Page 40 - PC Gamer - UK (February 2020)

G AMES O F THE D ECAD E

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HI ST O R Y HAL L O F F AME I E A R L Y A C C E S S I LO C A L P L A Y TA C T I C S I PRE D I C TI O N S

announced that it would be handing out $100 million in
Fortnite prize money. $30 million of that was set aside for
the inaugural Fortnite World Cup, creating the biggest
prize pool in esports history.
The growth of MOBAs and the enduring popularity of
first-person shooters like CS:GO has given communities
mascots and teams to rally around for years, but now
everything from Hearthstone to PUBG has its own esports
scene. All of this might still be a fringe interest, however, if
it weren’t for streaming. 2011 saw the official launch of
Twitch.tv. Purchased by Amazon in 2014, Twitch has
transformed the way people enjoy games, and provided years have offered up the potential for great leaps forward
the industry with a brand-new marketing tool, playing in the way we experience our games, but the first few
into the global rise of influencer culture to provide a steps have, so far, proved stumbling. TOP LEFT: League of
constant stream of carefully-curated hype. For better and Legends has proved
worse, the impact of the biggest streamers is being felt THE BIGGER THEY ARE… hugely influential.
more and more keenly throughout the industry, and as In October 2019, the Hearthstone community erupted in TOP RIGHT: CS:GO
tech giants like Microsoft, YouTube, and Facebook start a anger over the punishment handed down from Blizzard enjoys an enduring
bidding war over its emerging household names, that to professional player Ng ‘Blitzchung’ Wai Chung after he popularity.
power isn’t likely to dissipate any time soon. expressed support for the Hong Kong protests during an
official livestream. The player was forced to forfeit his
LOOK BACK IN VR prize money (now returned) and was banned from the
In 2010, 17-year-old student Palmer Luckey put together game for 12 months in accordance with competition rules,
his first virtual reality headset in his parents’ basement. By but players interpreted the developer’s actions as evidence
the end of 2012, Luckey had received endorsements from of an increasing desire to protect its interest in the
Gabe Newell and John Carmack, and the Oculus Rift’s lucrative Chinese market.
Kickstarter had raised nearly $2.5 million. China’s relationship with PC gaming over the past
In 2014, Facebook purchased Luckey’s company for $1 decade has been complicated. Government intervention
billion. The first Rifts found their way into consumers’ restricts access to potentially enormous audiences unless
hands in March 2016, joined on the market by the HTC developers can find themselves a local publisher to bring
Vive a week later. But what was originally heralded as a their game to the country. In many cases, that has
new wave of consumer VR is still yet to fully reach its involved a publisher acquiring an often-hefty share in the
potential. Games like Beat Saber and
Eve Valkyrie have drawn attention,
helped along by well-received
adaptations of games Superhot and Half-Life:
Skyrim. But factors like high LETTING OFF STEAM Pro-Valvesentimentovertime Alyx
price-tags means that uptake has Epic Games announced
been slow – and a limited pool of 10 Refund policy Store
players means a limited number of 9 improved announced
developers willing to take the plunge
on fully-fledged games rather than 8 Campo
virtual reality curios. 7 Portal 2 Santo
released
Facebook’s stake in VR isn’t the 6 CS:GO + acquired
only big-name investment into this 5 Steam Dota 2
decade’s fledgling gaming technology. FAN R ABID N E S S Greenlight released
released
Announced this year, Google Stadia 4 CS:GO
promised seamless streaming of 3 gambling Artifact
massive games, but seems to be 2 scandal released
struggling to live up to that 1
commitment. Early adoption has
reportedly been slow, and questions 0
are still to be asked of its relevance to Jan 10 Jul 10 Jan 11 Jul 11 Jan 12 Jul 12 Jan 13 Jul 13 Jan 14 Jul 14 Jan 15 Jul 15 Jan 16 Jul 16 Jan 17 Jul 17 Jan 18 Jul 18 Jan 19 Jul 19 Dec 19
players with anything but the fastest
internet connections. The past ten

APRIL 19, 201 1 M AY 17, 201 1 JUNE 7, 201 1
1 P ORTAL 2 THE WITCHER 2: E3 201 1
1 After an elaborate, AS SAS SIN OF Announced early in
potato-based K INGS the year, Prey 2
20 marketing campaign, CD Projekt launches shows off a demo at
its RPG sequel – it’s a
E3, impressing
Valve releases its
follow up to the step up from its janky attending journalists.
classic Portal, with predecessor, and lays By the end of 2011,
Stephen Merchant foundations for the the project will be all
starring. smash hit third game. but dead.

40 FEBRUARY 2020