1986 in video gaming

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Events

Notable releases

• Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder.
• February 21 — Nintendo also releases The Legend of Zelda (designed by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System), the first in The Legend of Zelda series
• August 6 — Nintendo releases Metroid by Makoto Kano, the first in the Metroid series.
• Sega releases the Out Run arcade game
• Arkanoid (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels and remakes
• Bubble Bobble (Taito, arcade), spawned many sequels
• Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter was released in October
• Dragon Quest (Enix, Famicom), usually considered the foremost Japanese role-playing video game, the first in a series that has been phenomenally successful in Japan

Hardware

• Namco releases the Namco System '86 arcade system board
• Atari releases the Atari 7800 home console two years after its original test market date
• Sega releases the Sega Master System home console in the United States
• Sharp releases the Twin Famicom home console
• Nintendo releases the Famicom Disk System (an add-on for the Famicom) in Japan only

Business

• New companies: Acclaim, Majesco, Ubi Soft
• June 13 - Activision merges with Infocom Inc.
• Activision acquires Gamestar Software
• Sinclair Research Ltd. is acquired by Amstrad