 have been retained. Development of the game involves individuals with histories in fighting games on both the developmental and competitive sides. It received positive reviews for its mechanics and engine, but was criticized for its initial lack of content. A second season of characters was released between 2014 and 2015. A third season, along with a port of the game for Windows 10, was released in 2016.
Batman: Arkham Knight is a 2015 action-adventure game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the successor to the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, a direct sequel to Batman: Arkham City (2011) and the fourth main installment in the Batman: Arkham series. Written by Sefton Hill, Ian Ball, and Martin Lancaster, Arkham Knight is inspired by the long-running comic book mythos. Set nine months after the events of Arkham City, the game's main storyline follows Batman as he confronts Scarecrow, who has launched an attack on Gotham City and caused a citywide evacuation. Scarecrow, with the help of the mysterious Arkham Knight, plots to unite all of Gotham's criminals in an attempt to finally destroy Batman.
Overwatch was a 2016 team-based multiplayer first-person shooter game by Blizzard Entertainment. The game was first released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in May 2016 and Nintendo Switch in October 2019. Cross-platform play was supported across all platforms.
The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley, who worked on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awards, for over ten years. With the permission of Spike, he worked with several video game companies to create the show. In addition to the awards, the Game Awards features premieres of upcoming games and new information on previously-announced titles. The show's reception is generally mixed: it has been lauded for its announcements and criticized for its lack of acknowledgement of events, use of promotional content and its treatment of award winners.
Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division, abbreviated Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. Nintendo EPD was established in September 2015 after merging their Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development divisions.
The 2014 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in at Westgate Las Vegas on July 11–13. The event featured a major tournament for eight fighting games, including Ultra Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma. The event was part of the first Capcom Pro Tour.
Stormland is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Oculus Studios for the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset. The game put emphasis on both exploration and combat as the player character, an android gardener named Vesper, traverses an alien planet from a first-person perspective. The game received generally positive reviews from critics upon release.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a 2021 third-person shooter game developed by Cold Iron Studio in collaboration with Disney's 20th Century Games. It is a standalone sequel to the original Alien trilogy. In contrast to Alien: Isolation, Fireteam Elite is more in line with Aliens: Colonial Marines, and focuses on action rather than survival-horror.
Rumbleverse was a free-to-play brawler battle royale video game developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Epic Games Publishing. The game was released for Windows via Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on August 11, 2022. The servers shut down on February 28, 2023, six months after its launch.
Overwatch is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Overwatch was released in 2016 with a successor, Overwatch 2, released in 2022. Both games feature hero-based combat between two teams of players vying over various objectives, along with other traditional gameplay modes.
