As the 2010s are nearly over and the chance for any game to release and make any significant impact on the decade as a whole has passed it is time to look back at the most important games of the decade. If you know or have played these games, you have experienced most of what this decade has to offer (with a bit of an exception as will be discussed later). The following 8 games are not necessarily the best games, but they are certainly the most impactful. They are not listed in any particular order:
Minecraft (basically every modern platform)
The first version of Minecraft technically released in 2009 but most of its lifespan so far was during the 2010s so it belongs on this list. Minecraft is one of the first games to be extremely successful as a paid beta version, which became a common business model throughout the 2010s. It quickly became the highest selling game of all time, which Grand Theft Auto V would have gotten a nod for if this was not the case. In terms of what you see in other games from Minecraft, survival games in general became quite a bit more popular and survival mechanics like crafting and building started appearing in a lot of games in the 2010s.
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Dark Souls (Xbox 360, PS3, Windows)
/ Dark Souls: Remastered (Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Windows)
Similar to Minecraft this technically had its origins right before this decade began in October 2009 with the PS3 exclusive Demon’s Souls but I don’t think anybody would argue that Dark Souls wasn’t more impactful, whether it deserved to be or not. Possibly this game’s biggest contribution is pushing back against the trend of games getting easier over time. While this trend is definitely still present, Dark Souls proved that at least some gamers are not looking for games that hold your hand. This game is also overall extremely well made in general and has influenced plenty of other games. Souls-like has even become its own genre.
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360, PS3, Windows) / The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (Xbox One, PS4, Switch, Windows)
Skyrim essentially cemented the open-world craze of the 2010s with its extremely high sales. From The Witcher 3 to the Metal Gear Solid series to basically every Ubisoft game to eventually even Nintendo, many developers tried to make the best seamless world themselves. Still, Skyrim is one of if not the best open world games not only from this decade, but ever, despite releasing early in the 2010s. Skyrim was also a huge boon for the modding community as its popularity led to a lot of exposure for the mods made for it, to the point that the PS4 and Xbox One version especially supported mods which was essentially unheard of on consoles besides Fallout 4 which was also inspired by Skyrim’s modding popularity on PC earlier.
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Destiny (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
Despite receiving a lot of backlash at launch, gamers eventually gave in and Destiny became an extremely popular game. It essentially introduced console gamers to MMO style monetization in non-MMO games and proved that this a model that gamers were willing to pay for. This game is also a classic case of DLC being made far in advance of the game releasing, with some of the early trailers showing gameplay from year two expansions. Bungie and Activision eventually released its sequel that ended up being more or less the same game but for full price again which gamers also eventually embraced after another rough launch.
Fortnite (basically every modern platform)
This game defined making money. Its main contribution in this area is the concept of the Battle Pass, which has already began popping up in a variety of games as the 2010s ends and will surely continue to into the 2020s. Fortnite was also a major player in the push for crossplay, seemingly being the deciding factor that forced Sony to give in and join Microsoft and Nintendo for crossplay. It is also a symbol of the popularity of the battle royale genre, though PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is where its popularity came from primarily. Epic Games rapid growth, Unreal Engine 4’s popularity, and the Epic Games Store are also all tied to this game.
The Last of Us (PS3) / The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)
Possibly this game’s biggest contribution to the 2010s is cementing the “movie game” genre. These games are often described as cinematic (though not in pace . . . ), to the point that watching somebody else play them is arguably a better experience. The PS4 sold 100 million units at least in some part thanks to Sony dedicating essentially all of their studios to making narrative-focused third-person action adventure games with the camera behind the playable character’s back. The Last of Us is also often associated with video games being considered by mainstream culture as art, though it doesn’t share most of the qualities that one would generally associate with a video game that is good. This game is also possibly the most egregious case of remastering yet, with the PS4 receiving a remastered version only slightly more than a year after the original’s release on PS3 at the same price as a new release.
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Shovel Knight (basically every modern platform)
Shovel Knight is possibly the only Kickstarter game to not be surrounded by some form of controversy. Yacht Club Games stayed true to their promises associated to fund raising goals, finally releasing the last promised free content (for backers or early adopters) shortly before the 2010s ended. It also symbolizes the extreme growth of the indie market during the 2010s. Like many other indie games, it has a retro aesthetic and is a 2D platformer. The character Shovel Knight is also notable for being the first 3rd party character to get an amiibo and the first indie character to be in Super Smash Bros., highlighting the support for indie developers from just about all platform holders including even Nintendo which historically has not had great relationships with 3rd parties.
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Pokémon Go (Mobile)
No other game’s release in the 2010s had nearly as big of a cultural impact as Pokémon Go. Anybody who also happened to be outside during the first few months after the game’s release in 2016 could not have missed the huge crowds of people walking around staring at their phones. Pokémon Go was essentially the Wii Sports moment of the decade, but arguably an even bigger deal. It also created a lot of hype around AR though this hasn’t really showed up anywhere else and its implementation is often better to turn off.
Looking at this list it is clear that in the 2010s Japanese developers lost essentially all of their influence on the rest of the industry, instead either living in their own bubbles or focusing on copying Western trends to the dismay of those that wished they would live in their own bubbles. Outside of this list there are a few other trends that are either too broad or too specific to some games during the 2010s. One of these trends is the idea of on-disc DLC or essentially paygated content that was created before launch and put into the game but the publisher doesn’t allow the player to access it unless they pay for it. This is actually one of the few trends set by Japanese publishers as this is most commonly associated with Capcom. Another trend is micotransactions, which eventually led to lootboxes and pay-to-win games. These trends mostly started in the 2010s and seem to have peaked during the 2010s too, with Fortnite‘s Battle Pass seemingly being the way of the future. VR games have grown a lot other the decade but there is still no VR game on the level of other system-sellers like Super Mario 64, Halo: Combat Evolved, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Other trends include the extreme growth of eSports to the point that games are developed with eSports as a focus, Xbox Game Pass and its clones, and game streaming which probably should have waited for the 2020s.
As for comparisons to previous decades, the 2010s is probably the least revolutionary. This is especially true for the area of single-player games, but multiplayer games did actually see a fair bit of new ideas. Still, the rate at which games released throughout the 2010s made it difficult for anything to really stick among any especially significant amount of gamers outside of battle royale. This may also be a result of the 8th generation of video game consoles being a relatively insignificant update that held all platforms back from receiving games only possible with more powerful or efficient hardware. The death of the Wii brand, Kinect, and PS Vita also didn’t help make developers think about games in new ways. Looking towards the next decade it seems possible that these trends could at least be somewhat negated so there is reason to be hopeful for the 2020s.
