Final Fantasy XIII was pegged as #2. Other big cheeses of the year include StarCraft’s return, the next Call of Duty and this year’s FIFA.
”The prequel to Microsoft’s number one Xbox 360 franchise was singled out by industry professionals taking part in the annual GamesIndustry.biz Network Survey, with those participating backing the first-person shooter over some of the biggest franchises in the business,” reports GamesIndustry.biz.
They also grilled the big names for what they thought this year’s ‘dark horse’ would be. The winner is Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake with Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain a close second. Vigil’s Darksiders makes it to number three.
”Interestingly, the action and adventure category is also expected to enjoy a resurgence in popularity, following success in 2009 with critical and commercial hits from Sony’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Eidos’ Batman: Arkham Asylum,” they added.
Sadly real-time strategy will take a tumble this year in popularity, but so will the music genre and first-person shooter. Check out the Top 10 lists from the GI.biz survey:
Games expected to be the biggest sellers in 2010
1. Halo: Reach
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Final Fantasy XIII
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StarCraft II
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Call of Duty 7
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FIFA 11
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BioShock 2
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Mass Effect 2
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God of War III
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
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Gran Turismo 5
Top ten games tipped as a ‘dark horse’ for 2010
1. Alan Wake
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Heavy Rain
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Darksiders
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Split Second
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Brink
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APB
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Mass Effect 2
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Dante’s Inferno
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Just Cause 2
=10. Metro 2033
=10. Max Payne 3
=10. Red Dead Redemption
Genre expected to become less popular in 2010
Music – 33.7%
First-person shooter – 13.5%
Real-time strategy – 12.6%
Casual / social – 10.3%
Action / adventure – 7.3%
Racing - 7%
MMO – 6.2%
Sports – 6.2%
Role-playing – 3.2%
Genre expected to become more popular in 2010
Casual / social – 32.3%
Action / adventure – 23.5%
MMO – 17.3%
Role-playing game – 9.7%
First-person shooter – 9.1%
Racing – 2.9%
Real-time strategy – 2.3%
Sports – 1.5%
Music – 1.5%