Video games in the United States

Additionally, activities connected to the video game business generate $12.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year.

While major IT firms are developing their own meta-universes, new gaming technologies such as AR, VR, and MR are changing the industry.

[29][30] Among the 41 reported annual top-sellers between 1980 and 2022, thirteen were published by Nintendo, twelve by Activision Blizzard, four each by Atari and Take-Two Interactive, three by Electronic Arts, and two each by Sega and Acclaim Entertainment.

Seven years later an American television pioneer, Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr., patented an oscilloscope displayed device that challenged players to fire a gun at a target.

The first console released was titled Magnavox Odyssey and the foundation of Atari occurred around the same time, marking the start of Pong's development.

A year later the game Asteroids built on the idea and gave high scorers the ability to enter initials by their scores.

[68][70] The technological advances of the late 1970s led to the introduction of the Intellivision in 1980, which featured better video game graphics but a higher price tag.

However, attempts to copycat on the success of the Atari 2600 saturated the market, and the video game crash of 1983 decimated the industry in the United States.

[68][70] The 1990s saw the introduction of the Super NES, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Tamagotchi, and Dreamcast, whose sales brought the damaged video game industry back to life.

In 2015, 51 percent of U.S. households owned a home video game console according to an Entertainment Software Association annual industry report.

Video game companies anticipated that the substantial growth observed during the pandemic would persist afterward, prompting many firms to explore mergers and acquisitions.

But when the market recovered and the world opened up, the quick development proved unsustainable, and businesses were forced to make cuts as their operating costs ballooned.

Notable American video game personalities include: Civilization creator Sid Meier; Valve and Steam founder Gabe Newell; The Elder Scrolls producer Todd Howard; Half-Life: Alyx, Firewatch, and The Walking Dead writer Sean Vanaman; The Last of Us creators Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley; Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer; Uncharted creator Amy Hennig; Activision Blizzard former CEO Bobby Kotick; God of War and Twisted Metal co-creator David Jaffe; Double Fine founder Tim Schafer; Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon; God of War (2018) director Cory Barlog; Crash Bandicoot co-creator Jason Rubin; God of War III and Star Wars Jedi director Stig Asmussen; video game journalist Jason Schreier; Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer; inXile Entertainment CEO Brian Fargo; Doom and Quake creators John Romero and John Carmack; BioShock creator Ken Levine; co-founder of Bungie and Halo and Destiny co-creator, Jason Jones; Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski; former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé; former Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra; and game and console designer Mark Cerny.

[125] In September 1993, Ryan Brant established the American video game holding firm Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. in New York City.

[127] Take-Two's combined portfolio includes franchises such as BioShock, Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, Max Payne and Red Dead among others.

[134] In 2022, Microsoft announced that it would be acquiring American video game giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in an all-cash deal.

[136] Microsoft has acquired a wide range of IPs and studios, including franchises like Call of Duty, Diablo, Warcraft, Overwatch, Starcraft, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk's, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software, Toys for Bob, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, King, and many more.

[137] Bethesda Softworks has published some of the most popular and best-selling games, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Doom Eternal.

Activision Blizzard is the company that makes and owns some of the most popular video games in the industry, including Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Crash Bandicoot, Hearthstone, Candy Crush, and Diablo.

It is the company behind Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota, as well as the software distribution platform Steam.

Over the years, the video game industry has undergone numerous mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations, as companies seek to gain a competitive edge, expand their offerings, and diversify their portfolios.

The early 2000s saw a wave of consolidation in the video game industry, as companies sought to cut costs and increase efficiency.

In 2001, Microsoft entered the video game console market with the launch of the Xbox, and it quickly began acquiring a number of studios and developers to bolster its offerings.

[158] The trend of consolidation in the video game industry continued through the 2010s, as companies sought to build out their portfolios and expand their reach.

[163] The video game industry is dominated by a handful of major players, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Activision Blizzard.

These companies have grown through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions, and they continue to invest heavily in the development of new games and technologies.

[176][177] Prior to 1993, there was no standardized content rating body in the United States, but with games becoming more violent and with capabilities to show more realistic graphics, parents, politicians, and other concerned citizens called for government regulation of the industry.

The 1993 congressional hearings on video games, putting the recently released Mortal Kombat and Night Trap in the spotlight, drew attention to the industry's lack of a standardized rating system.

Members of Congress threatened to pass legislation that would mandate government oversight of video games if the industry did not create its own solution.

Retailers are voluntarily bound by the age ratings, though the Federal Trade Commission, in 2013, found that the ESRB system had the best compliance of preventing sales of mature games to minors compared to the other American entertainment industries.