:2011 in video games
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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Year nav topic5|2011|video games}}
Numerous video games were released in 2011. Many awards went to games such as Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Madden NFL 12, NBA 2K12, WWE '12, WWE All-Stars, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. 2011 also marked the worldwide release of the Nintendo 3DS, the first console of the eighth generation.
Critically acclaimed titles
=Major awards=
| class="wikitable" style="border:none; margin:0; width:100%; font-size: 90%;"
! style="width:17%;" colspan="2"| Category/Organization !! style="width:16%;" | 29th Golden Joystick Awards | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Game of the Year
| Portal 2 || colspan="4" | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim || colspan="2" | Portal 2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope="row" colspan="2" style="width:9%;" | Independent / Debut{{efn-lr|name=combine|Certain award presentations combine these categories.}}
| {{n/a}} | colspan="2" | Minecraft | colspan="2" {{n/a}} | Bastion | ||||||
| scope="row" style="width:12%;" colspan="2" | Downloadable | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" style="width:12%;" | Mobile/Handheld{{efn-lr|name=combine}} || Mobile
| rowspan="2" | Angry Birds Rio || rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Super Mario 3D Land || colspan="2" | Infinity Blade II || rowspan="2"| Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP || rowspan="2" | Peggle HD | ||||||
| scope="row" | Handheld
| colspan="2" | Super Mario 3D Land | ||||||
| scope="row" style="width:12%;" colspan="2" | Innovation
| Nintendo 3DS || colspan="2" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure || Johann Sebastian Joust || LittleBigPlanet 2 | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" style="width:9%;" | Artistic Achievement or Graphics{{efn-lr|name=combine|Certain award presentations combine these categories.}} || Animation | rowspan="2" {{n/a}} | rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | colspan="2" | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | rowspan="2" | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | rowspan="2" | Rayman Origins | ||||||
| scope="row" | Art Direction
| colspan="2" | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" style="width:12%;" | Audio{{efn-lr|name=combine|Certain award presentations combine these categories.}} || Music
| rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | Bastion || colspan="2" | Portal 2 || rowspan="2" | Portal 2 || L.A. Noire | ||||||
| scope="row"| Sound Design
| colspan="2" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | Battlefield 3 || Battlefield 3 | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" | Character or Performance{{efn-lr|name=combine}} || Actor
| rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || Stephen Merchant as Wheatley | ||||||
| Actress | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Game Direction or Design
| colspan="3" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim || colspan="2" | Portal 2 | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Narrative
| colspan="3" {{n/a}} || colspan="2"| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim || colspan="2" | Portal 2 | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" |Technical Achievement{{efn-lr|name=combine|Certain award presentations combine these categories.}} || Gameplay Engineering
| rowspan="2" colspan="3" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim || rowspan="2"| Battlefield 3 || rowspan="2" {{n/a}} | ||||||
| scope="row" | Visual Engineering
| colspan="2"| Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" | Multiplayer/Online{{efn-lr|name=combine|Certain award presentations combine these categories.}} || Online Gameplay
| rowspan="2" | World of Warcraft || rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Portal 2 || colspan="2" | Star Wars: The Old Republic || rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || rowspan="2" | Battlefield 3 | ||||||
| scope="row" | Connectivity
| colspan="2" | Portal 2 | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" | Action/Adventure || Action/Shooter
| Call of Duty: Black Ops || colspan="4" | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 || rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || rowspan="2" | Batman: Arkham City | ||||||
