As per tradition, I present to you this year's database visualization! Made possible by the MobyGames API.

Previous editions:
January 2022 - January 2021 - January 2020 - January 2019 - January 2018 - June 2017 - January 2017 - January 2016 - January 2015 - January 2014 - January 2013 - January 2012 - January 2011 - January 2010 - January 2009



(Click to enlarge)

An explanation: each coloured shape in the graph represents a platform. The horizontal axis is time. The vertical axis represents the number of games released and is stacked. So the height of a shape on a given point in time indicates the number of games released for that platform that year. The total height of the graph on a given point in time shows the total releases that year. The graph is meant to represent game releases and thus excludes DLC, Special Edition and Compilation items. It does include each game for each platform it was released on.
As usual we see a drop-off at the end, simply because we haven't been able to keep up with all the new game releases.
Feel free to point out interesting info in the graph and your contributions in the thread!

I have also updated the bar chart race I made last year with the new data.

Happy new year! You know the drill, it's that time again when we ask: what are your personal goals for 2023, MobyGames or gaming in general related? Here's our resolutions from last year. What about this year? Let us know in the comments below.

As we do at the end of every year, let us reminisce on all the games we've played over the past 365 days and share our impressions.

As always, the games themselves need not have come out in 2022 necessarily, all that matters is that you played them and they left a mark on you.

All registered MobyGames users can now log into the beta! Please check it out, explore and try to break things.

v20220923 update log

• Added import/export functionality to lists (check out your Game Collection page via your profile)
• Added ability to add games to lists via the list page
• Added ability to sort, edit and delete lists
• Added tooltip info for publishers and developers in game info block to indicate which release they are associated with
• Game browser now supports game groups
• Game browser now auto-populates company dropdown when there are fewer than 100 options
• Developer credit pages can now be sorted by role, date, Moby Score and genre
• Added reviews summary table to game overview and game reviews page
• Search now supports roman numerals
• Forum search can now be filtered by board
• Fixed Moby Score calculation
• Misc. UI polish
• Backend platform updates and optimizations (e.g., much faster search index rebuild)

v20220916 update log for beta.mobygames.com

• Added search as you type functionality (results now appear below the search bar as you type). By default the dropdown displays trending games, companies and developers.
• Added slash commands to search:
  /g to only search games (e.g., /g mario)
  /c to only search companies (e.g., /c atari)
  /d to only search devs (e.g., /d romero)
  /gr to only search groups (e.g., /gr animals)
• Added Frequent Collaborators section to developer pages (example)
• Added a snippet of company overview and developer biography to search results (example)
• Added highest rated game of developer or company to search results
• Added forum search
• Added ability to add and delete lists (via the Collection page on your user profile)
• Added list of galleries to screenshot pages (example), so you can see which gallery you're viewing and easily move between them
• MobyScore is now a combination of user score and critic score
• Search algorithm tweaks
• Bunch of UI tweaks, polish
• Backend platform updates

v20220910 update log for https://beta.mobygames.com

• Added reviews page to user profile
• Added buy page to games
• Added support for approval sub-queues
• Added number of unread threads and posts to the forum
• Added ability to delete items directly via your game collections (havelists, wantlists)
• Game pages now indicate if you've collected the game you're viewing
• Search algorithm tweaks
• Various UI fixes and polish
• Backend platform updates and bug fixes

v20220902 update log for beta.mobygames.com

• Added trending games, companies and developers to homepage
• Added headline/summary to user reviews
• Game overview now lists all publishers and developers
• Search algorithm updates
• Search results now include number of credited games for developers and companies
• You can now rate games without writing a review (reviewing is optional)
• Forum now indicates which posts you haven't read (if you're logged in)
• Handling for adult games to support Google Safesearch
• Admin: Ability to manage user reviews
• Better rendering for adblurbs (official descriptions)
• Various design tweaks, polish
• Backend platform updates and fixes

