Ken Levine: 2011 the best year for games since 2007

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 22 December, 2011

"It's a year to be proud of our industry."

2011 was the best year for games since 2007, BioShock creator Ken Levine believes.

It's "a year to be proud of," the Irrational Games chief told Eurogamer.

"I always make time for games," Levine said.

"That's important. If you're not playing games you're compromising your ability as a game developer to make good games.

"It's been an interesting year. It's the best year since - and I'm not just saying this because of my game - 2007. A lot of great games, like Portal, came out that year. It's the best year in a very long time.

"There have been a ton of games I've been playing. I play more games right now mostly because there's just so much good stuff to play."

2011 has seen the release of Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Skyward Sword, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Batman: Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Levine's favourite: Skyrim.

The critical acclaim these games received has been met by blockbuster sales - with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 breaking not just video game sales records, but entertainment launch records.

2007 also set sales records and saw the release of a number of critically acclaimed games, including the ground-breaking Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Bungie's Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy, and the introduction of a number of new IPs, including Valve's Portal (bundled with The Orange Box), Mass Effect and, of course, Levine's own BioShock.

"[2011] is a year to be proud of our industry," Levine, currently working on 2012's BioShock Infinite, continued.

"It's a year to be proud of the Uncharted guys. It's a year to be proud of Epic. It's a year to be proud of the Call of Duty guys. It's a year to be proud of everybody because people are delivering this year in a way the industry hasn't delivered in a very long time."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 5 months ago

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  • jaguarwong #1 5 months ago

    I respectfully disagree.

    For me too many games have become about the 'experience' rather than the gameplay and this has been illustrated time and again this year.

    Don't get me wrong, there were lot's of good games, but a few too many of them were unjustifiably elevated to greatness.

    I played two 'great' games this year:
    Rayman Origins, the best platform game I've played for about 20 years.
    Child of Eden, which was a mesmerising combination of genuine challenge and stunning Audio/visual qualities.
    Edited by jaguarwong at 22/12/11 @ 16:34

  • BigDannyH #2 5 months ago

    Well said Ken.

    It's been such a good year I've not even been able to play all the well reviewed blockbusters.

    The huge profits available to the top games have drawn in the investors and producers yet, with the big guns like CoD, Fifa and Skyrim consuming 100s of hours of play, I'm not sure all these other great games are reaching the market they're intended for.

    I really wanted to support the likes of Bastion but I've not had the time to play it.

  • Krusty #3 5 months ago

    Well said fella :)

  • weebl #4 5 months ago

    @jaguarwong I would agree about your overall comment, but feel that Rayman perhaps wasn't the AAA game I was hoping for and Child of Eden, whilst good, wasn't a patch on Rez. I think we are both getting old and complacent.

  • riceNpea #5 5 months ago

    a year to be proud of the industry??

    more like a year of messedd up launches, undelivered promises and poor games testing.

    Homefront - an unplayable mess online from launch, THQ rushed out the game knowing it was broken.

    Skyrim - promises of a new engine were crap and the game was released with known, gamebreaking faults.

    Batman - game released without promised Catwoman DLC.

    Fifa 12 - the usual game freezing problem and mass of gameplay bugs.

    COD:MW3 - nothing to be proud of. cut and paste gameplay.

    BF3 - promised copies of BF 1943 on PS3 never materialised. to make up for it we're told DLC will be released earlier to PS3 users.

    Dead Island - game breaking bug meant that if you dared play co-op on a PS3 you more then likely would corrupt your save file and never be able to save again.


    i could go on. i feel that this year more then any other we have been treated more as game testers then gamers and that the culture of release now, patch later seems to have become the norm.
    Edited by riceNpea at 22/12/11 @ 16:44

  • carlor10 #6 5 months ago

    Agreed!! There have been so many good titles come out this year (particularly at the end of the year) that I fear I'll still be fighting through the games from 2011 way into 2012... Sorry Levine, Bioshock Infinite may have to wait!

  • jaguarwong #7 5 months ago

    @weebl
    True CofE wasn't as good as Rez, but then again, what is?
    I lose myself for an hour whenever I play it, this is rare praise.

    And asfor Rayman I'm in danger of repeating myself, but no platformer has gripped and entertained me as well, or for as long, as this since Flashback.
    It's my favourite game of this year by a distance.

    But yes, complacency and decrepitude may well play their part in my assessments of all things videogame.

  • arcam #8 5 months ago

    It's a year to be proud of the Uncharted guys. It's a year to be proud of Epic. It's a year to be proud of the Call of Duty guys. It's a year to be proud of everybody because people are delivering this year in a way the industry hasn't delivered in a very long time.

    This is a strange way to finish. Really, Epic, the Uncharted guys and the Call of Duty guys have all delivered in the same way they have for the last few years, surely he would agree?