| scope="row" | Adventure
| Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood || colspan="4" | Batman: Arkham City | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" | Casual or Family || Casual
| colspan="3" rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | Fruit Ninja Kinect || rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || rowspan="2" | LittleBigPlanet 2 | ||||||
| Family
| colspan="2" | LittleBigPlanet 2 | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Fighting
| colspan="5" | Mortal Kombat || rowspan="2" colspan="2" {{n/a}} | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Role-Playing
| Fallout: New Vegas || colspan="4" | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | ||||||
| scope="row" rowspan="2" | Sports|| Individual
| rowspan="2" | FIFA 11 || colspan="2" | Fight Night Champion || rowspan="2" colspan="2" | FIFA 12 || rowspan="2" {{n/a}} || rowspan="2" | Kinect Sports: Season Two | ||||||
| Team
| colspan="2" | NBA 2K12 | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Racing
| Gran Turismo 5 || colspan="4" | Forza Motorsport 4 || colspan="2" {{n/a}} | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" | Strategy/Simulation
| StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty || colspan="2" {{n/a}} || colspan="2" | Orcs Must Die! || {{n/a}} || Total War: Shogun 2 | ||||||
| scope="row" colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Special Award || Outstanding Contribution || Video Game Hall of Fame || Gamer God || Hall of Fame || Pioneer Awards || Lifetime Achievement Award || Special Award | ||||||
| Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega) | The Legend of Zelda | Blizzard Entertainment | Tim Sweeney | Ed Logg | Warren Spector | Markus Persson |
{{notelist-lr}}
=Scores of 90+=
Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ 2011 games and expansions scoring at least 90/100 (MC) or 90% (GR){{cite web |title=Best Video Games for 2011 |url=https://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/year/all/all?sort=desc&year_selected=2011 |website=Metacritic |access-date=September 26, 2019}}{{cite web |title=Highest-Ranking Games of 2011 (with at least 5 reviews) |url=https://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html?site=&cat=0&year=2011&numrev=4&sort=0&letter=&search= |website=GameRankings |access-date=September 26, 2019}} |
| scope="col"| Game
! scope="col"| Publisher ! scope="col"| Release Date ! scope="col"| Platform ! scope="col"| MC score ! scope="col"| GR score |
|---|
| Batman: Arkham City
| Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | October 18, 2011 | 96/100 | 95.94% |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
| November 11, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 96/100 | 95.15% |
| Portal 2
| Valve | April 19, 2011 | 95/100 | 95.16% |
| Portal 2
| Valve | April 19, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 95/100 | 94% |
| Portal 2
| Valve | April 19, 2011 | 95/100 | 93.95% |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
| November 11, 2011 | 94/100 | 94.42% |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
| Nintendo | June 16, 2011 | 94/100 | 93.89% |
| Batman: Arkham City
| Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | October 18, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 94/100 | 93.88% |
| Mass Effect 2
| January 17, 2011 | 94/100 | 93.09% |
| The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
| Nintendo | November 18, 2011 | Wii | 93/100 | 93.15% |
| LittleBigPlanet 2
| January 18, 2011 | 91/100 | 92.04% |
| The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
| September 22, 2011 | 92/100 | 91.79% |
| Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
| November 1, 2011 | 92/100 | 91.78% |
| Rayman Origins
| Ubisoft | November 15, 2011 | Wii | 92/100 | 91.27% |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
| November 11, 2011 | 92/100 | 88% |
| Pushmo
| Nintendo | October 5, 2011 | 90/100 | 91.5% |
| Gears of War 3
| September 20, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 91/100 | 91.49% |
| Forza Motorsport 4
| October 11, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 91/100 | 90.66% |
| Batman: Arkham City
| Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | October 18, 2011 | 91/100 | 90.43% |
| FIFA 12
| September 27, 2011 | 90/100 | 90.65% |
| FIFA 12
