The 7 Best Game Developers of 2015

DontNod Entertainment

DontNod took everyone by surprise this year, with their remarkably emotional hit Life is Strange. An episodic series that focuses on the life of a girl named Max as she tries to survive high school and finds out she has a strange ability to rewind time.

With choices that carry real weight behind them, Life is Strange managed to tackle some surprisingly heavy topics. Throughout the experience Life is Strange managed to tug at our heartstrings and made us really think through the choices we were making.

Max and Chloe build a relationship over the course of the series’ five episodes, and Life is Strange displays a level of character development not often found in games. The game manages to make you care about Max and those around her, and DontNod manages to bring a level of emotion and care to the game that few other episodic series and games have. Life is Strange is a fine example of how to do character development in video games.

Psyonix

Psyonix hit the ground running, or rather with rocket powered fuel this year. They took the gaming world by storm when they released Rocket League in July on PlayStation 4 and PC. Through an absurd mix of rocket powered cars and soccer, Psyonix created one of the most addictive and inventive multiplayer games in years. Rocket League was enough of a hit to prompt exciting competitive events, and even talk about a potential new esport in the making.

Psyonix has also consistently released a wealth of DLC that adds on cosmetic changes, as well as a game changing mutator system that allows you to change rules like gravity and ball size in a match. Soon, everyone will be able to get their hands on this incredible sports game when it launches on Xbox One early next year. A new mutator that turns the entire arena into an ice rink is also on the way. Hopefully, Psyonix keeps following up Rocket League with the quality content they’ve done so far, and we’re all excited to see where they go from here.

Kojima Productions

Metal Gear has been one of the defining series for video games, and 2015 saw Hideo Kojima leave what very well may be his last mark on the series. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain continues the story of Big Boss, and fills in a missing link of the series. It’s a tale of revenge as Boss tries to take on those who destroyed all he cared for.

The true beauty of The Phantom Pain lies in the freedom it gives players. For the first time in the series, Phantom Pain features an expansive open world with a host of missions and side ops to complete. Players can approach missions and outposts however they want, with stealth, a full-on assault, or anything in between. The Phantom Pain is absolutely packed with things to do. Soldiers to extract, optional missions, weapon and tech development, audio logs and much more. Kojima Productions managed to make an absolutely stunning, and engaging open world experience.

The Phantom Pain introduces us to new characters and lets us have more time with others we know, and provides a few big revelations to the series, as well. This magnum opus couldn’t be a more fitting end to Kojima’s time with the defining series he helped craft.

Telltale Games

Telltale actively worked on not one, not two, but three different episodic series this year all based on popular entertainment properties. Telltale managed to deliver two complete series, and has the third off to a great start. Their Game of Thrones series received five episodes this year, adding a new story in the world of Westeros taking place between two seasons of the HBO series.

2015 also saw Telltale release their newest series based on one of the hottest gaming properties around: Minecraft. Three episodes into Minecraft: Story Mode and Telltale has come off to a good start, with a strong cast of characters. Where Telltale really shone this year, though, was with the series Tales from the Borderlands. Taking the Borderlands property and running with it, Telltale managed to create one of their greatest series to date, retaining the charm that the original series was rife with.

With a new Walking Dead series and a Batman property, Telltale has big things on the horizon. They did a great job delivering three standout experiences this year, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep up the quantity and the quality going forward. 

Nintendo

Nintendo is responsible for some of the most beloved video games of all time. This year has been a time of change for the company, especially with the untimely passing of Nintendo’s late president Satoru Iwata. Nintendo has managed to innovate and create engaging new experiences even amidst this. Creative games like Yoshi’s Wooly World, Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer, Triforce Heroes, and Xenoblade Chronicles X all continued the company’s best series.

Where Nintendo really stands out this year is with Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, with the former being one of the freshest multiplayer shooter experiences in years and the latter being one of the greatest user creation tools ever made.

Splatoon put an inventive take on the shooter genre with teams battling to cover the maps with ink, and the game has received enormous post-launch support. This has taken Splatoon from being a good game at launch, to being one of the broadest and most compelling multiplayer experiences of the year.

Super Mario Maker gives everyone the power to make their own classic Mario levels. Giving you all of the tools you need to make great levels, it has really allowed people’s creativity to flow. Nintendo has already followed up the game with additions and a patch, and we’ve seen some incredible things come out of the game so far. The possibilities are almost endless, and you have a never ending stream of Mario levels at your fingertips.

With more support coming for Splatoon, Smash Bros., and Super Mario Maker, the Nintendo games of this year will keep going. Next year has big things in store for Nintendo fans, as well, with the 30th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, and an eventual unveiling of Nintendo’s new console.

From Software

From Software took the world by storm when they created the original Dark Souls, and they’ve spent the years after honing and perfecting that formula. One of the PlayStation 4’s first big exclusives landed this year, when From released Bloodborne. Leaving the dark medieval fantasy of Dark Souls, Bloodborne takes us onto the gothic horror streets of Yarnam.

From took the already tried and true style of Dark Souls and added a layer of speed and brutality onto it that completely changed the game. Bloodborne was full of the intricacy and mystery that other Souls games have, but Bloodborne gave you tools to defeat your enemies like never before. The speed of Bloodborne is really where the game shines, as you dodge around enemies unleashing your wrath where you can. From Software managed to create another huge and interconnected experience that draws you in even as you die over and over.

On top of creating one of the greatest experiences of the year, From managed to create a huge expansion to the game in the same year. The Old Hunters adds even more weapons and enemies while showing us more insight on the hunters that came before Bloodborne. From Software now has Dark Souls 3 on the horizon, and it looks to combine some of the best elements from the Souls series and Bloodborne. We may have the best Souls experience still ahead of us.

CD Projekt Red

Geralt of Rivia’s adventure continued this year, with a game from CD Projekt Red that many people are still playing through. The Witcher 3 manages to weave side quests and main quests together, adding emotion and surprise on many levels. As Geralt journeys over the world in a search for Ciri, he happens upon many situations and takes up any monster contract he can find. CD Projekt continued their trend from The Witcher 2, and made the third installment of the series the most ambitious and true to the series yet. The world of The Witcher 3 is absolutely teeming with things to do, and often times, sidequests ending up being more fleshed out and impactful than the main missions.

Not only did CD Projekt deliver a phenomanal fantasy RPG, they also diligently followed the game up with free DLC for anyone who owns the game and gave it patch after patch to fix any issues. The development team set a gold standard for supporting a game post launch, as they’ve listened to tons of feedback from fans and made changes accordingly. Many other developers are also starting to follow suit on providing a host of free DLC options to players who purchase their games.

Somehow, amid creating a gargantuan and beautiful world and constantly working to improve that, CD Projekt found time to make an expansion that adds 10 hours onto The Witcher 3. The expansion Hearts of Stone has nicely varied missions, and gives Witcher fans more of what they love while telling a fascinating self-contained story. There’s still another expansion for Witcher 3 in development called Blood and Wine that will add even more content to the already packed game. Wherever CD Projekt Red goes from here, they’ve cemented themselves as one of the top developers in the industry.