Games Released in 2012

3,521 new games debuted in 2012 across 10 platforms, with PC seeing 1,236 releases. December was the busiest month, with 522 releases. Persona 4 Golden was the most popular release of the year.

Which days had the most releases?

February 22 was the busiest single day of 2012 with 68 releases.

68 releases

February 22

58 releases

November 30

51 releases

October 25

49 releases

September 27

Which month had the most releases?

The busiest release month of 2012 was December, totaling 522 titles.

How did each season compare?

Q4 was the busiest quarter of 2012 with 1,410 releases.

Q1 (Jan–Mar)

1,143 releases

Most popular release in Q1

Journey

A third-person adventure game in which the player, controlling a robed figure, makes a pilgrimage through a desert landscape to a rugged mountain with a beacon of light in the distance while uncovering the history of their people, rescuing and cooperating with friendly creatures, avoiding predatory ones and communicating with other travelers.

Q2 (Apr–Jun)

1,103 releases

Most popular release in Q2

Persona 4 Golden

Persona 4 Golden is an enhanced version of the role-playing game Persona 4, combining turn-based combat with daily life simulation. Players control a high school student who moves to the rural town of Inaba for one year and becomes involved in investigating a series of murders linked to a mysterious world inside television sets. Gameplay is divided between exploring randomly generated dungeons where players fight Shadows using summoned creatures called Personas, and navigating daily life by attending school, building friendships through Social Links, and developing character attributes. Golden adds new story content including the character Marie, additional Personas, online features, new difficulty settings, expanded voice acting, and additional animated cutscenes over the original PlayStation 2 release.

Q3 (Jul–Sep)

1,160 releases

Most popular release in Q3

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment. Two teams, Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, compete in objective-based rounds across various game modes including bomb defusal, hostage rescue, and deathmatch. The game features an economy system where players purchase weapons and equipment at the start of each round based on performance in previous rounds. Competitive matchmaking, community servers, and a robust skin trading ecosystem support a large active player base.

Q4 (Oct–Dec)

1,410 releases

Most popular release in Q4

Far Cry 3

Explore an island playground as stunningly beautiful as it is diverse – from mountain ranges to swampy grasslands and white sandy beaches. Fight your way through the island’s towns, temples, river ports and more. Encounter a diverse and realistic cast of characters, including one of Far Cry’s most notorious villains: Vaas Montenegro. Dive into this deep and enriching story where morals are questionable and hope is all but abandoned.

Which platforms saw the most releases?

PC received 1,236 new titles in 2012, holding the most releases. The runner up was iOS with 996 new titles.

PC1,236 releases

iOS996 releases

Android583 releases

PlayStation 3502 releases

Nintendo 3DS345 releases

Xbox 360331 releases

Mac323 releases

Web browser315 releases

PlayStation Portable286 releases

PlayStation Vita201 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in 2012 with 1,139 titles. Puzzle followed closely with 784.

Adventure1,139

Puzzle784

Indie638

Strategy565

Arcade554

Role-playing548

Platform503

Shooter475

Simulator464

Visual Novel286

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