Video game culture has created one of the biggest community’s around the world, so much in fact their is over 2.7 Billion gamers around the world in 2020, and still growing.
Their has been many gaming franchises throughout the years. Their are many companies that have owned/made many franchises. One company that owns well known franchises around the world is Nintendo.
The top best-selling video games franchises of all time are Pokémon, Mario, Call Of Duty, Wii, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Dungeon Fighter Online, and Street Fighter. The number 1 gaming franchises around the world is Minecraft.
With gaming franchises there comes gaming studios. These studios have made dozens of top games and software’s throughout gaming history. There are many different gaming studios throughout the world and the top gaming studios come for Japan and the U.S.
Nintendo
Nintendo is the world’s largest video game company in world by revenue, with a net worth value over $85 Billion. Many notable video games around the world are made by Nintendo. The company headquarters is located in Kyoto, Japan. This company started their conception of handheld video games in 1979. What most people don’t know about Nintendo is that they didn’t start off with making video games or console, they first started off producing toys. In 1981, Nintendo created one of the most popular video games characters of all time, Mario, with the first Mario game being created in 1985. Over the years, Nintendo has faced many competitors throughout the years, but they consistently show time, and time again that they are on top.
Some of the most notable games owned by Nintendo are:
- Mario
- The Legend of Zelda
- Pokémon
- Kirby
- Animal Crossing
Valve Corporation
Valve corporation is one of the most well known gaming studios out there. It has been growing in popularity in the last few years, so much in fact it has become on of the most profitable studios in the current generation. This studio started back in 1996 by Microsoft, and owed by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. Value owns many gaming series that have grown in throughout the years in popularity. It has earned over $2.5 Billion.
Some of the best games valve owns are:
- Half-Life
- Dota
- Left 4 Dead
- Portal
Activision
Activision is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. This gaming studio is also one of the most popular in the USA. Activision was founded by in October 1, 1979 in Sunnyvale. Compared to other gaming studios, this gaming studio has some of the most games made in the past years, and the highest rated games. The company had a revenue of over $8.09 Billion in 2020.
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony is one of the most biggest and successful gaming companies of all time. They have produced some of the best selling consoles and highest rating games in gaming history. This company in particular is one of Sony’s largest corporation’s they own. The company was first established in Tokyo, in November 1993. Sony also has several subsidiaries in Asia, Europe, and North America. Sony also has a revenue of nearly $77 Billion in 2020.
These are some game consoles from Sony C.E:
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is one of the more popular game developers out there. They create games for all console systems out there. One of the most noticeable game series they own is “Assassin’s Creed” series. They also have some of the best franchises on the gaming market. Also they have some of the highest rated games in the past few years. The company originated in France, in March 1986 by the Guillemot family. Their company has 26 subsidiaries throughout the world. In 2020 Ubisoft had a revenue of 1.59 Billion.
Some game series made from Ubisoft:
- Far Cry series
- Assassin’s creed series
- Tom Clancy series
Sega Games Co. Ltd
Sega is one of the oldest gaming studios out there. The company was founded in 1960, by Martin Bromley and Richard Stewart, but it is located as of today in Tokyo, Japan. Funny enough the company wasn’t named “Sega” until five years after the company was made. Sega begin to make video games starting with SG-1000, but struggled against other competitors such as Nintendo. Sega tried to make other console but didn’t do so well, and in 2001 they pretty much gave up on console. Around 1991 they found success with Sonic the Hedgehog and briefly outsold their main competitor, Nintendo in the U.S. In 2001 Sega begin to become a third-party developer and in the following years after that discussion Sega being to become more profitable.
Some notable and best selling games that Sega have made:
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Puyo Puyo
- Total War
- Warhammer
- Yakuza
Naughty Dog Inc
Naughty Dog is only of the most well known game developers that PlayStation owns. The company was founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, in 1984. They also won “Studio of the Year” in 2013. The company is located in Santa Monica, California, U.S. Naughty Dog studio was successfully acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. The studio produced many successful games in the early 1990’s including Rings of Power and Way of the Warrior. With Mark Cerny help they helped Naughty Dog create character-based platform games that would use 3D capabilities. In 1996, the studio would create Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation and continued to make more games based on the series throughout the years. After developing different “Crash” games over the years the company began working on different games. During the PlayStation 3 era, Naughty Dog created the Uncharted and The Last of Us series.
Some notable and best selling games that Naughty Dog have made:
- Crash Bandicoot
- The Last of Us
- Uncharted
- Jak and Daxter
Square Enix
Square Enix has made many popular franchises ever since it’s creation. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima in September 1975. Fun fact about the company is that the original Square Enix Co. was founded in April 2003 due to a merger between “Square” and Enix. Square Enix headquarters is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The company is well known for the creation of the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Heart series. Square Enix also acquired arcade gaming corporation Taito in 2005. Taito was mainly known for the arcade game such as Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, and Darius. Several of the games Square Enix have created have sold over 10 million copies worldwide. In 2020, Square Enix earned a total revenue of $260.527 billion, making them one of the most profitable studios around.
