The results of our public vote for the most influential video game are in. Find out where big names like Baldur's Gate 3, Super Mario Bros, Tetris and Shenmue came on the list.

Video games’ influence on popular culture has never been more prevalent. Their effect is visible and audible in today’s music, across the world of TV and cinema, and on the catwalk. Even your favourite language-learning and fitness apps feature progression systems and rewards popularised by games. To reflect the medium’s universal impact, ahead of the 21st BAFTA Games Awards, we asked the public a provocative question : what is the most influential video game of all time?

As more than one responder said, it’s unfair to have to choose just one. Do you pick the pioneers that shaped the early days of the medium, the innovators that were ahead of their time, the ones that proved formative to your own creative journey, or simply the ones that made you most emotional? As might be expected, among the extraordinary number of responses we received was a staggering variety of games — ranging from titles that launched the industry to contemporary giants released mere months ago. The top ten alone spans multiple genres, from platformers to shooters, sandbox adventures to simulations.

So, without further ado, here are the public’s top 21: each of which, it’s fair to say, has had a seismic impact on games and those who play them…

the list, from most influential to least
  1. Shenmue
  2. DOOM
  3. Super Mario Bros
  4. Half Life
  5. Ocarina of Time
  6. Minecraft
  7. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
  8. Super Mario 64
  9. Half Life 2
  10. The Sims
  11. Tetris
  12. Tomb Raider
  13. Pong
  14. Metal Gear Solid
  15. World of Warcraft
  16. Baldur’s Gate 3
  17. Final Fantasy VII
  18. Dark Souls
  19. GTA 3
  20. Skyrim
  21. GTA
  • HappyFrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    24·
    2 days ago

    While they are very good, and I don’t doubt they’ll be influential, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 are way too young to be influential yet.

    • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
      3·
      1 day ago

      Yeah, the rest are like “ok sure, but maybe not in that order”. But BG3 and KCD2 are like 90% recency bias. Great games, but probably on par with Witcher 3 or the RDR games.

      But they didn’t do any research here, they didn’t have a panel of judges, they just put it up to a vote of the internet. By “influential” they really meant a popularity contest.