  • Inmediasress #9 5 months ago

    More like copy paste games and a few novelties here and there but certainly not in the AAA category.
    Too many games were just inflated pieces of garbage hyped to the high heavens, tough of course financially successfull.
    Depends on what you mean by good year for the games indsutry.

    Posters like 'riceNpea' already said it no need for me to reiterate.

  • metamorphic #10 5 months ago

    I think it's great he didn't mention Bethesda, because *cough* they shipped a broken game, you know.

  • MaybeLater #11 5 months ago

    @riceNpea Honestly, get some perspective. It may not have been a good year for moaning, apparently grossly entitled consumers, but in industry terms- especially for an industry in its relative adolescence- it's been a bloody belter.

    I don't mean to heap the burden of the many whinging trolls on you RiceNpea (apologies for that), but the glass isn't always half empty and Shit, as they say, does happen. Merry Christmas.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #12 5 months ago

    No...it isn't. Ahwell

  • evnewell #13 5 months ago

    batman, zelda, skyrim, deus ex. It's a pretty good year, after all.

  • evnewell #14 5 months ago

    @arcam yes, this is travelled territory for them, but... to have all these studios (CoD team aside) released their top notch title in the same year makes it a good year.

  • DrStrangelove #15 5 months ago

    I agree, 2011 had two fantastic games which just blew me away: Terraria and The Binding of Isaac.

  • RevanNL #16 5 months ago

    Online Passes, pre-order extravaganzas, PSN Outage, Skyrim PS3, publishers reducing customer rights, yeah it's really has been a year to be proud of the industry. The industry has made great progress in its attempt to see how much they can screw over consumers before they stop buging games.

  • MMMMMM7 #17 5 months ago

    I would also like to add some games that I respect
    like Dead Space 2, Witcher 2, Shogun 2 and Trine 2.
    Too many two's at the end of this games or maybe I'm
    drunk.

  • -cerberus- #18 5 months ago

    2011 was much better than 2010. I enjoyed Alice: Madness Returns, ICO & Shadow HD, L.A. Noire - The Complete Edition (ps3), Outland, Portal 2, Stacking, Skydrift, Dead Space 2, Gray Matter and Killzone 3. I intentionally missed out on Gears of War 3, Batman: Arkham City, RAGE & Uncharted 3; I'll get them used or as GOTY edition.

    Despite all the fun I had, I must say that for me it's just another year without a decent horror title. :cry:

    However, 2011 was also a year where on-disc ULC, DLC, extortion passes and other anti-gamer tactics prevailed and that, my fellow gamers, will ultimately become this industry's inevitable doom.

    As for next year: bring on AMY, Bioshock: Infinite, Kane & Lynch 3, The Last Guardian and Metro: Last Light!
    Edited by -cerberus- at 23/12/11 @ 00:34

  • digitalash #19 5 months ago

    2011 has seen the release of Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Skyward Sword, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Batman: Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Levine's favourite: Skyrim.

    Notice a pattern? All sequels.

  • edwin_jones1234 #20 5 months ago

    @digitalash What about LA noire? It wasn't perfect but it was fun, and it was original.

    It's a shame that everybody cries for original games, then ignore them when they hit. Publishers don't respond to your words, only you wallet actions. If people want change, they need to put their money where their mouth is.

  • chessboxer #21 5 months ago

    I have to agree with Ken.

    2011 has been awesome for games (but rubbish for my wallet). My PS3 has had many new decent games every month this year both multiplatform and exclusive.

    I have been one very happy gamer and there are still a lot of titles I haven't picked up yet.

  • spongebob #22 5 months ago

    Best year since the last one!

  • Nova1977 #23 5 months ago

    This year was shit.

  • Gojiratron #24 5 months ago

    Don't forget Xenoblade Chronicles!

  • edwin_jones1234 #25 5 months ago

    @chessboxer I also agree. There have been bad things this year, but so many games have come out there really is something for everybody. I still haven't found time to try out Rage yet.

  • uninspiredcup #26 5 months ago

    Skyrim is unbalanced as fuck like Bioshock.
    It makes sense he would like it. Shogun 2 for me thanks. Manly game, for men.

  • inutaihanyou #27 5 months ago

    I guess people like Levine can't even comment their own simple opinions on things like this without being ripped to shreds by over entitled fuckwads who claim themselves to be "gamers".


    Its a shame,i really enjoyed Bioshock, and what i've seen of Infinite makes me excited and proud to be a gamer.

    Yeah there were issues this year, but that's the same as every year, good times and bad times.

  • trampstar #28 5 months ago

    For me Dead Space 2 was this years highlight, Skyrim a close 2nd.

    Really looking forward to Bioshock infinite, but I doubt they'll be able to top Bioshock 1, I didn't expect much but I was hooked as soon as I swam away from that crashed plane and up those steps!

