There was a lot for gamers to be excited about in 2015 in terms of new video game releases. Looking back over the course of the year, there were four multi-platform titles that gamers were clamoring for the most at launch: Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, Star Wars: Battlefront and Batman: Arkham Knight. All four had Game Ranks of 95%-99% on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. In terms of console exclusives, Bloodborne had the highest anticipation from gamers on PS4, Mario Party 10 was most anticipated for Wii U gamers, and Halo 5: Guardians had the highest anticipation level among all Xbox One titles over the history of the platform to date.
Methodology
The Nielsen Game Rank™ measure compiles many key consumer measures into one overall score, which is then compared with scores from previously released titles on each platform, giving a sense of the overall anticipation level for a title. Looking at data from the three weeks leading up to launch illustrates how much consumer anticipation and momentum each title had as it entered the marketplace.
TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2015 FOR XBOX ONE
| Title | Release Date | Game Rank™ |
|---|---|---|
| Halo 5: Guardians * | 10/27/15 | 100% |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | 11/6/15 | 99% |
| Fallout 4 | 11/10/15 | 98% |
| Batman: Arkham Knight | 6/23/15 | 97% |
| Star Wars: Battlefront | 11/17/15 | 97% |
| Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate | 10/23/15 | 93% |
| Need for Speed (2015) | 11/3/15 | 92% |
| FIFA 16 | 9/22/15 | 90% |
| Mortal Kombat X | 4/14/15 | 88% |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider | 11/10/15 | 87% |
| *Title is a platform exclusive. Source: Nielsen |
TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2015 FOR PS4
| Title | Release Date | Game Rank™ |
|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | 11/6/15 | 99% |
| Star Wars: Battlefront | 11/17/15 | 99% |
| Fallout 4 | 11/10/15 | 98% |
| Batman: Arkham Knight | 6/23/15 | 97% |
| Bloodborne * | 3/24/15 | 94% |
| FIFA 16 | 9/22/15 | 93% |
| The Order: 1886 * | 2/20/15 | 93% |
| Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate | 10/23/15 | 92% |
| Mortal Kombat X | 4/14/15 | 92% |
| Need for Speed (2015) | 11/3/15 | 92% |
| *Title is a platform exclusive. Source: Nielsen |
TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2015 FOR Wii U
| Title | Release Date | Game Rank™ |
|---|---|---|
| Mario Party 10 * | 3/20/15 | 99% |
| Super Mario Maker * | 9/11/15 | 96% |
| Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival * | 11/13/15 | 90% |
| Splatoon * | 5/29/15 | 88% |
| Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash * | 11/20/15 | 87% |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars * | 3/5/15 | 86% |
| Yoshi’s Woolly World * | 10/16/15 | 86% |
| Kirby and the Rainbow Curse * | 2/20/15 | 84% |
| Xenoblade Chronicles X * | 12/4/15 | 76% |
| Devil’s Third * | 12/11/15 | 75% |
| *Title is a platform exclusive. Source: Nielsen |
TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2015 FOR PC
| Title | Release Date | Game Rank™ |
|---|---|---|
| Fallout 4 | 11/10/15 | 99% |
| Star Wars: Battlefront | 11/17/15 | 98% |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops III | 11/6/15 | 97% |
| Batman: Arkham Knight | 6/23/15 | 95% |
| The Sims 4: Get Together * | 12/8/15 | 95% |
| Mortal Kombat X | 4/14/15 | 92% |
| Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate | 10/23/15 | 92% |
| The Sims 4: Get to Work * | 3/31/15 | 92% |
| FIFA 16 | 9/22/15 | 91% |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 5/19/15 | 90% |
| *Title is a platform exclusive. Source: Nielsen |
TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2015 FOR 3DS
| Title | Release Date | Game Rank™ |
|---|---|---|
| Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains * | 5/12/15 | 96% |
| LEGO Jurassic World | 6/12/15 | 92% |
| The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D * | 2/13/15 | 92% |
| Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer * | 9/25/15 | 92% |
| Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations | 10/20/15 | 90% |
| Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon * | 11/20/15 | 87% |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes * | 10/23/15 | 86% |
| Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden * | 10/20/15 | 83% |
| LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin | 3/24/15 | 82% |
| Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate * | 2/13/15 | 79% |
| *Title is a platform exclusive. Source: Nielsen |
TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2015 FOR PS VITA
| Title | Release Date | Game Rank™ |
|---|---|---|
| Ar Nosurge Plus: Ode to an Unborn Star * | 7/2/15 | 98% |
| LEGO Jurassic World | 6/12/15 | 86% |
| Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space * | 12/8/15 | 79% |
| Code: Realize – Guardian of Rebirth * | 10/20/15 | 78% |
| Criminal Girls: Invite Only * | 2/3/15 | 77% |
| Corpse Party: Blood Drive * | 10/13/15 | 75% |
| Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal * | 8/18/15 | 74% |
| Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls * | 9/1/15 | 74% |
| MLB 15: The Show | 3/31/15 | 66% |
| LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin | 3/24/15 | 65% |
| *Title is a platform exclusive. Source: Nielsen |
