Most anticipated games of 2016: what we were most excited for this year

As 2016 draws to a close, most people will be looking forward to see what’s in store next year. There are certainly plenty of big titles on the horizon, from Resident Evil 7 and Mass Effect Andromeda to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn.

But what about the games we played this year? Which games were we, apparently, most excited for as the months wore on? Well, The Nielsen Company‘s been crunching the numbers, and has now revealed the most anticipated games of 2016.

By measuring gamers’ awareness of the title, purchase interest and consumer rating in the three weeks leading up to its launch, The Nielsen Company has assigned each game a ranking based on its overall level of consumer anticipation and market momentum.

There’s a good mix of titles from throughout the year, but many of the top spots were, unsurprisingly, won by games that came out toward the end of the year.

In the multi-platform category, for example, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, Doom, FIFA 17 and Final Fantasy XV emerged as the most anticipated games of 2016.

As for console exclusives, Gears of War 4 was the most clamoured for Xbox One title, while Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End topped the PS4 list. According to The Nielsen Company, these two titles had the highest anticipation level among all titles over the history of these platforms to date, both earning a ranking of 100 per cent.

In second place on Xbox One was Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare with a ranking of 98 per cent, while DOOM, Battlefield 1 and Final Fantasy XV rounded out the top five with rankings of 95 per cent, 94 per cent and 93 per cent respectively.

It was a similar picture on PS4, with FIFA 17 (98 per cent), Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (97 per cent), Batman: Arkham VR (97 per cent) and DOOM (95 per cent) claiming the top five spots.

On PC, FIFA 17 shot to victory here with a ranking of 96 per cent, with DOOM and World of Warcarft: Legion coming in just behind in joint second with rankings of 95 per cent. These were followed by Civilization VI and Overwatch with 94 per cent apiece.

Meanwhile on Wii U, Paper Mario: Color Splash (94 per cent) beat Minecraft Wii U Edition (93 per cent), Star Fox Zero (92 per cent), The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Pricess (90 per cent) and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (84 per cent) to claim the top spot.

On 3DS, Pokemon Sun and Moon reigned supreme with their respective rankings of 97 per cent, edging out 7th Dragon III Code VFD (96 per cent) and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (92 per cent) and LEGO Marvel Avengers (89 per cent).

On Vita, the most anticipated game of 2016 was Assassin’s Creed Chronicles with a ranking of 94 per cent. This was followed by Attack on Titan: The Wings of Freedom (89 per cent), Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors (85 per cent), LEGO Marvel Avengers (80 per cent) and LEGO Star Wars; The Force Awakens (77 per cent).