Skip to content
02_Elements/Icons/ArrowLeft Back to Insight
Insights > Sports & gaming

Tops of 2014: Video Games

5 minute read | January 2015

Similar to last year’s most anticipated video games, franchises dominated the mind share of gamers for 2014. New offerings from gaming mainstays Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Madden, FIFA and others were once again eagerly anticipated by their devoted fans. But over the course of the year, a handful of new titles captured consumers’ interest to earn a spot on the lists of most anticipated games for 2014.

On the Vita platform, a trio of new series emerged as some of gamers’ most anticipated titles this year: Mind Zero, Demon Gaze and DanganRonpa, which was popular enough to launch a sequel later on in the same year. In the spring, gamers on 3DS were excited about a new Disney title  (Disney Magical World) while PC and console gamers eagerly awaited Titanfall and Watch Dogs. Towards year-end, console gamers finally came face-to-face with their Destiny, which went on to be the most successful launch of a new franchise.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Titles of 2014 for Xbox 360

Title Release Game Rank™
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 11/3/2014 98%
Destiny 9/9/2014 96%
Titanfall 3/11/2014 96%
Madden NFL 15 8/26/2014 94%
Watch Dogs 5/27/2014 94%
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil 4/15/2014 93%
FIFA 15 9/23/2014 91%
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue 11/11/2014 90%
Far Cry 4 11/18/2014 90%
WWE 2K15 10/28/2014 87%
*Title is a platform exclusive.
Read as: At one week pre-release, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on Xbox 360 performed better in overall aggregated U.S. consumer anticipation than 98% of all previous Xbox 360 titles at the same point in their release cycles.
Data from Jan. 1, 2013-Nov. 30, 2013. The overall anticipation level among gaming consumers was derived from leveraging several key consumer metrics (including awareness, purchase interest and others) into one overall score. That score was then compared to scores from all previous games released on the same platform at the same point in their release cycles, to determine the percentile ranking of the upcoming title (aka the Nielsen Game Rank™).
Source: Nielsen Video Game Tracking.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Titles of 2014 for PS3

Title Release Game Rank™
Watch Dogs 5/27/2014 97%
Destiny 9/9/2014 96%
Madden NFL 15 8/26/2014 96%
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 11/3/2014 94%
WWE 2K15 10/28/2014 93%
Dark Souls II 3/11/2014 93%
MLB 14: The Show 4/1/2014 93%
FIFA 15 9/23/2014 92%
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (PS3/PS4) 8/19/2014 91%
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue 11/11/2014 90%
*Title is a platform exclusive.
Read as: At one week pre-release, Watch Dogs on PS3 performed better in overall aggregated U.S. consumer anticipation than 97% of all previous Xbox 360 titles at the same point in their release cycles.
Data from Jan. 1, 2013-Nov. 30, 2013. The overall anticipation level among gaming consumers was derived from leveraging several key consumer metrics (including awareness, purchase interest and others) into one overall score. That score was then compared to scores from all previous games released on the same platform at the same point in their release cycles, to determine the percentile ranking of the upcoming title (aka the Nielsen Game Rank™).
Source: Nielsen Video Game Tracking.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Titles of 2014 for PC

Title Release Game Rank™
Assassin’s Creed: Unity 11/11/2014 99%
The Sims 4 * 9/2/2014 98%
Titanfall 3/11/2014 98%
Watch Dogs 5/27/2014 98%
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 11/3/2014 96%
FIFA 15 9/23/2014 94%
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls 3/25/2014 91%
Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies * 6/24/2014 89%
Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth * 10/24/2014 88%
Thief 2/25/2014 88%
*Title is a platform exclusive.
Read as: At one week pre-release, Assassin’s Creed: Unity on PC performed better in overall aggregated U.S. consumer anticipation than 99% of all previous PC titles at the same point in their release cycles.
Data from Jan. 1, 2013-Nov. 30, 2013. The overall anticipation level among gaming consumers was derived from leveraging several key consumer metrics (including awareness, purchase interest and others) into one overall score. That score was then compared to scores from all previous games released on the same platform at the same point in their release cycles, to determine the percentile ranking of the upcoming title (aka the Nielsen Game Rank™).
Source: Nielsen Video Game Tracking.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Titles of 2014 for 3DS

Title Release Game Rank™
Super Smash Bros. (3DS) 10/3/2014 98%
Disney Magical World * 4/11/2014 94%
LEGO The Hobbit 4/8/2014 94%
Pokemon Omega Ruby * 11/21/2014 93%
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire * 11/21/2014 92%
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham 11/11/2014 90%
Yoshi’s New Island * 3/14/2014 87%
Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom 11/18/2014 83%
Mario Golf: World Tour * 5/2/2014 83%
LEGO Ninjago: Nindroids 7/29/2014 81%
*Title is a platform exclusive.
Read as: At one week pre-release, Super Smash Bros. on 3DS performed better in overall aggregated U.S. consumer anticipation than 98% of all previous 3DS titles at the same point in their release cycles.
Data from Jan. 1, 2013-Nov. 30, 2013. The overall anticipation level among gaming consumers was derived from leveraging several key consumer metrics (including awareness, purchase interest and others) into one overall score. That score was then compared to scores from all previous games released on the same platform at the same point in their release cycles, to determine the percentile ranking of the upcoming title (aka the Nielsen Game Rank™).
Source: Nielsen Video Game Tracking.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Titles of 2014 for PS Vita

Title Release Game Rank™
Borderlands 2 (PS Vita) 5/13/2014 94%
LEGO The Hobbit 4/8/2014 92%
MLB 14: The Show 4/1/2014 91%
LEGO Ninjago: Nindroids 7/29/2014 90%
DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc * 2/11/2014 79%
Mind Zero * 5/27/2014 77%
Demon Gaze * 4/22/2014 74%
Minecraft: PS Vita Edition 10/14/2014 71%
DanganRonpa 2: Goodbye Despair * 9/2/2014 69%
Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!! 9/23/2014 66%
*Title is a platform exclusive.
Read as: At one week pre-release, Borderlands 2 on Vita performed better in overall aggregated U.S. consumer anticipation than 94% of all previous Vita titles at the same point in their release cycles.
Data from Jan. 1, 2013-Nov. 30, 2013. The overall anticipation level among gaming consumers was derived from leveraging several key consumer metrics (including awareness, purchase interest and others) into one overall score. That score was then compared to scores from all previous games released on the same platform at the same point in their release cycles, to determine the percentile ranking of the upcoming title (aka the Nielsen Game Rank™).
Source: Nielsen Video Game Tracking.

Related tags:

Continue browsing similar insights