| September 27, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 90/100 | 90.55% |
| Bastion
| Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | December 9, 2011 | 86/100 | 90.36% |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution
| August 23, 2011 | 90/100 | 90.19% |
| Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
| Konami | November 8, 2011 | 89/100 | 90.14% |
| Super Mario 3D Land
| Nintendo | November 3, 2011 | 90/100 | 90.09% |
| MLB 11: The Show
| March 8, 2011 | 90/100 | 89.88% |
| NBA 2K12
| 2K | October 4, 2011 | 90/100 | 89.81% |
| Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
| Konami | November 8, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 90/100 | 89.81% |
| Limbo
| Playdead | July 19, 2011 | 90/100 | 89.55% |
| Total War: Shogun 2
| Sega | March 15, 2011 | 90/100 | 89.42% |
| Dead Space 2
| January 25, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 90/100 | 89.1% |
| FIFA 12
| September 27, 2011 | 90/100 |
| NBA 2K12
| 2K | October 4, 2011 | Xbox 360 | 90/100 | 88.39% |
Events
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | |
| Month
! Day(s) ! Event | |
|---|---|
| January
| 6 - 9 | style="text-align:left;"|International Consumer Electronics Show 2011 held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA{{cite web|url=http://www.cesweb.org/|title=2011 International CES, January 6–9|publisher=GameSpot|access-date=March 10, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100208034010/http://www.cesweb.org/| archive-date= February 8, 2010 | url-status= live}} | |
| rowspan="2"| February | 26
| style="text-align:left;"|The Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo's newest handheld console, releases in Japan.{{cite web| last= Harris| first= Craig| date= September 28, 2010| title= Nintendo Conference 2010 Details| url= http://ds.ign.com/articles/112/1124149p1.html| publisher= IGN}} |
| | February 28 – March 4
| style="text-align:left;"| Game Developers Conference 2011 held in San Francisco, California.{{cite web|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/09/game-developers-conference-2011-dated-feb-28-to-march-4/|title=Save the date: GDC 2011, February 28 - March 4|date=March 9, 2010|publisher=GameSpot|access-date=August 15, 2010}} | |
| rowspan="3"| March
| 11 | style="text-align:left;"| As a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, certain video game releases were cancelled or postponed. Additionally, several servers used for Internet gaming were shut down temporarily. | |
| 11 - 13
| style="text-align:left;"| PAX East 2011 held in Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite web|url=http://east.paxsite.com|title=PAX East 2011, March 11 - March 13|access-date=May 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806044229/https://east.paxsite.com/|archive-date=August 6, 2019|url-status=dead}} | |
| 25 - 31
| style="text-align:left;"| The Nintendo 3DS released in America, Europe and Australia. | |
| April
| 20 | style="text-align:left;"| PlayStation Network services were suspended by Sony. The suspension lasted for 23 days. | |
| May
|19 | style="text-align:left;"| South Korea passes a law known as the "Youth Protection Revision Act", which regulates children under the age of sixteen playing online video games. | |
| rowspan="4" |June
|6 | style="text-align:left;"| Twitch.tv, a video game livestreaming service and website that focuses on video game content and esports is launched. | |
| 7 - 9
| style="text-align:left;" | E3 2011 was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/wikis/e3/Attendance_and_Stats|title=Attendance and Stats|date=June 8, 2012 |publisher=IGN|language=en|access-date=May 21, 2015}} | |
| 23
| style="text-align:left;"| The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all-time, celebrated its 20th anniversary. | |
| 27
| style="text-align:left;"| The Supreme Court of the United States issues their ruling on Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, declaring video games as protected free speech. | |
| rowspan="4"| August
| 4 - 7 | style="text-align:left;"| QuakeCon 2011: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas. | |
| 15 - 17
| style="text-align:left;"| Game Developers Conference 2011 Europe held in Cologne, Germany. | |
| 18 - 22
| style="text-align:left;"| Gamescom 2011 held at Cologne, Germany | |
| 26 - 28
