Notable events of 2005 in computer and video games. See also history of computer and video games.

Events

• March 7 - March 11 — Game Developers Conference;
  • Nintendo keynote speech: "The Heart of the Gamer" by Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.
  • Microsoft keynote speech: "The Future of Games: Unlocking the Opportunity" by J Allard , corporate vice president and chief XNA architect.

Business

• January 6 - French publisher Titus Interactive , owner of Interplay Entertainment, is declared bankrupt after being in receivership since October 2004.
• January 12 - Video game companies and players worldwide donate money to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund for rescue and reconstruction efforts upon the South Asian tsunami disaster. Electronic Arts pledges to donate $250,000 to the UNICEF South Asian Tsunami Relief Fund. CCP, the publisher of EVE Online, establishes a fund that video game players can contribute to.
• January 17 - Electronic Arts and ESPN announced a 15-year partnership that would give EA access to ESPN's broadcast, print and online content.
• January 20 - Activision announced that it acquired developer Vicarious Visions known best as a developer of Game Boy games as well as for their middleware program, Alchemy.
• January 24 - Major League Baseball and Take Two Interactive sign exclusive seven year deal that gives Take-Two the rights among third-party publishers to develop games based on the MLB license.
• January 25 - Take Two Interactive announced that it acquired developer Visual Concepts and their wholly-owned subsidiary Kush Games from Sega for $24 million. Additionally, Take Two also announced the start of another publishing label named 2K Games .
• March 2 - The Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB added the rating of "E10+" to its ratings system. E10+ was created in order to divide E ratings for younger and older children.
• March 7 - Sammy Studios breaks away from Sammy and renames itself High Moon Studios .
• March 9 - Sega acquires Creative Assembly.
• March 23 - Vivendi Universal Games buys developer Radical Entertainment . Radical is best known for developing The Simpsons Hit & Run.

Expected releases

• Battlefield 2
• Battlefield: Modern Combat
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
• F.E.A.R.
• Jade Empire
• The Legend of Zelda
• Mario Baseball
• The Matrix Online
• Medal of Honor: European Assault
• Quake IV
• Resident Evil 4
• TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
• Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

Trends

Video game systems

• Microsoft Xbox
• Nintendo GameCube
• Sony PlayStation 2

Handheld game systems

• Nintendo DS
• Sony PlayStation Portable

Expected console announcements

The following systems are expected to be unveiled at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

• Microsoft Xbox Next
• Nintendo Project Revolution
• Sony PlayStation 3

Video game sales

External links

• NPD Funworld sales tracking