Page 39 - PC Gamer - UK (February 2020)

GAMES OF THE DECADE

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HI STOR Y HALL OF F AME EA R L Y A C C E S S I LO CA L P L A Y TA C T I C S I PREDICTIO NS

A few months before the start of this seemed significantly less likely. As a Hollywood-style
decade, a game called League of Legends
cautiousness seems to descend slowly across the industry,
entered open beta. Back then, it was
those familiar faces are found ever further afield, as the
impossible to know the extent of the
phenomenon it would become - ten years likes of Deckard Cain, Sam Fisher, and even Commander
Keen make their way to our phone screens.
on, Riot’s debut game is played by 8 million players If the last ten years has shown us anything, it’s that
every day. But League of Legends has also grown to be trends – even those informed by decades of PC gaming
indicative of the last ten years of PC gaming as a whole. heritage – are nearly impossible to predict.
It’s been instrumental in the growth of esports and a
major indicator of China’s increasing relevance in the TWITCH REACTIONS
industry. It’s proven a microcosmic version of the rise, Esports are by no means an invention of the past ten
fall, and constant recycling of new genres, franchises years. South Korea’s StarCraft scene was making
and platforms. And now, as this decade draws to its celebrities of its top-tier players as far back as the early
close, Riot is showing the old guard that their places at noughties, and competitive gaming has its roots firmly
the top aren’t as secure as they once were. established in ’80s arcade culture. But the last decade has
seen esports move from the fringes to the mainstream,
BACK TO THE FUTURE and nowhere has that move been felt more than on PC.
The past ten years have seen a fair share of new ideas. In 2011, the first League of Legends world
The rise of MOBAs meant that the efforts of Warcraft championships took place at Dreamhack Winter, in front
III’s modding community transformed into one of the of an audience of around 200 people. Eight years later,
BELOW: DoomGuy
most successful genres in the world. Years later, history that live audience had grown to tens of thousands, with returned to rip
repeated itself as long-term DayZ modder Brendan millions more watching at home. The intervening years and tear.
‘PlayerUnknown’ Greene kickstarted a global battle had seen an exponential rise in esports’ popularity – and
royale phenomenon. In 2019, the process began again, financial relevance. Early this year, Epic Games
as a custom Dota 2 game mode gave
way to a wave of autobattlers from
some major studios.
While new genres have emerged,
others have solidified their popularity
– Counter-Strike and Call of Duty
aren’t likely to go away any time
soon, but the single-player FPS has
made a comeback thanks to the likes
of Doom, Wolfenstein, and Titanfall.
Elsewhere, the immersive sim
seemed to make a triumphant return,
only to fall by the wayside again after
Dishonored, Prey, and Deus Ex all
failed to capture the financial
attention required to keep them
going. Real-time strategy saw many
of its best ideas stripped away and
streamlined into other games, but
even that time-honoured genre seems
poised to make its comeback over the
next few years.
Genres have risen, adapted, and
died away again throughout the last
decade, but the industry is also facing
an unprecedented resurgence from
classic characters. I don’t think we’ll
ever go a long time without seeing
Lara Croft on our screens, but there
was a time when the returns of
BJ Blazkowicz
DoomGuy and BJ Blazkowicz

JULY 27, 2010 OC T 22, 2010 DEC 7, 2010
STARCR AF T II: BLIZ ZC ON 2010 WORLD OF
WINGS OF Blizzard presents WARCR A F T
LIBERT Y ‘Blizzard DotA’ to the CATACLYSM
A worthy attempt at a world, later changed An expansion that
t
follow-up, a task later after a legal battle shakes up the MMO’s
described by Dustin n with Valve to Blizzard tired world by blowing
Browder as “insane ely All-Stars, and then up half of it, allowing
hard… like inventing finally to Heroes of for sweeping
g
Basketball 2”. the Storm. redesigns of areas.

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