Christopher Buffa (Prima Games): Going into E3 2014, we listed eight potential game changers, video games that will have a huge impact at the show and beyond. Now that the industry’s biggest event is history and we played everything, it’s time to take a more serious look at the games that’ll not only sell millions of copies, but influence developers in the months and years to come.
Take-Two Interactive revealed it is pausing development on its Nintendo Switch 2 edition of "Borderlands 4" in its latest quarterly earnings.
O'Dell Harmon Jr. writes: "Before we say goodbye to 2025, let’s take a look back and see what were the most downloaded games of the year. It was a great time for sports, shooters, and some new PlayStation VR2 games. Sports favorites topped the charts in US/Canada and EU, with NBA 2K26 and EA Sports FC26, respectively.
Juggernaut GTA V found a home in the top three for both regions, with new 2025 release Battlefield 6 claiming second place in the US. Fortnite took top place for free-to-play games, and Beat Saber continues its PS VR2 success."
I think it shows how shortsighted it was for Sony to let go of Evolution and not get them to make some sort of competitor (open world Driveclub?) 10 years ago.
After Driveclub's reception, hard to say it would have done well enough to compete. It's easy to dream of such a thing, but to make it happen? It's taken how long for CoD to be dethroned? And it was dethroned by Hogwart's Legacy and has gained it right back just the next year.
It’s funny to watch the only games EU and USA agree on was Minecraft and back ops 7 both regions on 6 and 7 spot respectively other than that FIFA rules EU
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I would like to see a list that has both free to play and paid games together, but at least we have this.
To this day GTA5 is a top downloaded game and it makes me wonder if the industry is really ready for GTA6. I imagine almost nothing else will sell during that game's release window.
Another night of Fortnite with the boys then?
I’ve never played Fortnite GTAV or CoD BO7 but I do own GTAV for PS4/5 because I got them cheap.
i think we should either take those games out, or make a singleplayer list too ha
What exactly are we not getting?
Did we not just have a 2025 filled with nice games like...
Silksong, Doom TDA, Expedition 33, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Ghost of Yotei, Dispatch, Split Fiction, Hades 2, DK Bananza, and so many more?
Agree that all you just posted are great games. Expedition 33 is one of my favorites. Spent a large chunk of time on BG3 in 2023. Another for my all-time list.
My point though not well articulated in the OG post is that we would get more of the games of the quality you mentioned if so many valuable resources were not allocated to FTP slop and/or heavy monetization schemes. Some of what used to be my favorite franchises have been ruined by them.
To sum it up, I would like to see games like 33 outperform the profits made by games like Fortnite so more resources are allocated to great games. When heavily monetized FTP games are at the top of the list, we end up being stuck with a significant chunk of games that are not good. Or worst case scenario games that spend years in development, but get cancelled due to industry trend chasing.
Popsicle, I actually think we're getting more great games because of the slop. Developers are seeing that people aren't happy and taking advantage of big AAA studios not delivering for people.
I see nothing in these games that will change everything! I mean good games but already have been done before. Uncharted 4 will force console Devs to step up quality. Heck Uncharted 2 has already done that and we are seeing the benefits.
GTAV PC and Evolve are very high up on my list but nothing revolutionary about them. GTAV is San Andreas 2 and there are games already out that let humans play as the boss character or bad guy while fighting other human good guy players.
GTAV PC mods will change things. GTAV MP was based off of GTAIV mods.
StarCitizen with The Rift or Morpheus or Steam VR looks to be the game changer as it lets you explore an endless universe, invade and capture ships in First person shooter mode, along with an economy that will be gamer driven. Planetary exploration will be added along with so many other things Chris has kept a secret.
No Man's Sky....... BUT Starforge already does this same exact thing just not as popular and only being done by like 3 people so it takes them longer to complete things but No mans SKy looks to deliver game changing gameplay while taking notes from Starforge.
Rainbow Six: Siege........everything we always wanted in a tactical shooter and then some wrapped around Destructible environments.
Project Cars.......I can no longer play any racer without real time damage that affects your cars characteristics.
I think a lot of the Game Changing awards should be given to Eve Online and DayZ. Huge game worlds, lots of tools, and the whole thing is gamer driven.
Destruction is a Game changer also, it just makes things so much more realistic. Thanks to Red Faction and your Geo Mod Engine.
Crafting.....gotta add crafting. Crafting in MMO's, ARPG's and Survival horror is terrific. Will see it soon in FPS and action/adventure games
Destiny should be on the list
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