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.
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, Senran Kagura, Homefront, L.A. Noire, Minecraft, Rage, and Skylanders.
Legend
Hardware releases
The following is a list of game consoles released in 2011.
This year saw the release of the first two consoles in the eighth generation of gaming, the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita (only in Japan). Date Console February 26 Nintendo 3DS Harris, Craig (September 28, 2010). "Nintendo Conference 2010 Details". IGN. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2013.March 25Nintendo 3DS"Supplementary Information about Earnings Release". Nintendo. October 29, 2010. p. 9. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2010.March 27Nintendo 3DSKaluszka, Aaron (January 19, 2011). "3DS North American Price, Date, Colors Set". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2011.March 31Nintendo 3DSDaniel Vuckovic (February 8, 2011). "Nintendo 3DS launches in Australia on March 31st for $349". Vooks.net. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013. April 1 Xperia Play May 26Xperia Play October 23 Wii (Family Edition/RVL-101 model) East, Thomas (October 11, 2011). "New black Wii bundle includes Mario CD". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on November 14, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.October 26Xperia PlayNovember 4Wii (Family Edition/RVL-101 model)Phillips, Tom (October 12, 2011). "Wii redesign European release date". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2020.November 11Wii (Family Edition/RVL-101 model) December 17 PlayStation Vita
Critically acclaimed titles
Scores of 90+ Metacritic (MC) and GameRankings (GR) are aggregators of video game journalism reviews.
+ 2011 games and expansions scoring at least 90/100 (MC) or 90% (GR) Game Publisher Release Date Platform MC score GR score Batman: Arkham City Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment October 18, 2011 PS3 96/100 95.94% The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Softworks November 11, 2011 X360 96/100 95.15% Portal 2 Valve April 19, 2011 WIN 95/100 95.16% Portal 2 Valve April 19, 2011 X360 95/100 94% Portal 2 Valve April 19, 2011 PS3 95/100 93.95% The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Softworks November 11, 2011 WIN 94/100 94.42% The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Nintendo June 16, 2011 3DS 94/100 93.89% Batman: Arkham City Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment October 18, 2011 X360 94/100 93.88% Mass Effect 2 Electronic Arts January 17, 2011 PS3 94/100 93.09% The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Nintendo November 18, 2011 Wii 93/100 93.15% LittleBigPlanet 2 Sony Computer Entertainment January 18, 2011 PS3 91/100 92.04% The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection Sony Computer Entertainment September 22, 2011 PS3 92/100 91.79% Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Sony Computer Entertainment November 1, 2011 PS3 92/100 91.78% Rayman Origins Ubisoft November 15, 2011 Wii 92/100 91.27% The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Softworks November 11, 2011 PS3 92/100 88% Pushmo Nintendo October 5, 2011 3DS 90/100 91.5% Gears of War 3 Microsoft Game Studios September 20, 2011 X360 91/100 91.49% Forza Motorsport 4 Microsoft Game Studios October 11, 2011 X360 91/100 90.66% Batman: Arkham City Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment October 18, 2011 WIN 91/100 90.43% FIFA 12 EA Sports September 27, 2011 PS3 90/100 90.65% FIFA 12 EA Sports September 27, 2011 X360 90/100 90.55% Bastion Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment August 16, 2011 WIN 86/100 90.36% Deus Ex: Human Revolution Square Enix August 23, 2011 WIN 90/100 90.19% Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Konami November 8, 2011 PS3 89/100 90.14% Super Mario 3D Land Nintendo November 3, 2011 3DS 90/100 90.09% MLB 11: The Show Sony Computer Entertainment March 8, 2011 PS3 90/100 89.88% NBA 2K12 2K October 4, 2011 PS3 90/100 89.81% Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Konami November 8, 2011 X360 90/100 89.81% Limbo Playdead July 19, 2011 PS3 90/100 89.55% Total War: Shogun 2 Sega March 15, 2011 WIN 90/100 89.42% Dead Space 2 Electronic Arts January 25, 2011 X360 90/100 89.1% FIFA 12 EA Sports September 27, 2011 WIN 90/100 90% NBA 2K12 2K October 4, 2011 X360 90/100 88.39%