| style="text-align:left;"| PAX Prime 2011 held in Seattle, Washington.{{cite web|url=http://prime.paxsite.com/|title=PAX Prime 2011, August 26–28|access-date=March 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204223216/http://prime.paxsite.com/|archive-date=February 4, 2016|url-status=dead}} | |
| rowspan="2" | September
| 15–18 | style="text-align:left;"| Tokyo Game Show 2011 | |
| 22–25
| style="text-align:left;"| Eurogamer Expo 2011 held in Earls Court in London, England. | |
| rowspan="2" | October
| 15–16 | style="text-align:left;"| EB Games Expo 2011 held in Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia. | |
| 21–22
| style="text-align:left;"| BlizzCon 2011 held in Anaheim Convention Center in California. | |
| rowspan="1" | November
| 18–19 | style="text-align:left;"| Minecon held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Minecraft gets its full release on the 18th. | |
| "
| rowspan="4" | December | 3 | style="text-align:left;"| 10th anniversary of the Jak and Daxter series.{{Cite web|url=http://kotaku.com/5864753/happy-10th-anniversary-jak-and-daxter|title=Happy 10th Anniversary, Jak and Daxter|publisher=Kotaku|first=Owen|last=Good|date=December 3, 2011}} | |
| 10
| style="text-align:left;"| Spike Video Game Awards. | |
| 17
| style="text-align:left;"| PlayStation Vita was released in Japan. | |
| 31
| style="text-align:left;"| Artech Studios disbanded. |
Notable deaths
{{Expand section|date=April 2024}}
- May 20 – Randy Savage, 58, pro wrestler and actor (cover star of WWF WrestleMania Challenge, WWF Super WrestleMania, WWE All Stars).{{Cite web |last=Fowler |first=Matt |date=2011-05-20 |title=Macho Man Randy Savage Dies |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/05/20/macho-man-randy-savage-dies |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=IGN |language=en}}
- October 5 – Steve Jobs, 56, businessman and creator of Apple and iOS.{{Cite web |title=Apple co-founder founder Steve Jobs dies {{!}} October 5, 2011 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/apple-founder-steve-jobs-dies |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}
Hardware releases
File:Nintendo-3DS-AquaOpen.jpg]]
Series with new entries
Series with new installments in 2011 include Ace Combat, Alice: Madness Returns, Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Call of Juarez, Cities XL, Crysis, Dead Space, Deus Ex, Dragon Age, Driver, Duke Nukem, Dynasty Warriors, The Elder Scrolls, F.E.A.R, Forza Motorsport, Gears of War, Infamous, Killzone, The Legend of Zelda, LittleBigPlanet, Mario Kart, Modern Combat, Mortal Kombat, MX vs. ATV, Need for Speed, Operation Flashpoint, Pokémon, Portal, Rayman, Red Faction, Red Orchestra, Resistance, Saints Row, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Super Mario, Total War, Tropico, Uncharted, Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Witcher.
2011 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Bastion, Dark Souls, Dead Island, Homefront, L.A. Noire, Minecraft, Rage, and Skylanders.
Game releases
The list of games released in 2011 in North America.
{{GamePlatformKey|tot=15|Lin|Mac|3DS|NDS|PS2|PS3|PSN|PSP|iOS|Droid|Wii|WiiWare|Win|X360|XBLA}}
=January–March=
=April–June=
=July–September=
=October–December=
Video game-based film and television releases
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| Title | Date | Director | Distributor(s) | Franchise | Original game publisher | {{abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Player
| March 13, 2011 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} | ||||||
| Mortal Kombat: Legacy
| April 11, 2011 | ||||||
| Victini and Reshiram/Victini and Zekrom
| July 16, 2011 | Toho | Pokémon | style="text-align:center;"|{{Cite web |title=Pokémon the Movie White: Victini and Zekrom |url=https://otakuusamagazine.com/pokemon-the-movie-white-victini-and-zekrom/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |language=en-US}} | ||||||
| Tekken: Blood Vengeance
| July 26, 2011 | Yōichi Mōri | Tekken | ||||||
| Dragon Age: Redemption
| October 10, 2011 | Peter Winther |{{n/a}} | BioWare | ||||||
| Assassin's Creed: Embers
| November 15, 2011 | Laurent Bernier | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | style="text-align:center;"|{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=G. R. |date=2011-12-15 |title='Assassin's Creed: Embers' Review |url=https://gamerant.com/assassins-creed-embers-reviews/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=Game Rant |language=en}} |