25 Iconic Video Games Timeline

25 Iconic Video Games 25

1972 Pong Atari — the arcade era begins Atari's Pong popularises video games as a commercial medium. A simple two-paddle table-tennis game, it becomes the first hit arcade title and kick-starts the industry.
1978 Space Invaders Taito — the arcade boom Taito's Space Invaders ignites the golden age of arcade games, becoming a global phenomenon and reportedly causing a coin shortage in Japan.
1980 Pac-Man Namco — gaming's first icon Namco's Pac-Man becomes the highest-grossing arcade game of all time and the medium's first true mascot, transcending gaming to enter mainstream pop culture.
1981 Donkey Kong Nintendo — the debut of Mario Nintendo's Donkey Kong introduces "Jumpman" — later Mario — and establishes Nintendo as a force in arcades, laying the groundwork for its console empire.
1984 Tetris Best-selling game of all time (~520M) Created by Soviet engineer Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris becomes a worldwide puzzle phenomenon. Counting all versions across dozens of platforms, it has sold an estimated 520 million copies — the most of any game.
1985 Super Mario Bros. Nintendo — saved the home console Bundled with the NES, Super Mario Bros. (~50M+) revives the home video game market after the 1983 crash and defines the platformer genre.
1989 Game Boy Tetris Handheld gaming goes mainstream Bundled with the Game Boy, the portable version of Tetris sells tens of millions and makes handheld gaming a mass-market phenomenon.
1991 Sonic the Hedgehog Sega — the console wars Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog arrives as the Mega Drive's mascot and Nintendo's great rival, fuelling the 16-bit console wars of the early 1990s.
1993 Doom id Software — birth of the FPS id Software's Doom popularises the first-person shooter and online multiplayer, and pioneers the shareware distribution model.
1996 Pokemon Red & Green Nintendo — a global franchise born Game Freak's Pokémon launches what becomes the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, with the original games selling tens of millions.
1997 Final Fantasy VII Square — JRPGs go global Square's Final Fantasy VII brings cinematic storytelling to the PlayStation and takes Japanese role-playing games to a worldwide audience.
1998 Half-Life Valve — narrative in the FPS Valve's Half-Life weaves storytelling into the first-person shooter and spawns the Counter-Strike mod, reshaping PC gaming.
1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo — 3D adventure Ocarina of Time sets the template for 3D action-adventure design and is for years considered among the greatest games ever made.
2000 The Sims Maxis — best-selling PC franchise Will Wright's life-simulation game The Sims becomes one of the best-selling PC franchises ever and broadens gaming's audience dramatically.
2001 Grand Theft Auto III Rockstar — the 3D open world GTA III reinvents the open-world genre in 3D, giving players an entire living city and influencing a generation of game design.
2004 World of Warcraft Blizzard — the MMO peak Blizzard's World of Warcraft becomes the defining massively multiplayer online game, at its height drawing over 12 million subscribers.
2006 Wii Sports Nintendo — motion gaming (~83M) Bundled with the Wii, Wii Sports (~83M) brings motion controls to living rooms and draws millions of non-traditional players into gaming.
2009 League of Legends Riot — the MOBA & esports Riot's League of Legends popularises the MOBA genre and becomes one of the pillars of modern competitive esports.
2009 Minecraft Mojang — best-selling single game (~350M) Markus Persson's Minecraft, first released in 2009, becomes the best-selling single video game of all time at around 350 million copies, defining the sandbox-creative genre.
2011 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda — open-world RPG Bethesda's Skyrim (~60M) becomes a benchmark open-world role-playing game, re-released across countless platforms over the following decade.
2013 Grand Theft Auto V Rockstar — most successful entertainment product (~225M) Rockstar's GTA V (~225M+) is the second best-selling game ever and, in revenue terms, the most successful entertainment product of all time, sustained by GTA Online.
2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt CD Projekt Red (~60M) CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3 (~60M) sets a new bar for narrative open-world RPGs and cements Poland as a gaming powerhouse.
2017 PUBG & Fortnite The battle royale explosion PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite launch the battle-royale phenomenon, with Fortnite's free-to-play model reaching hundreds of millions of players.
2020 Among Us Innersloth — the pandemic phenomenon Released in 2018 but exploding in 2020, Among Us becomes a global social-deduction sensation during the pandemic, played by hundreds of millions.
2022 Elden Ring FromSoftware — modern landmark FromSoftware's Elden Ring becomes a defining game of the 2020s, selling tens of millions and winning Game of the Year honours.