Events

• Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame
• BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Awards
• 4th annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo); the 1st annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³
• Game One channel (subsidiary of Canalplus); Infogrames Entertainment SA and Canal+ launch the Game One television channel

Notable releases

• February 28 — Grand Theft Auto (PC)
• March 29 — Parasite Eve (Japan) (PS)
• April 1 — StarCraft (PC)
• May 22 — Unreal (PC)
• September 3 — Metal Gear Solid (Japan) (PS)
• September 8 — Parasite Eve (United States) (PS)
• September 30 — Grim Fandango (PC)
• September 30 — Pokémon Red and Blue (GB)
• October 21 — Metal Gear Solid (North America) (PS)
• October 31 — The Rise of Rome Expansion (PC)
• November 20 — Half-Life (PC)
• November 21 — Ocarina of Time (Japan) (N64)
• November 23 — The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (North America)

• November 30 — Brood War (PC)

  Hardware

  • Bandai's WonderSwan handheld in Japan
  • Majesco Sales Inc.'s Genesis 3 home console
  • Nintendo:
    • Game Boy Color (GBC) handheld console
    • Camera & Printer accessories for the Game Boy handheld console
  • Sega's NAOMI arcade system board and Dreamcast home console
  • SNK's Neo Geo Pocket (NGP) handheld

  Business

  • Activision acquires CD Contact Data and Head Game Publishing
  • Eidos Interactive acquires Crystal Dynamics
  • Electronic Arts Inc. acquires Virgin Studio and Westwood Studios, Inc.
  • Hasbro, Inc. acquires Atari Corporation (from JTS Corp.), Microprose, and Tiger Electronics
  • JTS Corp. (Atari Corporation) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
  • BreakAway Games, Ltd. founded
  • Elixir Studios Ltd. formed
  • Lego Media established by LEGO Group
  • Metro3D, Inc. founded
  • Rockstar Games founded
  • Square Co., Ltd. and Electronic Arts form Square Electronic Arts LLC to publish a wealth of Square Co., Ltd. titles in the U.S.
  • WildTangent, Inc. founded

  1998 en jeu vidéo | Datorspelsåret 1998