v20220826 update log for beta.mobygames.com

• You can now add/remove games from your collection via game pages
• Options in the Game Browser are now automatically updated to only display relevant options (e.g., if you select a platform, only the genres and dates applicable to that platform are shown in the dropdown menus)
• Added results per page setting to Game Browser
• Game subpage navigation now lists all available platforms and remembers your preference while viewing the same game (e.g, if you go to Screenshots, select DOS, then go to Covers, it will show DOS covers when available)
• Added release date next to platform list on game overviews (with additional release info displayed in tooltip)
• Added option to sort releases on game overview by date or platform
• Added length of queue and estimated approval time to contribution status for pending contributions
• Added more information to search results (game group description, # of games for developers, release dates with platforms)
• Added game count to company overview
• Search algorithm tweaks
• Company and group game lists now display platforms in addition to game title and release date
• Long text displays (e.g., descriptions, trivia) on overview pages are now partially collapsed with a "show more" toggle
• Buy links on game pages are now real
• Approvers can now choose which queues to see on the approval homepage. Click Select Queues from the sidebar menu to access this feature.
• Moby tag rendering is now much faster
• Various platform fixes, optimizations, polish

Happy Friday! A new version of the beta has been released.

v20220819 update log

• Added ability to review games
• Added Ad Blurb filter to Most Wanted
• Added Forgot Password feature
• Added number of people listed in game credits (example)
• Added user review scores to havelists
• Game Browser platform filter now uses OR instead of AND
• Game Browser now displays release year of selected platform(s)
• Various platform fixes, tweaks and design updates

v20220812 update log for beta.mobygames.com

• Game Browser now supports platform multiselect, more sorting options and faster publisher/developer search
• Added Last Month rankings to contributor leaderboard
• Added game count totals to company and developer pages
• Added Dark Mode toggle for logged out users
• Replaced old favicon with Moby icon
• Developer credit pages now display every single credit, on every platform
• Developer overview now displays the top 12 game credits based on Moby Score
• Increased # of database updates listed on homepage and feed
• Contributors can now submit company logos
• Approvers can now replace promo images and company logos
• Approvers can now do group approvals, e.g. all screenshots for one game
• Smaller base font size, site wide
• Design tweaks on user profiles, status bar, developer pages, game browser, etc
• Misc. platform fixes, optimizations

v20220805 update log

• New version of the Game Browser (results now auto-update on input change, much more compact display, 12 results instead of 10, now shows developer, default Moby Score sort, bug fixes)
• Added hotkey support to navigate screenshots, covers and promo images (left arrow = prev, right arrow = next)
• Added more contribution stats to page header
• Added forum moderation tools and spam mitigation
• Added paging to private messages
• Added change password functionality
• Added extra confirmation step to account deletion
• Migrated API to Moby v2 platform
• Higher resolution cover and screenshot images on game overview
• Game Group index is now sortable
• Site now defaults to light or dark mode based on system preference
• Randomize screenshots and promo images on game overview
• Contributors can now include dates when adding a company
• Approvers can now associate users with developers
• Approvers can now view developer merge/split/convert audit logs
• Approvers can now search for (potentially unapproved) games, companies, developers, and critic sources
• Approvers can now replace cover art and game version
• Fix miscounted contribution points
• Various design revisions
• Various platform fixes, updates and optimizations

As a reminder, all contributors (>0 contribution rating) can log into the beta. Thanks for all testing and feedback so far!

We’ve added the ability for AKAs to be removed from profile pages, giving developers more control over their public profile. If you’ve been credited on a game with a name that you no longer use, and would prefer us not to display both your current and former names on your developer profile, you may submit a correction (on your profile page click Contribute -> Corrections -> Privacy issue).

Please note that MobyGames relies on volunteer contributors for all entries and changes to the database. All new content and change requests go into an approval queue, which despite the heroic efforts of our community tends to have a large backlog. While we do escalate privacy requests, please be patient as it may take some time for your request to be processed. Improving all tools and reducing approval times is a major goal of the new platform that Tracy and I are working on. Stay tuned!

The new MobyGames platform, currently in beta, is now open to all contributors! If you have an account with >0 contribution points you can log into https://beta.mobygames.com and start playing with it. The beta uses a temporary copy of the database, so any changes you make will be ephemeral and you can feel free to test and break things.



Note that it's under active development and things are in various states of progress (i.e., not yet polished and some things are broken or missing yet).

Please post questions, bug reports and feedback in the #beta channel on our Discord, the attached comment thread or PM me.