Every Single Game of The Year From The 2010’s
It’s been a crazy 10 years for video games, we’ve had fantastic releases from Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2010, Bloodborne in 2015, and Ghost of Tsushima in 2020! With so many amazing games being released over the last decade, we thought it would be fun to see how the games have stacked up against each other over the years. It’s hard to keep track of what games released in which year. Can you believe that LIMBO came out 10 years ago? Super Meat Boy? Black Ops??? Neither can I. I was only 10 years old when this list started and my parents wouldn’t even let me play most of these games (thanks Mom and Dad for potentially hindering my now career). So, without further ado, let’s crack into this list of every single game of the year from this decade!
2010: Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is one of Rockstar’s most popular titles ever, so it’s no shock here that it won game of the year when it released in 2010. It was so popular, in fact, that players waited a whole 8 years for Rockstar to develop a sequel to the western-shooter. Due to the overwhelming success of Red Dead Redemption 2, maybe in another 16 years we’ll get a Red Dead Redemption 3? While a third installment of the franchise is almost certain, it’s doubtful that Rockstar would make players wait just as long as they did for the sequel.
2011: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
If I had to pick a single game from the last 10 years to be “Game of the Decade” I would absolutely choose The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Undoubtedly one of the most popular video games of all time, Skyrim has become a household title and has a full-price version on almost every system available. The source of thousands of memes, hundreds of hours of shouting at dragons, and another hundred hours of walking into villages only to be killed instantly, because apparently you’ve been a vampire for so long and you didn’t know, so you have to Google how to cure vampirism in Skyrim, so that people stop trying to kill you. Okay, maybe that last part was just me (yes, this is a true story), but to this day, the game keeps people engaged and playing 10 years later.
2012: The Walking Dead
Telltale Games’ most popular series The Walking Dead was shockingly enough voted game of the year at the 2012 Game Awards. While I was initially surprised to see this win, after giving it some thought and remembering that it came out in 2012, I don’t really expect anything less. It gave players a new way to play with so many choices available, keeping players engaged even after beating the game; it was a game you wanted to restart and play again and again. Definitely a great choice.
2013: Grand Theft Auto V
Yet another Rockstar game on this list, Grand Theft Auto V has gotta be one of the most popular video games of all time. The game skyrocketed VanossGaming and his YouTube channel where he and his friend made Grand Theft Auto V funny moments videos gathering more than 2 million views. Grand Theft Auto V managed to keep its full retail price of $60 for a solid 5 years after its release. I still don’t know how it managed to do that, but I suppose it’s because people still continued to buy it at full price.
2014: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Developed by BioWare and released in 2014, Dragon Age: Inquisition quickly became a massively popular installment in the Dragon Age franchise. It has since been 6 years since the release of the third installment and fans have been dying for another sequel. Luckily, BioWare released a trailer for Dragon Age 4 at the 2020 Game Awards, so it looks like we won’t have too much longer to wait for another Dragon Age game!
2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt Red’s last massive title and extremely well-received by critics and players alike, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the 3rd game in The Witcher series. Widely regarded as the best installment in the series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a fantastic game for fans of RPGs and with an original Netflix series, it’s also creeping into the mainstream media.
2016: Overwatch
Overwatch is Blizzard’s hero-shooter that combines class-like ability based combat with objective-based gameplay. This is one of the most popular esports titles in the scene and has been praised since its release. Blizzard even announced a sequel to the game, but we have yet to get any new information about it since its announcement in November 2019.
2017: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Perhaps the most popular Nintendo Switch title to date, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a must-play for Nintendo Switch owners and especially fans of RPGs all-around. It’s still popular nearly 4 years later, so it’s no surprise it won game of the year in 2017.
2018: God of War
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s God of War was probably the most highly anticipated game of 2018. While we got a bunch of great games like Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Fallout 76 (that was a joke, please don’t come at me), they just weren’t nearly enough to compete with God of War.
2019: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 2 years since Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice released on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. This game was incredibly well-received and currently has a 90% on MetaCritic! If you enjoy a challenge reminiscent of Dark Souls, then you’re sure to love Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
2020: The Last of Us Part II
The final entry in this list is, of course, The Last of Us Part II. Winner of over 130 game of the year awards, it comes as absolutely no surprise that Naughty Dog’s sequel to The Last of Us is the winner of the 2020 game of the year by a landslide. Though some have argued it’s more of a movie game, it’s irrelevant either way, because it’s nearly universally agreed upon that The Last of Us Part II is the best game of 2020.
