2017 saw the release of numerous video games as well as other developments in the video game industry. The Nintendo Switch console was released in 2017, which sold more than 14 million units by the end of the year, exceeding the under-performing Wii U lifetime sales. This has helped to revitalize Nintendo, along with the "retro" Super NES Classic Edition console, the refreshed New Nintendo 2DS XL handheld and a strategy for mobile gaming. Microsoft also released the higher-powered Xbox One X targeted for 4K resolutions and virtual reality support.
Series with new installments in 2017 include Assassin's Creed, Bomberman, Bubsy, Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Danganronpa, ', Destiny, ', Dragon Quest, Doom, Dynasty Warriors, The Evil Within, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo, Gravity Rush, Halo Wars, Injustice, Kingdom Hearts, Kirby, The Legend of Zelda, Life Is Strange, Marvel vs. Capcom, Mass Effect, Metroid, Need for Speed, Nier, Persona, ', Pokémon, Prey, Professor Layton, Resident Evil, Sniper Elite, ', Sonic the Hedgehog, Splatoon, Star Wars Battlefront, Super Mario, Tekken, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Uncharted, Wipeout, Wolfenstein, WWE 2K, Xenoblade Chronicles, Yakuza and Yoshi.
In addition, 2017 saw the introduction of several new properties, including Arms, Cuphead, Doki Doki Literature Club!, ELEX, Fortnite, ', Hollow Knight, Horizon, Nioh, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
According to analyst firm Newzoo, the video game industry had in global revenues, a 10% growth from 2016. This growth was primarily driven by mobile gaming, as 43% () of those revenues came from this sector, a growth of 23.3% from 2016. Of the remaining, 29% () came from consoles hardware and games, and 28% () from personal computer games. SuperData similarly estimated the global video game market in 2017 was around , driven heavily by free-to-play mobile and computer games. Analyst firm Sensor Tower, which tracks revenue within the mobile industry, reported that of the in total revenues in 2017, came from mobile games.
Within the United States, the video industry grew from 2016 by 18% to a total revenue of , with from hardware sales (gaining 19% from 2016) and (18%) from software and microtransactions, according to NPD Group and the Entertainment Software Association. Further, was spent on mobile gaming in 2017 in the United States, according to Sensor Tower.
The following were 2017's top ten highest-grossing video games in terms of worldwide revenue (including physical sales, digital purchases, microtransactions, free-to-play and pay-to-play) across all platforms (including mobile, PC and console platforms). Six of the top ten highest-grossing games are published or owned by Tencent, including the top three titles.
The following were the top ten highest-grossing free-to-play games in 2017. Six of the top ten titles were published or owned by Tencent, including the top three titles.
Sensor Tower reported that the highest-grossing mobile games were the free-to-play titles Monster Strike, Honor of Kings, Fate/Grand Order, Clash Royale, and Candy Crush Saga. The top-grossing mobile games in the United States were Candy Crush Saga, ', Clash of Clans, Mobile Strike, and Clash Royale.
The following were the top ten best-selling premium games (including buy-to-play titles) in 2017. Four of the top ten titles were published by Nintendo.
The following were 2017's top ten best-selling video games by country, in terms of software units sold (excluding microtransactions and free-to-play titles) on PC and console platforms, for the United States, Japan, and United Kingdom.
Top-rated games in 2017 included ', Super Mario Odyssey, Persona 5, ', and Horizon Zero Dawn. One of the most influential games of 2017 was PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which was released in early access for personal computers in March 2017 and by the end of the year had sold 30million units, breaking several concurrent player count records and established the battle royale genre. The highest-grossing game of the year was the mobile game Honor of Kings, known as Arena of Valor internationally. Considerable debate was held over the use of loot boxes in video games and whether they constituted gambling, coming to a head with the release of Star Wars Battlefront II.
Metacritic is an aggregator of video game journalism reviews. It generally considers expansions and re-releases as separate entities.
The following is a list of game-related hardware released in 2017:
Nintendo released two systems this year; the Nintendo Switch, which helped save the company in the home console industry from the failure of the Wii U, and the New Nintendo 2DS XL, the final revision model of the Nintendo 3DS as well as the final entry in the Nintendo DS family overall.
Microsoft also released the Xbox One X, the second revision model of the Xbox One and the main competitor to Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro.
As of 2026, the Nintendo Switch is the 3rd best-selling video game console of all time, right behind the Nintendo DS (#2) and PlayStation 2 (#1).