  • makeamazing #29 5 months ago

    Main problem for me is that many of the big AAA games failed to deliver a better experience than their predecessors....two that disappointed me..

    Batman AC... just felt so disjointed for me.
    AC Revelations: Again seemed so rushed at the start, let's confuse the player, and don't get me started on the tower defence thing

    There were other examples, but i won't bore you with them... i think from a releases point of view, definitely the best year yet..from a AAA title release year, but disappointing that very few delivered on their promises and made me excited about gaming.

    Some cracking games lined up for next year, hope its not more of the same.

  • Paul_cz #30 5 months ago

    Of all the amazing studios making games this year (CD Projekt Red, From Software, Frictional, Bethesda..) he singles out what?

    EPIC.
    Infinity Ward.
    Naughty Dog.

    Three studios making completely 100% unoriginal sequels to previous games. Sigh.

  • Xardan #31 5 months ago

    Yes lets all be proud that some people have managed to provide us with lots of good quality entertainment to waste our lives away on. How depressing. I think you all lack a higher purpose, but then so do i.

  • carlosdfn #32 5 months ago

    Fantastic year.

    BTW, Bioshock Infinite will be the best game of 2012.

  • Hellion83 #33 5 months ago

    Post deleted at 20:12:17 01-02-2012

  • photoboy #34 5 months ago

    Personally I prefer 2008 to 2007, and while I think 2011 has been good, I think it has also been a year of a lot of big, high profile sequels not living up to the previous games. None of these games have been bad, it's just they were slightly less impressive than their predecessors. So a very good year, but not a classic.

  • malloc #35 5 months ago

    Unoriginal does not mean bad. Also sequels do not necessarily equate to unoriginal. Certainly a relatively safe way to introduce something original, but not automatically entirely unoriginal.

    I've gamed more this year than I have in the last couple of years I must say. Not holding my breath for 2012 to be fair... will see.

  • inutaihanyou #36 5 months ago

    @spacedelete I've had a problem with this explanation since EG started using it.

    How is a PC going to "revitalize" gaming for you? All the same shit is on PC AND console? How exactly does it change anything? What magical games have come out recently for PC that makes it better?

  • arcam #37 5 months ago

    One measure of a good year could be if anything was released that people will still remember in 10 years' time. By that measure I don't think it's been great.

  • 43n1m4 #38 5 months ago

    Its been a great year for gaming, too many great titles to mention here. Looking at this site, however, and some of the replies - at least a few people should take a break from gaming. Gaming fatigue, sour grapes and all that.

    I still have a lot of games that'll be pushed to next year due to lack of time, and that's a good sign to me.

  • Sonic_D #39 5 months ago

    Yes, but only because Dark Souls and Zelda:SS were released.

  • jogyourmind #40 5 months ago

    @digitalash

    Probably close 99% of games these days are sequels. Personally I don't really mind about that though, so long as the game is good, and imo most of them aren't.

  • JayKwon #41 5 months ago

    Dark Souls, Little Big Planet 2, Dead Space 2, DiRT3, Witcher 2, Child of Eden and Rayman Origins. Don't forget those. Oh and Bastion and From Dust :).

  • TheGuvernor #42 5 months ago

    A year for massively, hugely, incredibly over rated games- Deus Ex HR
    And massively under rated - Bulletstorm.

    But, nonetheless, a great year indeed.

  • knightmt #43 5 months ago

    I still like bulletstorm. Probably my favourite pound for pound. Short story but the gameplay was unbelievably versatile, but then again orcs must die is a favourite aswell.

  • Silent-Hal #44 5 months ago

    I agree with the idea that unoriginal doesn't always equal bad, particularly in the gaming industry. Sometimes you just want an experience that's a better, more refined version of what you know you already love, which is something that can describe the majority of AAA games this year.

    With a game as long as you're having fun then it doesn't always matter that it's not doing something you've not seen before. It's different with a film ect. because you have a more passive role in the way you're participating, so overly unoriginal ideas tend to make things dull because you already know pretty much how things are going to go.

    And let's be honest here; those of you who are complaining now would still be complaining if the industry were in a completely different state, because lord knows you need to complain about something. Maybe you should get a new hobby or something. I would suggest something more stress free, like knitting or origami.

  • Wyrm #45 5 months ago

    Stop forgetting Dark Souls!!! >:-[

  • DifferentClass #46 5 months ago

    Not played a lot this year. Just gotta take his word for it.

  • Yossarian #47 5 months ago

    First post nails it, don't know why anyone would neg it.

  • Battlegoff #48 5 months ago

    I think Renegade Ops on Xbla needs a mention, if it doesn't raise a smile when you play it, your dead inside! Lol! Merry Xmas all :D

  • riz23 #49 5 months ago

    Yes there were some good games this year. Congratulations on people managing to do their job properly. There were plenty of bad ones and problematic ones too. In other news, last wednesday was as good as the Wednesday four weeks earlier.

