5 Games That Were So Innovative They Changed Their Genre Forever

Not many games manage to rewrite entire genres. Usually, when one formula starts working, copycat video games flood the market. However, the video game industry is versatile and diverse, and sometimes, games come along that redefine everything.

These games introduce new mechanics, new storytelling techniques, or a combination of both. They bring in something new, become commercially successful, and lay down the groundwork for future games of the genre. These are games that you simply have to acknowledge if you are a fan of the industry. So, from DOOM ushering in the age of 3D FPS games to PUBG incapacitating the world with its battle royale mode, here are games so innovative they changed their genre forever.

1. DOOM (1993)

If you’re a fan of FPS games, thank id Software. Back in the early days, games were 2D. The shift to 3D began with id Software’s DOOM in 1993, the first game to combine 2.5D and 3D graphics. A game in 3D was a breakthrough in 1993. At a time when Tetris and platformers were mainstream, DOOM ushered in a new age of video games.

DOOM was fast-paced, it surprisingly had a multiplayer mode, and, biggest of all, it was 3D. That was new for people. It was something so addictive that it blew the competition out of the water. DOOM changed the course of the FPS genre forever. All FPS games today, whether it’s Halo or Destiny, might not have existed if DOOM hadn’t. 

Before Metal Gear Solid, stealth video games basically didn’t exist. When Hideo Kojima landed a job at Konami and directed Metal Gear Solid, he had made the stealth genre mainstream in a very unexpected way. Metal Gear Solid was the first game to introduce sneaking features. Players had to sneak past guards, move from cover to cover, and do their best not to alert foes. Enemies and the camera had vision cones to limit view, adding thrill to gameplay segments. The protagonist was mostly unarmed, and avoiding enemies was the core gameplay loop. At that time, it was rare to say that avoiding enemies could be fun.

But besides pioneering stealth, Metal Gear Solid showed how games were an art form. Metal Gear Solid had cinematic cutscenes, and the dialogue was mature and thought-provoking. These weren’t things typically present in games of 1998, so at the time, Metal Gear Solid was revolutionary. It paved the way for the stealth genre’s future. But most importantly, Metal Gear Solid proved that storytelling could seamlessly work in video games. And that’s a lesson the industry has been reaping to this day.

3. Minecraft (2009)

Minecraft redefined what sandbox games could be. It was an open-world survival game with crafting that rewarded creativity. The blocky, cartoony textures appealed to children. The freedom to mine any rock and then create anything you could imagine appealed to adults. The Eiffel Tower, an aeroplane, an entire city of your design, anything you could think of, you could make. That was the gameplay loop, and it worked wonders since people of all ages found a calling in Minecraft.

With further updates, Minecraft kept getting more packed. The addition of multiplayer, visual overhauls, and new terrains made Minecraft a global sensation. It became one of the most influential games of all time. It inspired many survival sandbox games, including Terraria and Stardew Valley, in the years to come. What’s more surprising is that sixteen years later, Minecraft still hasn’t slowed down. The genre-defining juggernaut is still surprising us with new content and won’t be stopping anytime soon.

4. PUBG (2017)

For a very long time, Call of Duty dominated the multiplayer shooter genre. But then PUBG, or Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, introduced the battle royale formula. PUBG’s battle royale mode pitted one hundred players against each other across a giant map littered with resources. Players were dropped into the map with nothing and would have to gather weapons and items. The map would shrink over time, and the last man left standing was the winner. The battle royale mode could also be played in teams of up to four players.

Within the first year, it topped 10 million copies sold, and later, it reached a peak of 80 million players worldwide across all platforms. It had the world in a chokehold and caused a massive frenzy in the gaming world. Studios and publishers went into panic. They wanted to get a piece of the pie for themselves. They promptly launched the development of their own battle royale games. Apex Legends, Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and innumerable battle royale games spawned in the succeeding years. PUBG revolutionized the shooter genre, and its success is still a major driving force behind current trends.

5. Hades (2020)

Hades isn’t a mechanical milestone per se, but it did revolutionize roguelikes by taking advantage of narrative storytelling. In Hades, you fight several enemies across forty to seventy interconnected rooms. Each room offers a different reward once cleared, and beating bosses upgrades stats and unlocks new weapons and items. When you beat the final boss, the narrative doesn’t end, but continues.

Each time you beat the game, the narrative keeps on developing and doesn’t stop. All NPCs have new dialogue available, and they acknowledge you reached the end of the journey, but the story is incomplete. Characters in Hades are made brilliantly. The art style has grace, looks clean, and complements the storytelling well. You also unlock new weapons and mechanics every time you beat the game, so successive runs don’t feel repetitive, even though they are the same. What Hades did was introduce a new way of storytelling. One that perfected the roguelite gameplay loop by showing how repetition and narrative can both go hand-in-hand.