1997 in video gaming

Events

* October 4 — Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997) dies after a double car accident.
* November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) launched.
* 3rd annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo)
* TSR, Inc., the owner of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.

Notable releases

*January 2 - "Diablo" (PC)
*February 10 - "Mario Kart 64" (N64)
*February 28 - "" (N64)
*March 20 - "" (PS) (Sega Saturn)
*April 30 - "" (PC)
*May 31 - "MDK:" (PC) (PS)
*June 26 - "Dungeon Keeper" (PC)
*July 1 - "Star Fox 64" (N64)
*July 30 - "Carmageddon" (PC)
*August 25 - "GoldenEye 007" (N64)
*August 31 - "HeXen II" (PC)
*September 7 - "Final Fantasy VII" (PS), (PC)
*September 19 - "" (PS), (PC)
*September 30 - "Fallout" (PC)
*September 30 - "Total Annihilation" (PC)
*October - "Grand Theft Auto" (PC)
*October 9 - "" (PC)
*October 26 - "Age of Empires" (PC)
*October 29 - "Riven" (PC) (Mac)
*October 31 - "The Curse of Monkey Island" (PC)
*November - "Tomb Raider II" (PC) (PS)
*November 14 - "Postal" (PC)
*November 21 - "Diddy Kong Racing" (N64)
*November 25 - "" (PC)
*December 6 - "Quake II" (PC)
*December 19 - "" (PC)
*December 23 - "Gran Turismo" (PS1)

Hardware

* March 1 — The Nintendo 64 is released in Europe and Australia
* October — Nintendo releases a smaller redesigned SNES.
* Sony releases PlayStation development software for PC
* Tiger Electronics releases the Game.com

Business

* Activision acquires CentreSoft Ltd. and Raven Software
* Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Maxis
* GameTek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its doors in July 1999
* 2015, Inc. founded
* 4D Rulers Software, Inc. founded
* September — 4HEAD Studios created
* Bungie Studios West formed by Bungie Software Products Corp.
* Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation founded
* Crave Entertainment, Inc. formed
* August — Human Head Studios, Inc. formed
* Illusion Softworks, a.s. founded
* April 15 — Irem Software Engineering Inc. founded
* Irrational Games LLC founded
* Mythic Entertainment renames itself from Interworld Productions after name dispute with another "Interworld" company
* THQ renamed from Toy Head-Quarters, Inc.
* Warthog PLC founded

Lawsuits

* Nintendo v. Games City; Nintendo sues Games City for selling the Game Doctor and Doctor V64 backup devices for the SNES and N64 consoles. Nintendo wins the suit.
* Nintendo v. Prima Publishing; Nintendo sues Prima over copyrights to map of the N64 video game "GoldenEye 007". Nintendo loses the suit
* Nintendo vs Sony Video Games; Nintendo sues Sony over copyrights about Mario games