  • golem09 #50 5 months ago

    @inutaihanyou

    1. The Binding of Isaac
    2. The Witcher 2

    And The Witcher 1 which the consoles will never see was even better.

    And yes that order is on purpose

  • Meho #51 5 months ago

    Well, The Binding of Isaac certainly made the year worth it. Most of the AAA titles were copy/ paste jobs or severely broken on arrival. But such is the condition of the industry at the moment... It really is kind of funny he praises GoW3, MW3 and Uncharted 3 - all games that have played it extremely safe and totally ignores some nice, innovative stuff that has arived over the year...

  • inutaihanyou #52 5 months ago

    @golem09 Okay....1 game.

    Witcher 2 is coming out on consoles(or atleast 360).

    So what makes it more worth it to buy a PC again?

  • obidanshinobi #53 5 months ago

    2011 is the new 2008

  • JadedSoul #54 5 months ago

    Post deleted at 08:10:55 26-04-2012

  • wez_316 #55 5 months ago

    Translation: 2011 was the best year in gaming since I made a game and until I make my next game in 2012.

    Ken Levine: Egomaniac masquerading as kiss ass.

    Catherine, Xenoblade, Ghost Trick, Radiant Historia, L.A. Noire, Frozen Synapse, Dark Souls, Stacking, Outland, ilomilo, Dance Central 2, Bastion, Little Big Planet 2, The Binding of Isaac, Rayman Origins, Dirt 3, Pullblox, Child of Eden, SpaceChem, El Shaddai, and Stacking all need some love too as well as the obvious franchises. It was a great year for gaming, and without all the games mentioned in the article it still would have been a great year :D

  • TazerFan #56 5 months ago

    Rather tired of the arguments about whether this was a good year for games. It felt like every other year, some good games and some bad games and some overrated and underrated ones and I liked some that others didn't and vice versa and why do we waste our time trying to classify every bloody year based on COMPLETELY subjective opinions?

  • eminusx #57 5 months ago

    Dark Souls was the first time this year i felt genuinely challenged by a game, having to stop and think about your next move seems to have been replaced with leading gamers by the hand all too often.
    The difficulty felt realistic and justified, the combat..weighty, the world was deep and intricately constructed.
    ace

  • anomagnus #58 5 months ago

    It's funny how every single form of entertainment eventually developers the elitist crowd. You know the people I'm talking about. Most of the people posting here are that crowd. The crowd that cries 'things used to better' and 'it's all commercial rubbish now' and the very best of all 'there's nothing original anymore'.

    What a load of bollocks. There isn't a game in history that I couldn't say was referenced in whole or part somewhere else. I loved this idea that its a sin to do a sequel. Pardon me for being one of the millions of normal people, that when exposed to something we like, we wouldn't mind another helping.

    All I see on this comments thread are the type of people that would look at some modern art installation of a coffee tale and call it a masterpiece.

    A game is a game. Please get of your high horse and enjoy them.

  • Porcupine_I #59 5 months ago

    we need MORE NEW IP, that look feel and play exactly like COD

  • jogyourmind #60 5 months ago

    @anomagnus

    You are a dumb fuck and if everyone thought like you, the world would be a complete pile of shit and we would all still be living in caves.

  • Silent-Hal #61 5 months ago

    @jogyourmind

    He's a "dumb fuck" for having a differing opinion? There's so much wrong with that that I'm just going to go ahead and call you an idiot and call it a day.

  • jogyourmind #62 5 months ago

    @Silent-Hal

    No, he is a dumb fuck because he is a dumb fucking idiot fuck. It's not opinion, it's facts. He is making out that the complaint of the lack of originality in gaming these days is just a whine from "elitists". But if you actually look at the ratio of new games to sequels, you see that it's a fact, and it has even been reported on by people outside the industry, like the BBC.

    As for the "things used to be better" argument, I find that the only people who refuse to go along with that sentiment, are those who aren't even old enough to know what it was like in the past. They have no reference point, they only know what they have seen in the past 10-15 years or so, tops.

    As for the "sin to make a sequel", NOBODY has ever said that or even suggested it. Even people who mention the issue would probably admit that some of their favourite games are sequels. Nobody is saying sequel = bad, what they are saying is that when the VAST majority of games are sequels, then there is an obvious issue with originality, and that's not an opinion either, it's statistics.

    The comment about modern art is just too moronic to even mention.

    But the icing on the dumb fuck cake, is when he says, "a game is a game, enjoy them". Like some of his other sentences, it doesn't even make any sense... but I still get the gist of what he is saying, and that is, "stop being critical of games, just enjoy them". Which is the comment of a stupid fucking dumb moron child, just like yours.

  • Silent-Hal #63 5 months ago

    Post deleted at 07:23:15 31-12-2011