A lot of things have happened in a decade. For gaming industry it’s been a decade of – games with longer shelf lives, magnanimous RPGs, medieval grand strategy and so on. Literally it was a decade where developers cascade their games like never ending stream. Among all, it’s time to reflect on our pick of PC games from the last ten years which are likely to continue their journey in 2020s as well.
Final Fantasy XIV: Final Fantasy XIV was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows personal computers, developed and published by Square Enix in 2010. It is the fourteenth entry in the main Final Fantasy series and the second MMORPG in the series after Final Fantasy XI. Set in the fantasy realm of Eorzea, players take control of a customised avatar as they explore the land and are caught up in both an invasion by the hostile Garlean Empire and the threat of the Primals, the deities of the land’s Beastmen tribes. The The release of the game sparked immediate player backlash in addition to its negative critical reception. Some of the controversy was produced by the use of gameplay features unusual for the genre. It didn’t went well for the franchise post release as the main complaint of the players was the user interface, followed by problems with the performance and aspects of gameplay. The company and development team eventually decided to scrap the current version of XIV, rebuilding it from the ground up. This rebooted version, initially titled Final Fantasy XIV 2.0, began development in April 2011. The rebooted version was released in 2013 with the subtitle A Realm Reborn, and has been positively received by critics and players. The second take on the game has made it to maintain its legacy.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood a 2010 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the third major instalment in the Assassin’s Creed series, a direct sequel to 2009’s Assassin’s Creed II. The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November and December 2010 and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March and June 2011. The plot follows the centuries-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight for peace with free will, and the Templars, who desire the same but through control. The game passed the one million sales mark in less than a week after its release. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has become Ubisoft’s fastest-selling European title ever. It also had the best Ubisoft’s launch in Europe and is the best-selling launch title ever as of November 2010. Overall the reviews of the game was positive however many questioned reason behind the delayed PC version. In reply Ubisoft expressed that the game was virtually unchanged from the console version although with better graphical enhancements and minor bonus content were added to the PC players. However, most praised Ubisoft’s move to remove the DRM that marred the PC version of Assassin’s Creed II as well as include all DLC free of charge.
CS:GO: CS:GO is a multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series and was released for Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in August 2012, while the Linux version was released in 2014. The game pits two teams against each other: the Terrorists and the Counter-Terrorists. Both sides are tasked with eliminating the other while also completing separate objectives. The game was nominated for ‘Best Spectator Game’ in IGN’s Best of 2017 Awards, for ‘esports Game of the Year’ at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Golden Joystick Awards, for ‘Best esports Game’ at The Game Awards 2017 and The Game Awards 2019 and for ‘Game, esports’ at the 17th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards. In 2018, the game was nominated for ‘Fan Favorite esports Game’ and ‘Fan Favorite esports League Format’ with the Majors at the Gamers’ Choice Awards, and for ‘esports Title of the Year’ at the Australian Games Awards.
Crusader Kings 2: Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader Kings. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 14 February, 2012. An OS X version, Paradox Interactive’s first in-house development for the operating system, was released on 24 May, 2012. A Linux version was also released on 14 January, 2013. The game is a dynasty simulator where the player controls a Medieval dynasty from 1066 to 1337, though the DLC The Old Gods and Charlemagne allow for earlier start dates of 867 and 769, respectively along with 936 due to the Iron Century update. Through the strategic use of war, marriages and assassinations among many other things, the player works to achieve success for their dynasty. Since being released, it has sold over 1 million copies, which made it Paradox’s most successful release before the release of Europa Universalis IV in August 2013. A sequel, Crusader Kings III, is set to release in 2020.
