Sometimes a game comes out, and nothing is ever the same afterward. We were fortunate enough to have a ton of incredible games come out in the last decade, but being a great game isn't necessarily the stipulation for being on this list; games on this list need to have had a marked impact on the industry for years to come. These are the games that you think about long after playing them. These are the games that other developers talk about when they're describing their own games. These are the games that leave the world's biggest entertainment industry a different place after release.
These are the games that changed the world in the last decade:
10 MINECRAFT
The first game on this list has to be Minecraft and it is undoubtedly one of the most influential games of all time. Minecraft has had such an impact on how we interact with and think about games that it's difficult to go back and recall how it was before Minecraft. Crafting was rarely a component of games before Minecraft. Procedural generation was hardly a buzzword before Minecraft.
None of this is mentioning the craze of open-world survival games that Minecraft and DayZ helped popularize. Would we have games like Ark: Survival Evolved, Rust, The Forest, or Conan Exiles without Minecraft? Probably not. It shifted the landscape in such a huge way, and it did so without a triple-A budget.
9 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
Near and dear to this writer's heart, Skyrim is as much a world to immerse yourself in as it is a game. Sure, it has become a meme for a variety of different reasons, but no one would even understand the meme if the game wasn't familiar to just about everybody who's ever played a video game. Argue all you want about Skyrim not being the best RPG in the Elder Scrolls series, but it is undoubtedly the game that popularized the Elder Scrolls name outside of the usual RPG circles and has utterly cemented Bethesda as one of the premier RPG developers, despite recent missteps.
8 THE LAST OF US
One of the most well-crafted and beautiful single-player experiences ever made is The Last of Us. Before The Last of Us, there were certainly games that attempted, and occasionally even succeeded, in bringing players high-quality gameplay and cinematic experience with a great story and memorable characters.
However, none of those games are The Last of Us. Anyone who's ever played the game will never forget Joel or Ellie. The bond the game creates between Joel, Ellie, and the player is something that is nigh-on impossible to experience in any other form of storytelling and is pivotal in making sure that gut-punch of an ending arrives with so much emotional weight.
7 DARK SOULS
Sure, Demon Soul s released before Dark Souls and is a great game in its own right, but Dark Souls is the game that put From Software on the map in a big way and popularized the Souls-like genre that we see today. Dark Souls is a game that others are compared to so much that it's almost become a meme, but it's because From Software created a melee-action game that feels so smooth and rewarding to play that gamers cannot help but compare others to it. Games like Nioh, Lords of the Fallen, heck, even Jedi: Fallen Order likely wouldn't exist, or would exist in an entirely different form, if not for the trail blazed by this.
6 STARDEW VALLEY
A game with heavy influence from Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley took the gaming scene by storm upon release back in 2016 and has remained a popular game to pass the time and relax with since. An incredible feat of developing and artistic talent from a single developer, Eric Barone, Stardew Valley has spawned several poorly conceived clones and is so successful simply because of the effort and care put into it by Barone. The care is evident everywhere you look, including the characters, the art, and the music (which is so freaking good). Logging into Stardew Valley feels like logging in to see some old friends.
5 FORTNITE
A game even non-gamers have become at least vaguely familiar with, Fortnite has utterly conquered online gaming with it's cute, cartoony graphics and unique building system. Comparing Fortnite to other battle-royale games is always a surefire way to start a bloodbath, but that just goes to show the hold that this genre has over gaming. Fortnite has remained the most popular of them all, knocking others off in the rare case that it's dethroned for a short time. Its momentum doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, and it will be interesting to see how this game grows from simply being a battle-royale to something more in the coming years.
4 POKEMON GO
A game rarely holds the entire world in an iron grip like Pokemon Go did upon release. Despite numerous problems and the limited content, Pokemon Go had huge success for banking on both the success of the Pokemon brand and creating some interesting AR ideas. Never has a game sparked discussion across so many generational divides as this one, and it had a real impact on getting people to go out and see some cool things, all in the interest of catching another Pokemon.
3 OUTLAST
While it wasn't the first game of its kind, Outlast was certainly one of the most well-crafted and can be credited with the rise of 1st-person horror games that have flooded the market since, for better or worse. Outlast has this ability to create a real, visceral kind of horror that can be rare in the simple jump-scare titles that have come since, and few horror games seem to understand how to create a true sense of dread like Red Barrel Studio.
2 THE WITCHER 3
If you read or listen to just about any developer interview, The Witcher 3 inspired and left an indelible mark on the industry. With its incredible combination of cinematic storytelling, RPG progression, a detailed and varied open-world, and unforgettable characters, The Witcher 3 is a staggering feat that is almost overwhelming to behold. It's a game that RPG's are going to be compared to for years to come, and a game that these new ones are going to have a hard time matching.
1 DISHONORED
Arkane Studios' Dishonored took a formula familiar to the Thief games and did so much more with it than anyone expected. Dishonored's level design is a masterclass in player choice and creative problem solving that even Valve could be jealous of, and it has set a new standard for crafting interesting worlds and compelling decision making. There are so many facets that make Dishonored a unique and interesting change of pace from any other game of its kind, and it has changed the expectations that players have from the genre.