2014 in video games

The year 2014 saw a number of events in the video game industry. No new major consoles were released, but updates and upgrades were: the New Nintendo 3DS was released in Japan and Oceania, and Sony released new model 2000 PS Vita systems in Europe & North America. In video game-related corporate acquisitions, Amazon purchased the online video game streaming service Twitch, and Facebook acquired the virtual reality company and product Oculus. Nintendo released Amiibo in 2014, companion figurines that could be scanned by the 3DS and Wii U systems. On Twitter and other Internet social media, the Gamergate controversy began.

Among video games originally released in 2014, critics gave the highest reviews to Madden NFL 15, NBA 2K15,  NBA Live 15, WWE 2K15, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Dark Souls II, Bayonetta 2, Shovel Knight, Velocity 2X, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mario Kart 8, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Other significant games that won awards included Destiny, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Monument Valley, Grand Theft Auto Online, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Watch_Dogs

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

Highest-grossing games
The following were 2014'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, personal computer, and console platforms).

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" ! No. ! Game ! Revenue ! Publisher(s) ! Genre(s) ! Platform(s) ! Business model ! class="unsortable" | Ref
 * 1
 * Puzzle & Dragons
 * $1,500,000,000
 * GungHo Online Entertainment (SoftBank Group)
 * Puzzle
 * Mobile
 * Free-to-play
 * 2
 * Crossfire
 * $1,400,000,000
 * Smilegate / Tencent
 * First-person shooter
 * Windows
 * Free-to-play
 * 3
 * Candy Crush Saga
 * $1,330,000,000
 * King Digital
 * Puzzle
 * Mobile
 * Free-to-play
 * 4
 * Clash of Clans
 * $1,000,000,000
 * Supercell (SoftBank Group)
 * Strategy
 * Mobile
 * Free-to-play
 * 5
 * League of Legends
 * $946,000,000
 * Riot Games / Tencent
 * MOBA
 * PC
 * rowspan="2" | Free-to-play
 * rowspan="2" |
 * 6
 * Dungeon Fighter Online
 * $891,000,000
 * Neople / Nexon
 * Beat 'em up
 * Windows
 * 7
 * Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
 * $840,000,000
 * Activision (Activision Blizzard)
 * First-person shooter
 * Multi-platform
 * Buy-to-play
 * 8
 * Grand Theft Auto V
 * US$
 * Rockstar Games (Take-Two Interactive)
 * Action-adventure
 * Multi-platform
 * Buy-to-play
 * 9
 * World of Warcraft
 * $728,000,000
 * Blizzard Entertainment (Activision Blizzard)
 * MMORPG
 * PC
 * Subscription
 * 10
 * Destiny
 * $500,000,000
 * Activision (Activision Blizzard)
 * First-person shooter
 * Multi-platform
 * Buy-to-play
 * 9
 * World of Warcraft
 * $728,000,000
 * Blizzard Entertainment (Activision Blizzard)
 * MMORPG
 * PC
 * Subscription
 * 10
 * Destiny
 * $500,000,000
 * Activision (Activision Blizzard)
 * First-person shooter
 * Multi-platform
 * Buy-to-play
 * First-person shooter
 * Multi-platform
 * Buy-to-play

Notable deaths

 * January 23 – Justin Carmical, 42, retro game enthusiast known online as JewWario.
 * February 14 – Harold Ramis, 69, actor, writer, and director who created the Ghostbusters franchise and co-wrote the 2009 video game.
 * April 8 – The Ultimate Warrior, 54, pro wrestler who appeared in WWE games (cover star of WWF WrestleMania Challenge, WWF European Rampage Tour, WWF Superstars, and WWE All Stars).
 * August 11 – Robin Williams, 63, actor who appeared in ads for The Legend of Zelda alongside his daughter whose name originates from the series.
 * December 6 – Ralph H. Baer, 92, game designer credited for creating the first home console.
 * December 22 – Christine Cavanaugh, 51, voice actor best known for the voice of Chuckie in the Rugrats franchise.

Series with new entries
Series with new installments in 2014 include Assassin's Creed, Bayonetta, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Castlevania, Civilization, Dark Souls, Divinity, Donkey Kong, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Elite,  Far Cry, Final Fantasy, Forza Horizon, Infamous, Kinect Sports, Kirby, LittleBigPlanet, Mario Golf, Mario Kart, Metal Gear, MX vs. ATV, Ninja Gaiden, Persona, Pokémon,  Professor Layton, Shantae, Sniper Elite, Sonic the Hedgehog, Strider Hiryu, Super Smash Bros., Tales, The Sims, Thief, Trials, Tropico, Wolfenstein, and World of Warcraft.

In addition, 2014 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Destiny, Five Nights at Freddy's, Shovel Knight, Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall, The Evil Within and Watch Dogs.

Game releases
The list of games released in 2014 in North America.