Overwatch: Overwatch is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Described as a ‘hero shooter, Overwatch assigns players into two teams of six, with each player selecting from a roster of over 30 characters, known as heroes, each with a unique style of play that is divided into three general roles that fit their purpose. Players on a team work together to secure and defend control points on a map or escort a payload across the map in a limited amount of time. Overwatch was unveiled at the 2014 BlizzCon event and was in a closed beta from late 2015 through early 2016. An open beta before release drew in nearly 10 million players. The release of the game was promoted with short animated videos to introduce the narrative and characters.Blizzard reported over US$1 billion in revenue during the first year of its release and had more than 50 million players after three years. Overwatch is considered to be among one of the greatest video games of all time, receiving numerous game of the year awards and other accolades.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a 2015 action role-playing game developed and published by CD Projekt and based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. It is the sequel to the 2011 game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, played in an open world with a third-person perspective. Players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter (known as a witcher) who is looking for his missing adopted daughter on the run from the Wild Hunt, an otherworldly force determined to capture her and use her powers. Players battle the game’s many dangers with weapons and magic, interact with non-player characters, and complete main-story and side quests to acquire experience points and gold, which are used to increase Geralt’s abilities and purchase equipment. Before its release, over 1.5 million people pre-ordered the game. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt debuted atop the UK software sales chart in its first week, when it earned 600 percent more than predecessor The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It was the best-selling video game of the year in the UK, breaking the record held by Battlefield Hardline. It debuted atop the Japanese video-game sales charts, selling 67,385 copies in its first week. Four million copies of the game were sold in its first two weeks of release. We all know it now owing to the recent hit Netflix adaptation.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo, released for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U consoles on 3 March 2017. Breath of the Wild is set at the end of the Zelda timeline; the player controls Link, who awakens from a hundred-year slumber to defeat Calamity Ganon before it can destroy the kingdom of Hyrule. The game set in an open world environment where players are tasked with exploring the kingdom of Hyrule while controlling Link. In terms of structure, Breath of the Wild encourages nonlinear gameplay, which is illustrated by the game’s lack of defined entrances or exits to areas, scant instruction given to the player, and encouragement to explore freely. The game’s success sparked increased interest in the Wii U emulator Cemu, as the Cemu developers rapidly updated the software to run the game at a steady frame rate within weeks of release. By March 2019, the game sold 14.27 million copies worldwide, 12.77 on the Switch and 1.5 on the Wii U, making Breath of the Wild the bestselling game in the franchise. Total sales for the Switch version reached 14.54 million by September 2019.
PUBG: is an online multiplayer battle royale game developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole. In the game, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island and scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill others while avoiding getting killed themselves. The available safe area of the game’s map decreases in size over time, directing surviving players into tighter areas to force encounters. Battlegrounds made US$11 million in the first three days of its Windows early access release in March 2017. By the second week of April, the game had sold over one million copies, with a peak player count of 89,000, SuperData Research estimated that the game’s April sales exceeded $34 million, putting it as one of the top 10 highest grossing revenue games for the month and exceeding revenue from Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Battlegrounds won the award for ‘Best PC Game’, ‘Best Multiplayer’, and ‘Best Spectator Game at the IGN Best of 2017 Awards.
Fortnite: Fortnite is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. Fortnite: Save the World, a cooperative shooter-survival game for up to four players to fight off zombie-like creatures and defend objects with fortifications they can build. The Save the World mode achieved over one million players by August 2017, just prior to the release of Battle Royale. The Save the World mode achieved over one million players by August 2017, just prior to the release of Battle Royale. The game receives ‘Best Multiplayer game’ and the ‘Best Ongoing Game’ awards at The Game Awards 2018 and have also receives a huge round of awards and appreciation from the community. Lastly it has maintained ‘Best Ongoing Game’ position at the The Game Awards 2019.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. Serving as the sixteenth overall installment in the Call of Duty series, as well as a reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series, it was released on 25October 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.The game has been criticized for its inclusion of white phosphorus strikes as a gameplay mechanic in the multiplayer. Use of white phosphorus as an incendiary agent is regulated by international law: the provisions of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, specifically the Protocol on Incendiary Weapons, prohibit the use of incendiary weapons against or near civilian areas. However it didn’t affet the sales of the game Modern Warfare earned over $600 million within its first three days of release, making it the highest-selling game in the franchise during the current console generation and breaking several sales records, including the best digital opening in Activision’s history, the most digital copies sold for a game in three days on PlayStation 4, and the best Call of Duty launch on PC.In Japan, it was released in the top 20 video games chart with 117,670 copies sold in the first week.
