Wikipedia:Notability (video games)

The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.

This page in a nutshell: A video game release is appropriate for a stand-alone article if it has been the subject of significant commentary in multiple published sources who are independent of the video game developer. Avoid creating new articles about re-releases or expansions if they will be short or redundant, and cover smaller releases at the article about the original game.

This is a guideline that explains how the concept of notability applies to articles about video game and computer game releases including items like visual novels; this does not include serious games used by businesses and organizations for teaching. This guideline is not paramount, and editors should see if other notability guidelines may apply, in particular the notability criteria for web-specific content. For articles or lists about video game elements (such as minigames or game concepts), consult the general notability guideline and guideline for the Video Games WikiProject.

Notability of core video games

A video game is appropriate for an article if it has been the subject of significant commentary or analysis in published sources who are independent of the game developer.

Published sources include any reliable peer reviewed sources, such as newspapers, magazines, books, documentaries, websites, and consumer reports.
Independent sources must not be primary sources, press releases (or re-prints), advertisements, manuals, official game guides, or material from business partners.^[1]
Significant commentary should report more than basic game data (such as its title, platform, publisher, and creative staff). Commentary should be critical and detailed.
Old or international releases are more likely to be covered in sources that are not immediately available online. A source that briefly mentions a title's influence on a genre or type of game can show evidence that significant commentary probably exists in print and/or non-English sources.^[2]

Derivative games (such as ports, remakes, compilations, and expansions) may be covered in a Wikipedia article, but not necessarily in a separate article. See the standard below.

Awards and presumption of commentary

Awards and nominations do not demonstrate a game's notability. However, some awards are notable enough to create a presumption that substantial commentary about the game will soon be found.

For an award to create a presumption of notability, it needs to be an industry-wide independent award that has been known to generate significant commentary about a game. A few awards that have been known to meet this criteria are the Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (AIAS), the British Academy Video Games Awards (BAFTA), the Japanese Game Awards, the Game Critics Awards from E3, the Spotlight Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), the Entertainment/Interactive Art Awards, and any award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF).

Online polls, "top 10" lists, and awards from individual publishers (such as IGN or Gamespot) do not create a presumption of notability because they rarely generate significant commentary in reliable published sources. However, these awards may still be worth mentioning in the article, even if they do not demonstrate notability.

Notability of derivative game releases

New game releases that either expand or re-release an existing game do not always warrant a stand-alone article. Most derivative releases should be covered at an article about the original release, unless there is significant distinct game content (and reliable commentary about those differences) to treat the new content as a separate game. Avoid creating WP:spinout articles that are short or redundant. Any distinct features of a derivative release that can be verified can always be covered in the parent article.

Type of Release	Sequel	Expansion pack	Remake or Port	New episode	Fan disc	Compilation	Patch	Translation
Cover it?	Always	Always	Usually	Always	Always	Usually	Rarely	Rarely
Distinct article?	Usually	Sometimes	Rarely	Never	Never	Never	Never	Never
Exemplary articles	Halo 2	StarCraft: Brood War	Chrono Trigger	Tales of Monkey Island		Metroid Prime: Trilogy	BioShock	Final Fantasy VI

The above table offers a guideline of how to treat different types of game releases. It is less relevant to examine how a game is marketed, and more important to focus on the level of distinct content. For example, a game may be marketed as a "new episode", but it fits the definition of a sequel. Larger releases offer more distinct content and thus justify creating a separate article, whereas smaller updates do not.

This also applies to game releases produced by fan communities (such as mods). A new article should only be created for a game release with independent reliable commentary about the distinct game content.

Notes

^ Self-promotion and product placement are not the routes to having an encyclopaedia article. The published works must be someone else writing about the video game. The barometer of notability is whether people independent of the subject itself (or of its manufacturer, creator, or vendor) have actually considered the content or site worthy enough that they have written and published significant commentary that focus upon it.
^ Finding a critical reviews for older games may be difficult as most publication was done by print gaming magazines before the explosive growth of the Internet; in addition, due to its history, the video game industry is more Japan-centric than most tech industries. Information by a single reliable third-party source in English on the games' historical retrospectives may be the only easily accessable source at times. The source does not need to go into a detailed discussion about the game, and may only briefly mention that the title was key to a genre's or classification's development.

[1] Self-promotion and product placement are not the routes to having an encyclopaedia article. The published works must be someone else writing about the video game. The barometer of notability is whether people independent of the subject itself (or of its manufacturer, creator, or vendor) have actually considered the content or site worthy enough that they have written and published significant commentary that focus upon it.

[2] Finding a critical reviews for older games may be difficult as most publication was done by print gaming magazines before the explosive growth of the Internet; in addition, due to its history, the video game industry is more Japan-centric than most tech industries. Information by a single reliable third-party source in English on the games' historical retrospectives may be the only easily accessable source at times. The source does not need to go into a detailed discussion about the game, and may only briefly mention that the title was key to a genre's or classification's development.

[1]

[2]

Notability of core video games

Awards and presumption of commentary

Notability of derivative game releases

See also

Notes