Some notable and best selling games that Square Enix has made:
- Final Fantasy
- Life is Strange
- Kingdom Hearts
- Tomb Raider
- NieR
Capcom Company
The company was founded by Kenzo Tsujimoto in 1979, and it has became a international enterprise with subsidiaries in Asia, Europe, and North America, but it’s main headquarter is in Osaka, Japan. It is one of the largest video game companies in terms of revenue in the past years. Capcom has made many 2d games on the Super Nintendo when it first began to help compete with other games on different systems at the tine, but now of day Capcom is mostly a multi-platform studio.
Some notable and best selling games that Capcom has made:
- Resident Evil
- Monster Hunter
- Street Fighter
- Devil May Cry
- Mega Man
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Bandai Namco was founded in 1955 by Masaya Nakamura, but formed on March 31, 2005, and it’s main headquarters is located in Tokyo, Japan. This studio is known for many mutli-million dollar games franchises and has made games based on very popular anime series, such as Naruto, Dragon Ball, and One Piece. One of Bandai Namco’s most oldest game that was very popular in the 1980’s is Pac-Man. 2020, Bandai Namco has made a revenue of around 678.3 billion.
Bandai Namco has made many top selling series in the past years:
- Dragon Ball Series
- Naruto Series
- Dark Souls
- Tekken
- Pac-Man
- Little Nightmares
Mojang
Mojang is a Swedish video game studio based in Stockholm. It was founded by game designer Markus Persson in 2009. It is mainly parented with Xbox Games Studio. Even though Mojang has very little IP’s compared to other gaming studio’s, they created one of the best selling games of all time, Minecraft. Minecraft started off small, but over time became a big hit and even as of today it is still one the of top games ever played. As of 2020, Minecraft has a total revenue of $415 million, but it’s total worth of the game is $1.9 billion as of November, 2020. Which funny enough Minecraft makes up most of the revenue Mojang owns.
Some games Mojang has created:
- Minecraft
- Cobalt
Insomniac Games Inc
Insomniac Games was founded around 1994 by Ted Price who’s surprisingly is still the CEO to this day. The company is well known for the best place to work in America by Society for Human Resource Management and is labeled as the best video game developers by many people. One of insomniac newest games that have really put a good name to the studio is Marvel’s Spider-Man, and was one of the fastest-selling superhero games in U.S history. It is also the biggest PlayStation exclusive launch ever, and it drove a 65% increase in the games profit for Sony back then. Insomniac games has shown time, and time again that they are one of the best studio’s to date, and never seem to disappoint.
These are some famous IP’s the Insomniac has made:
- Spider-Man
- Ratchet & Clank
- Spyro series
- Resistance
Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986, and is located in Rockville, Maryland. The company is also a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. Bethesda is mainly known for the award-winning game series The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. They won “GOTY” in 2005 for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, in 2003 for won “GOTY” for Fallout 3, also in 2011 “GOTY” for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and many more. Bethesda have sold millions of copies with their game franchises and has the one of the best track records for sales compared to most games developers out there, so much that in 2021 Microsoft bought Bethesda for $7.5 billion, mainly for try to compete with Sony exclusive games.
Some famous and top selling games series the Bethesda has made:
- The Elder Scrolls series
- Doom series
- Fallout series
- Dishonored series
- Wolfenstein series
The Impact and Future of gaming
Video games have help a lot throughout the years as you can see. From the many studios to the game franchises, gaming has made an impact in many people lives. Gaming has help many people build careers off of it, with many people steaming and playing games on websites like YouTube and Twitch. Also gaming has helped people get through Covid-19 and is probably on of the biggest reasons people where able to stand being in quarantine so long. The future of gaming looks bright and is constantly evolving with games being better looking, running better, and being more affordable than it has ever been in the past.
Many events has also kept gaming relevant, but mainly what has help gaming push forward is E3. E3 is a trade event for the video game industry. The event is mainly is event to show new hardware, games and upcoming projects for studios. Over time E3 has been considered by many people as the biggest gaming-expo of the year by importance and impact. Many people also cosplay during E3 as there favorite video game characters as a way to express their love for gaming. With the rise of steaming on YouTube and Twitch, it has help further grow E3 to people who may not have been able to get access to it. Sadly due the COVID-19, E3 was canceled which made a lot of people devastated, but thankfully there is a possibly for it to come back in 2021.
In conclusion, has shown to be very important to peoples lives. It has become such a big impact in different communities and has helped many people with their struggles throughout the years. Thanks to the many studios and game developers, we have many famous game franchise and games that have changed gaming throughout the gaming industry. Gaming has shown to be one of the best things to come out in our culture and will continue to grow in popularity throughout time.
