2015 Games
This year's Games of the Year awards honor the games, developers, publishers - and even a console - that made an impression on us and their players in 2015.
Our mission at Facebook is to make the world more open and connected. Whether it’s joining friends for raids or claiming bragging rights, games represent a great way for people to experience and share with the world what they are passionate about playing. Every month, more than 450 million people play games on Facebook.com or connect to games via Facebook on mobile devices & consoles. Looking at Facebook.com alone, we see that United States, Turkey, Brazil, France, Argentina and Germany are the top six countries with the most people playing web games on Facebook in 2015. Game developers worldwide are leveraging the power of our products and services to build delightful gameplay experiences that can reach more than 1.55 billion people using Facebook each month.
Gamers are playing on multiple platforms and Facebook can help developers be everywhere that players are. With this year's new Best Facebook Integrations category (see below), we’re also shining a spotlight on PC and console experiences that make excellent use of Facebook Platform products and services.
Facebook's 2015 Game of the Year:
- Clash of Kings by ELEX (China) – Already one of the top-performing mobile titles in China, ELEX launched the game on Facebook in order to reach a global audience. To build a true cross-platform experience, ELEX invested in developing a web-version of the game from scratch which helped them find 50 million new players worldwide across both web and mobile.
Facebook's 2015 Best Web Games:
Best Fiends by Seriously (Finland) – A delightful spin on the match-3 genre where players complete lines to power adorable bug characters through a variety of levels designed around different environments.
Knights & Brides by Vizor Interactive (Belarus) – This story-driven fairy tale life simulation adds a competitive jousting mechanic for players to win prizes in addition to the traditional city-building elements.
Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff by TinyCo (United States) – The hit mobile game landed on Facebook earlier this year with great fanfare. The firm tongue-in-check Family Guy writing is what sets this game apart from others in the genre.
Hot Shot Casino Slots by Scientific Games Interactive (United States) - From the creators of Gold Fish Casino, Hot Shot Casino Slots features real-world franchises seen on the floors of the most popular casinos for an authentic experience.
Monster Busters: Hexa Blast by PlayDog Soft (South Korea) – A sequel to the edgy and cute Monster Busters, Hexa Blast twists the traditional match-3 board into new shapes to challenge event experts of the genre.
Nords: Heroes of the North by Plarium (Israel) – From the makers of the classic Total Domination, this Norse-themed strategy game features a cartoon art style, quality writing and character designs that appeal to a lot of players.
Vegas Downtown Slots by Playtika (Israel) – Another solid entry in the slots genre, Vegas Downtown has been a huge hit with hardcore slots players. This cross-platform title is the latest from famed Slotomania developer Playtika.
Yahtzee with Buddies by Scopely (United States) – For a platform that features so many classics in the card and board game genre (solitaire, Scrabble, Monopoly, etc.), we're excited to finally see the official Yahtzee game on Facebook!
Facebook's 2015 Best Mobile Games:
Cooking Dash 2016 *by Glu (United States) – A spiritual sequel to the classic PC game Diner Dash, Cooking Dash reintroduced the time management restaurant simulation to the mobile generation in themed “episodes.”
Invasion by Tap4Fun (China) – A strategy game with player versus player combat, Invasion combines the idle nature of base-building with the entertaining ability to watch battles play out.
Paradise Bay by King (United States) – With a big focus on beautiful graphics and colorful characters, players can create their own paradise island in the Candy Crush maker's first foray into the simulation category.
Empires & Allies by Zynga (United States) – While it shares a name with the 2011 Facebook game released by Zynga, this mobile-only title introduces a more realistic art style and unique game mechanics that result in an all-new fun experience.
Angry Birds 2 by Rovio (Finland)– With new scenes, random bird cards, and dynamic challenges that change each time they’re played, Angry Birds 2 reminds us of what we loved about the original as it opens the brand to a new audience.
Facebook's 2015 Best Facebook Integrations
Alphabear by Spry Fox (United States),Share – Players unlock bears by spelling words. The bears generate a random “mad lib” phrase using the words the player spelled. The results are both viral and hilarious.
Empire: Four Kingdoms by Goodgame (Germany),Login – Medieval strategy MMOs are more fun with friends. This award winning strategy game makes excellent use of Login to enrich its multiplayer functionality.
League of Legends by Riot Games (United States),Friend-finding – With curated recommendations, the game's friend-finder built with Facebook helps the multi-million player audience find their real world friends in-game.
PlayStation 4 by Sony (Japan),Login and Share – PS4 lets players login to Facebook and share screenshots and video directly from in-game. Fun fact: every 10 seconds, someone new connects to PlayStation with their Facebook account.
Pirate Kings by JellyButton (Israel),WebGL – In addition to being a unique fusion of casino and island building, this game pioneered WebGL as a means to support cross-platform gameplay on web and mobile.
Blossom Blast Saga by King (Sweden),App Invites – A flowery take on the line-drawing match-3 mechanic. This mobile hit leveraged Facebook’s App Invites to allow players to invite their friends to the game in a personal and high-impact way.
Facebook's 2015 Best Use of Instagram
- Clash of Clans by Supercell (Finland) – 2.7 million followers! The official Instagram of Clash of Clans is a solid experience that features a rich set of content from the developer and its very active community.
Facebook's 2015 Best Game Ad Campaign
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain by Kojima Productions & Konami (Japan) – Beautifully crafted and well-timed, the launch announcement trailer for this game was Liked over 8,000 times and shared more than 3,000 times.
Facebook's 2015 Best Page
- League of Legends by Riot Games (United States) – Riot’s official fan page grew from 8 million to over 13 million followers in a year based on the strength of its vibrant community. Their weekly featured fan art regularly clocks in at 60,000+ views.
Facebook's 2015 Studios to Watch
FINCON (South Korea): With a name this is a portmanteau of the words ‘Finger’ and ‘Control’, this Korean software company is a very successful player in cross-platform game development within the action-RPG genre.
Scopely (United States): The combination of marketing prowess, reach, and strong intellectual properties (Walking Dead, Yahtzee, etc.) helped this Southern California based studio grow revenues year over year since 2011.
PlayRaven (Finland): PlayRaven is a Finnish game on a mission to not only create unique game mechanics but to create new genres altogether. They have bullish plans for 2016 with some exciting new titles to come.
Activision (United States): The year ended with a bang as one of the largest video game publishers in the world acquired King, the largest Facebook game developer in the world. We are excited to see how these two great companies will join forces to build new gameplay experiences.
