Several fads and trends in the 2010s did many things for gaming. Some for the better, and some for the worse. But the important thing that should be talked about is when it made their impact and how it left the medium going forward. Here are the biggest influential gaming trends of the last decade.

1. Twitch

On June 6, 2011, a streaming website called Justin.tv launched an outlet subsite called TwitchTV to focus on the gaming division. By February 2014, Justin.tv rebranded as Twitch Interactive, and by summer of the same year, Amazon offered to buy Twitch for $970 million. Google made an offer prior, but negotiations broke after antitrust laws with YouTube. Twitch played a significant impact in the last decade between being an alternative to gaming Youtubers and being the platform for eSports to thrive. Thanks to broadcasting several tournaments such as League of Legends, Dota 2, CS:GO, and Overwatch, eSports makes as much money and draws in as much if not, more audiences than the NBA or NFL.

2. Minecraft  

This is one of the two games I will mention on this list. Launching as an indie title (independent) game on November 8, 2011, Minecraft came into existence and made a massive wave for gamers. Thanks to YouTube’s infancy at the time, Minecraft influenced several kids when it first launched, some of which were my own classmates. The concept of “you can build whatever you set your mind to” never felt so pure before. You want to build a mansion, you can, want to create a floating fortress, you can, want to make a giant working computer, “yes, you can.” Today millions of players play Minecraft, and for especially Microsoft, it’s used to help people learn and grow in a new educational method. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for the day Minecraft can just come pre-installed with any MS operating system because it’ll eventually will.

3. Microtransactions  

When I first made this list, I kept thinking of several positive trends that were an influence. But then I realized not everything has to be positive to be influential and sad to say that at least one has made it to my list. Microtransactions, whether you love it or hate it, grew the most in the last decade. So much so, it redesigned the budget strategy for the most recent popular games. Before the 2010’s most games were based on the initial sales after launch day. Now, most games are focused more on the monetization timeline or how much money is coming in 3 months after launch or a year after launch. The first game that faced this was 2013’s Dead Space 3, which turned switched genres to meet microtransactions. Then, 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront with have pay-to-win mechanics in multiplayer. Lastly, there’s 2016’s Evolve with a season pass costing almost as much the base game (then releasing a second season pass for the same price), to even Mario Kart World Tour with a literal paywall for a regular game mode. I also wanted to mention 2K16-20 here because the in-game currency is a crime, but I couldn’t find a better place to put it besides here. I want to talk more about this topic in a future article, but I’ll leave this trend alone for now.

4. Cross-play  

Now that the negativity is over let’s return to some positives. Cross-play became available in several games over the decade, so let’s cover the highlights. Besides mentioning the F-word, the earliest would go to Minecraft, with the game being available on almost every device. I will explain that in second. Another would be Rocket League and 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Honorable mention goes to Cuphead. It’s not available on every console and definitely not the first cross-play game. But it is the first game available on Xbox, Switch, PC, Mac, and Tesla. No, that is not a typo. Teslas can play Cuphead, and so will eventually Minecraft.

5. Pokémon Go  

If I had to pick one good year for the Pokémon franchise in the last decade, it would definitely go to 2016. One of the reasons would be when Pokémon Sun and Moon were released, but the most significant thing would have been of Niantic’s second mobile game ever developed Pokémon Go. From seeing giant crowds in the streets looking for a Moltres to someone looking for a Haunter at the ceremony, people were going crazy for the game. Though the game is not as popular as it was back then, although this morning I saw it got a small resurgence in late 2019, the game is still being played. Definitely not by kids, but by grown-ups who have time to walk around their town or city to find these virtual animals. Basically, what I’m saying, if a game can get me and 45 million other people to get off our butts and walk around city statues all day, it’s influential to be mentioned.

6. Indie Games  

Independent games are just as if not more essential in the gaming industry then the game consoles, the graphics behind them, or the content creators playing. Without indie games, the market would’ve been static if not slipping without them. So, it becomes a magnificent sight to see when indie games were popping up like acne on teenager’s faces. There’s no telling where could be. It could be Untitled Goose Game where can be an a-hole goose or The Stanly Parable, a game with the most 4th wall breaks I have ever seen in-game. Even more than Deadpool (2013). Then there are ones that amaze you like Undertale with its story of humanity and moral or Stardew Valley, the definition of an indie success story.

7. The Switch  

Okay, this is gonna be a long one. Let me tell you a story. Back in 2008, Nintendo was developing a mobile-like game console that didn’t need a tv screen to play, Fast-forward to 2012 and we get WiiU. The concept was intriguing, but the execution was less to be seen. After pour sales and slight advancements in technology, Nintendo decided it was time to create a new console. One closer to their vision. It was a surprise to the industry because not that many game companies change consoles mid-generation. I still remembered all the news media that said “Nintendo is falling apart,” “their consoles are too underpowered,” “Should Nintendo switch to third-parties.” Even I started to question until October 2016 when Nintendo uploaded the reveal trailer for the Switch on YouTube. 3½ minutes later, I wasn’t worried about a thing. Every shortcoming the WiiU had got corrected with the Switch. By 2017, the Switch turned Nintendo’s generation failure into a success. Between its launch window, technology, and precise marketing, Nintendo’s bet on the Switch did not blow up in smoke. I do wanna make a more detailed console comparison between the WiiU and Switch in the future, but that will be for a different article.

8. Battle Royale Blow-up  

When I first made this list, BR’s weren’t gonna be on the list. But then I went to Sam’s Club the other day, and in the store, I saw a kid flossing next to his mom. Then I realized, if a simple game mode can influence a kid to do a dance in the middle of a store, it’s considered influential. Besides mentioning the F-word, I’m just gonna say the battle royales that influenced the genre like the 3-year H1Z1 alpha, which came out in 2015 and Player Unknown: Battlegrounds for building the hype. And Apex Legends for not just being a better battle royale but improving the genre for the better. 

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