The 2010s represented perhaps the best decade of gaming ever. With a majority of the population playing some kind of video games, varying from hardcore RPGs like Dark Souls III to casual mobile experiences such as Candy Crush, gaming has never been as big of an industry.
The expansion of the gaming market has brought a proliferation of high budget AAA titles, often featuring millions of marketing dollars to excite fans. While many games have lived up to their potential, spent their money well, and cemented themselves as cultural phenomena, others have fallen to the wayside to be almost forgotten.
10 Defining: Grand Theft Auto V
As one of the best selling video games of all time, Grand Theft Auto V broke seemingly countless records when the game released and as it expanded its reach to new platforms. The open-world game felt as alive and lived in as no game before or since; it is almost universally accepted as one of the best games ever.
With fans eagerly awaiting the next entry in Rockstar’s biggest franchise, Grand Theft Auto VI could easily break its predecessors’ records and define this coming decade, just as GTA V did.
9 Forgotten: Assassin’s Creed Unity
The Assassin’s Creed franchise has aged like fine wine. After several fantastic early entries into the series, the open-world gameplay was combined with improved mechanics and features in recent titles such as Origins and Odyssey. The result was some of Ubisoft’s best games yet. Unfortunately, the series hit a rough spot after several middling titles early in the decade; Unity represented the low point.
Unity introduced cooperative multiplayer into the open-world experience, a revelation that had the potential to make the game groundbreaking for the franchise. Unfortunately, the game was broken at release and filled with bugs and other issues.
8 Defining: Skyrim
Fantasy settings have always been popular with video games, just as they were in other entertainment mediums such as books and tabletop games. However, few games have elevated themselves to the same vaulted status as cultural icons such as Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons. One of the few to reach this status has been Skyrim.
While its predecessors in the Elder Scrolls franchise, including Morrowind and Oblivion, were popular AAA titles, Skyrim became a cultural phenomenon. Its expansive open world was popular with both casual and hardcore gamers and sold millions of copies.
7 Forgotten: Fable 3
The Fable series was once an important part of the foundation on which the Xbox brand rested. From a first-party perspective, Halo and Gears of War filled the platform’s shooter needs, Forza satisfied racing fans, and Fable was their open-world star.
Unfortunately, the franchise lost all momentum with the release of Fable 3. Instead of staying within the confines of the medieval fantasy fans had grown accustomed to, they opted to explore the industrial revolution era. While the game wasn’t bad, few thought it was worthy of the series name.
6 Defining: PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG)
When PUBG launched as a battle royale, it had the rare opportunity to create its own genre. Introducing the latest fad into the broader shooter genre, PUBG created nearly endless buzz with its innovative gameplay mechanics.
While its popularity has more recently been eclipsed by its free to play counterparts, Fortnite and Apex Legends, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds gets the nod over its competitors for being the trailblazer. The game is still popular, and players who never bought it can check it out free on mobile or on Xbox’s Game Pass service.
5 Forgotten: Halo 5
Perhaps the most successful franchise Microsoft has ever developed, the first several Halo games helped define the first decade of the new millennium. Halo: Combat Evolved solidified first-person shooters on consoles, Halo 2 made Xbox Live an essential service, and Halo 3 and Reach continued to raise the bar in the legendary series.
Unfortunately, after the departure of Bungie from the franchise, the games saw a quick decline in quality. After a good but not great freshman effort by 343 Industries in the form of Halo 4, fans were hopeful that Halo 5 would be closer to what they were accustomed to. Unfortunately, it was arguably the most disappointing campaign in the series.
4 Defining: Minecraft
At first look, Minecraft does not look like much. The block-based graphics look closer to what may have appeared on a Nintendo 64 console than what would have debuted in 2009. Gaining popularity at the turn of the decade, the fanfare took years to slow down; it remains one of the most popular games in the world.
Part of what has made the title so permanent in gaming spheres is the infinite possibilities available to players. Many players have assembled incredibly detailed recreations of their favorite landmarks, both real and fictional.
3 Forgotten: Anthem
BioWare was once one of the most revered developers in the video game industry. The masterminds behind hits such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect, there was an incredible amount of consistent quality coming from the studio.
Unfortunately, their latest big-budget title, Anthem failed to make much of an impact. With rampant bugs and poor review scores, the game was such a failure that EA already is planning a reboot.
2 Defining: Pokemon Go
Fads are nothing new in the video game industry. However, few fads are as dominant as Pokemon Go was at launch. Capturing nostalgia from millions of players who remembered Pokemon Red and Blue, Pokemon Go had a fan base consisting of nearly everyone with access to a smartphone.
Pokemon Go was sometimes controversial for poor decisions that occasionally occurred from players pursuing their favorite monsters with wanton abandon. The game did manage to motivate millions of people to get outside and explore their towns, with many businesses, churches, and other organizations using the popularity of the app’s heyday to interact with the community.
1 Forgotten: Mighty No. 9
The spiritual successor to the Mega Man franchise, Mighty No. 9 was originally a high profile Kickstarter project. With one of the developers of the first franchise at the helm of the venture, fans eagerly backed the game on Kickstarter.
When the game finally came out after countless delays and an overabundance of cash from the crowdfunding campaign, few fans and critics saw the money as well spent. The game was criticized for being bland and little more than a generic version of its inspiration.
NEXT: Grand Theft Auto 6: 5 Rumors That Have Fans Excited (& 5 That Make People Worried)
