Video games are big business: the global gaming market is projected to be worth more than $300 billion by 2027 according to Mordor Intelligence. With so much money at stake, the major game publishers are hugely incentivized to create the next big hit. But are games getting better, or has the golden age of video games already passed?
In this project, I'll analyze video game critic and user scores as well as sales data for the top 400 video games released since 1977. I search for a golden age of video games by identifying release years that users and critics liked best, and I explore the business side of gaming by looking at game sales data.
The search involves joining datasets and comparing results with set theory. I also filter, group, and order data. The database contains two tables. Each table has been limited to 400 rows for this project, but you can find the complete dataset with over 13,000 games on Kaggle.
game_sales table
game_sales table| Column | Definition | Data Type |
|---|---|---|
| name | Name of the video game | varchar |
| platform | Gaming platform | varchar |
| publisher | Game publisher | varchar |
| developer | Game developer | varchar |
| games_sold | Number of copies sold (millions) | float |
| year | Release year | int |
reviews table
reviews table| Column | Definition | Data Type |
|---|---|---|
| name | Name of the video game | varchar |
| critic_score | Critic score according to Metacritic | float |
| user_score | User score according to Metacritic | float |
users_avg_year_rating table
users_avg_year_rating table| Column | Definition | Data Type |
|---|---|---|
| year | Release year of the games reviewed | int |
| num_games | Number of games released that year | int |
| avg_user_score | Average score of all the games ratings for the year | float |
critics_avg_year_rating table
critics_avg_year_rating table| Column | Definition | Data Type |
|---|---|---|
| year | Release year of the games reviewed | int |
| num_games | Number of games released that year | int |
| avg_critic_score | Average score of all the games ratings for the year | float |
-- finding the 10 best_selling_games
SELECT *
FROM game_sales
GROUP BY name
ORDER BY games_sold DESC
LIMIT 10;The list of the top 10 best-selling games shows that older classics and newer hits alike have dominated sales. Nintendo, for example, has had remarkable success, with titles like Wii Sports, Super Mario Bros., and Mario Kart Wii leading the charts. These games were released across different eras and platforms, highlighting the lasting appeal of Nintendo’s franchises and their ability to resonate with diverse gaming audiences. It’s also interesting to see that even relatively recent releases like PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS and Minecraft have sold phenomenally well, reflecting how modern games with online multiplayer elements can quickly build massive audiences.
-- the ten years with the highest average critic score, where at least four games were released, to ensure a good sample size
SELECT
game_sales.year,
COUNT(reviews.name) AS num_games,
ROUND(AVG(reviews.critic_score),2) AS avg_critic_score
FROM game_sales
LEFT JOIN reviews
ON game_sales.name = reviews.name
GROUP BY game_sales.year
HAVING COUNT(reviews.name) >= 4
ORDER BY avg_critic_score DESC
LIMIT 10;
The second analysis identifies the years where the most critically acclaimed games were released. The top year, 1998, stands out as a "golden year" for video games, featuring 10 highly rated games with an average critic score of 9.32. Interestingly, these years often coincide with the release of influential titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) and Half-Life 2 (2004), indicating that these years were pivotal in gaming history.
For 2011, which saw the release of 26 highly-rated games, it stands out as a significant year in video gaming history in terms of both quantity and quality. Despite being the year with the highest number of games in the top ten list of critic scores, with an average critic score of 8.76, it underscores how the gaming industry was flourishing during this time. This was a period when the seventh generation of consoles (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) was reaching its peak, and gaming technology had advanced enough to allow for more immersive experiences, both visually and in gameplay. The high volume of well-rated games released in a single year suggests that 2011 was a critical time for the gaming industry in pushing boundaries and experimenting with different genres, which helped attract a wider audience and cement gaming as a dominant form of entertainment.
-- golden_years
--Find the years where critics and users broadly agreed that the games released were highly rated. Specifically, return the years where the average critic score was over 9 OR the average user score was over 9
SELECT
c.year,
c.num_games,
c.avg_critic_score,
u.avg_user_score,
ABS(c.avg_critic_score - u.avg_user_score) AS diff
FROM critics_avg_year_rating AS c
LEFT JOIN users_avg_year_rating AS u
ON c.year = u.year
GROUP BY c.year, c.num_games, c.avg_critic_score, u.avg_user_score
HAVING c.avg_critic_score > 9 OR u.avg_user_score > 9
ORDER BY c.yearNotably, in 1998, critics and users broadly agreed, with an almost negligible difference of 0.08 between the average critic and user scores. This suggests that the quality of games released in this year was universally recognized. In contrast, some years, like 1997 and 2009, show a larger gap between critic and user opinions, highlighting that some games were more divisive.
Some games that performed exceptionally well in sales might not appear in the top-rated lists by critics, indicating that popularity does not always equate to universal critical praise. However, in years like 1998, there was an impressive alignment between sales, critic, and user ratings, marking it as a pinnacle year in gaming history.
These results suggest that while gaming continues to evolve, there have been specific moments in its history that can be considered a golden age, particularly in terms of game quality and innovation. The continuing success of games like Minecraft and PUBG also suggests that the industry’s future remains promising.