1981 in video gaming

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Events

January - Atari computer magazine ANALOG Computing begins 9 years of publication. Most issues include at least one BASIC game and one machine language game.
November - The British video game magazine Computer and Video Games (C&VG) starts.
Winter - Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel found Electronic Games, the first magazine on video games and generally recognized as the beginning of video game journalism.

New companies: dK'Tronics, Games by Apollo, Gebelli Software, Imagic, Spectravision, Starpath, Synapse Software
Defunct: APF Electronics
The arcade game market in the US generates $4.8 billion in revenue^[1] (equivalent to $12.5 billion in 2025).
The home video game market in the US generates $1 billion in sales revenue^[2] (equivalent to $2.6 billion in 2025).
The home video game market in Europe is worth $200 million^[3] (equivalent to $521 million in 2025).

February, Konami releases Scramble, the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels.^[4]
February, Williams Electronics releases Defender.
July 9, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong, which introduces the characters of Donkey Kong and Mario, and sets the template for the platformer genre. It is also one of the first video games with an integral storyline.^[5]
September, Namco releases Galaga, the sequel to Galaxian which becomes more popular than the original.
June, Konami releases Frogger.
October, Frogger is distributed in North America by Sega-Gremlin.
October, Sega releases Turbo, a racing video game for the VCO Object that features a third-person perspective, rear-view racer format.
October 21, Williams Electronics releases Stargate, the sequel to Defender.
November, Namco releases Bosconian, the first game to have a continue feature.
December, Jump Bug, the first scrolling platformer, developed by Hoei/Coreland and Alpha Denshi, is distributed in North America by Rock-Ola under license from Sega.
Midway releases Gorf and Wizard of Wor.
Taito releases Space Dungeon, the first twin-stick shooter.

June, Ultima is released, starting one of the most successful computer role-playing game franchises.
September, Wizardry is released, starting one of the most successful computer role-playing game franchises.
IBM and Microsoft include the game DONKEY.BAS with the IBM PC, arguably the first IBM PC compatible game.
Muse Software releases Castle Wolfenstein.
The Atari Program Exchange publishes Caverns of Mars, a vertically scrolling shooter for the Atari 8-bit family, and wargame Eastern Front (1941). APX also sells the source code to Eastern Front.
Epyx releases turn-based monster game Crush, Crumble and Chomp!.
BudgeCo releases Raster Blaster, an Apple II pinball game that's the precursor to Pinball Construction Set.
Infocom releases Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz.

July, the Namco Warp & Warp arcade system board is released.
October, the Sega VCO Object, the first arcade system board dedicated to pseudo-3D, sprite-scaling graphics, is released.

March 5, Timex releases the Sinclair Research ZX81 in the UK, which is significantly less expensive than other computers on the market.
June, Texas Instruments releases the TI-99/4A, an update to 1979's TI-99/4.
August 12, the IBM Personal Computer is released for USD$1,565, with 16K RAM, no disk drives, and 4-color CGA graphics.
Astrovision distributes the Bally Computer System after buying the rights from Bally/Midway.
Acorn Computers Ltd releases the BBC Micro home computer.
Commodore Business Machines releases the Commodore VIC-20 home computer.
NEC releases the PC-8801 home computer in Japan.

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