1999 in video gaming

Events

* BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards
* March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”
* March 15-19 — Game Developers Conference (formerly Computer Game Developers Conference); moves to San Jose, California where it stays for six consecutive years; hosts the 1st annual Independent Games Festival
* March 15 — Gama Network hosts the 1st annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) at GDC
* May 13-15 — 5th annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo); the 2nd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³
* May 13 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (at E3); inducts Sid Meier of Firaxis to the AIAS Hall of Fame
* July 3 — Gamer Billy Mitchell scores a perfect 3,333,360 points on the "Pac-Man" arcade game
* Team Fortress 2 is announced for release during the year, but gets delayed until 2007.
* July 21 during the Macworld Conference & Expo, Steve Jobs announced that would be released for Mac OS and Windows simultaneously. Before this public announcement, game industry journalists under a non-disclosure agreement had previewed the game in a private showing during E3 1999.

Notable releases

*January 31 - "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" (PC)
*January 31 - "Silent Hill" (PS)
*February 8 - "Mario Party" (N64)
*February 28 - "" (PC)
*March 16 - "EverQuest" (PC)
*March 31 - "RollerCoaster Tycoon" (PC)
*April 27 - "Super Smash Bros." (N64)
*April 30 - "" (PC)
*April 30 - "" (N64, PC)
*April 30 - "Pokemon Stadium" (N64)
*May 11 - "Homeworld" (PC)
*June 1 - "Heroes of Might and Magic III" (PC)
*June 14 - "Descent³" (PC)
*June 18 - "Counter-Strike" (original PC MOD)
*June 30 - "" (PC)
*July 31 - "Outcast" (PC)
*August 11 - "System Shock 2" (PC)
*August 31 - "Final Fantasy VIII" - (PS)
*August 31 - "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" (PS)
*September 7 - "Sonic Adventure" (DC)
*September 8 - "Soul Calibur" (DC)
*September 30 - "" (PC)
*October 11 - "Jet Force Gemini" (N64)
*October 31 - "" (PC)
*October 31 - "" (PC)
*October 31 - "Donkey Kong 64" (N64)
*November 9 - "" (PC)
*November 11 - "Medal of Honor" (PS)
*November 26 - "Unreal Tournament" (DC, PC, PS2)
*December 2 - "Quake III Arena" (PC)
*December 12 - "" (PC)
*December 31 - "" (PC)

Hardware

* Nintendo's Game Boy Light (GBL) handheld console in Japan only
* SEGA Dreamcast, an Internet-ready 128-bit home console
* SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld
* Tiger Electronics Game.com Pocket Pro handheld

Business

* Activision acquires Elsinore Multimedia, Expert Software, and Neversoft Entertainment
* Infogrames Entertainment SA acquires Accolade, Gremlin Interactive (renamed Infogrames Sheffield House), GT Interactive Software (GTIS), and Ozisoft
* Take Two Interactive acquires TalonSoft
* Zenimax Media acquires Bethesda Softworks
* 3d6 Games, Inc. founded (closes November 1, 2002)
* 7 Studios founded
* BAM! Entertainment, Inc. founded
* Bohemia Interactive Studio founded
* February 22 — "Black Monday" (or "Chainsaw Monday"): Sierra reorganizes to cut costs, closing several studios.
* April — Liquid Entertainment founded
* October — 7FX founded as subsidiary of a Czech company

Lawsuits

* Nintendo v. Bung Enterprises Ltd.; Nintendo sues Bung over patent infringement
* Sony Corporation v. Bleem LLC

Awards

* Spiel des Jahres: Tikal - Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer, Ravensburger