Major awards Category/Organization 29th Golden Joystick Awards VGA 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards 12th Game Developers Choice Awards 8th British Academy Games Awards Game of the Year Portal 2 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Portal 2 Independent / Debut Minecraft colspan="2" Bastion Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Downloadable Minecraft Bastion Mobile/Handheld Mobile Angry Birds Rio Super Mario 3D Land Infinity Blade II Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Peggle HD Handheld Super Mario 3D Land Innovation Nintendo 3DS colspan="2" Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Johann Sebastian Joust LittleBigPlanet 2 Artistic Achievementor Graphics Animation rowspan="2" Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Rayman Origins Art Direction Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Audio Music rowspan="2" Bastion Portal 2 Portal 2 L.A. Noire Sound Design colspan="2" Battlefield 3 Battlefield 3 Character or Performance Actor rowspan="2" Stephen Merchant as WheatleyPortal 2 The JokerBatman: Arkham City WheatleyPortal 2 rowspan="2" Mark Hamill as The JokerBatman: Arkham City Actress Ellen McLain as GLaDOSPortal 2 Game Direction or Design colspan="3" The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Portal 2 Narrative colspan="3" The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Portal 2Technical Achievement Gameplay Engineering rowspan="2" colspan="3" The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Battlefield 3 rowspan="2" Visual Engineering Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Multiplayer/Online Online Gameplay World of Warcraft Portal 2 Star Wars: The Old Republic rowspan="2" Battlefield 3 Connectivity Portal 2 Action/Adventure Action/Shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 rowspan="2" Batman: Arkham City Adventure Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Batman: Arkham City Casual or Family Casual colspan="3" rowspan="2" Fruit Ninja Kinect rowspan="2" LittleBigPlanet 2 Family LittleBigPlanet 2 Fighting Mortal Kombat rowspan="2" colspan="2" Role-Playing Fallout: New Vegas The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Sports Individual FIFA 11 Fight Night Champion FIFA 12 rowspan="2" Kinect Sports: Season Two Team NBA 2K12 Racing Gran Turismo 5 Forza Motorsport 4 colspan="2" Strategy/Simulation StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty colspan="2" Orcs Must Die! Total War: Shogun 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
Video game-based film and television releases
Title Date Director Distributor(s) Franchise Original game publisher Best Player March 13, 2011 Damon Santostefano Nickelodeon Mortal Kombat: Legacy April 11, 2011 Kevin Tancharoen Machinima, Inc. Mortal Kombat Midway Games Victini and Reshiram/Victini and Zekrom July 16, 2011 Kunihiko Yuyama Toho Pokémon Game Freak Tekken: Blood Vengeance July 26, 2011 Yōichi Mōri Asmik Ace Tekken Bandai Namco Dragon Age: Redemption October 10, 2011 Peter Winther Dragon Age BioWare Assassin's Creed: Embers November 15, 2011 Laurent Bernier Ubisoft Assassin's Creed Ubisoft
Events
Date Event January 6 - 9 International Consumer Electronics Show 2011 held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA February 26 The Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo's newest handheld console, releases in Japan. February 28 – March 4 Game Developers Conference 2011 held in San Francisco, California. March 11 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. March 11 - 13 PAX East 2011 held in Boston, Massachusetts. March 25 - 31 The Nintendo 3DS released in America, Europe and Australia. April 20 PlayStation Network services were suspended by Sony. The suspension lasted for 23 days. May 19 South Korea passes a law known as the "Youth Protection Revision Act", which regulates children under the age of sixteen playing online video games. June 6 Twitch.tv, a video game livestreaming service and website that focuses on video game content and esports is launched. June 7 - 9 E3 2011 was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. June 21 Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, celebrated its 20th anniversary. June 27 The Supreme Court of the United States issues their ruling on Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, declaring video games as protected free speech. August 4 - 7 QuakeCon 2011: The massive annual LAN party held in Dallas, Texas. August 15 - 17 Game Developers Conference 2011 Europe held in Cologne, Germany. August 18 - 22 Gamescom 2011 held at Cologne, Germany August 26 - 28 PAX Prime 2011 held in Seattle, Washington. September 9 The Crash Bandicoot franchise celebrated its 15th anniversary. September 15–18 Tokyo Game Show 2011 September 22–25 Eurogamer Expo 2011 held in Earls Court in London, England. October 15–16 EB Games Expo 2011 held in Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia. October 21–22 BlizzCon 2011 held in Anaheim Convention Center in California. November 18–19 Minecon held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Minecraft gets its full release on the 18th. December 3 10th anniversary of the Jak and Daxter series. December 10 Spike Video Game Awards. December 31 Artech Studios disbanded.
Notable deaths
May 20 – Randy Savage, 58, pro wrestler and actor (cover star of WWF WrestleMania Challenge, WWF Super WrestleMania, WWE All Stars). October 5 – Steve Jobs, 56, businessman and creator of Apple and iOS.
Games released in 2011
Genre Legend
January-March