When it comes to video gaming, the medium is constantly experiencing new innovations and breakthroughs. Some of these breakthroughs are technological, such as the advent of 3D graphics, online gaming, or Virtual Reality. Some of these breakthroughs are cultural, such as the sudden and immense popularity of casual mobile gaming among people who had never shown an interest in gaming before, and the use of video games as educational tools. Over time we have also seen an increase in video games being considered an art form. The 2010s were a decade that saw huge breakthroughs in all of these areas and changed the video games industry—and society—forever.
Technological Advancements
Like every other decade in gaming, the 2010s saw the launch of a new generation of consoles. Sony’s PlayStation 4 replaced the PlayStation 3, Microsoft’s Xbox One replaced the Xbox 360, and Nintendo released both the Wii U in 2012 and the Switch in 2017. The Switch was the first successful hybrid of a portable console and a home console and was extremely successful and popular.
Perhaps the most significant technological innovation of the decade was the emergence of advanced yet affordable Virtual Reality (VR) sets such as the Oculus Rift and the Vive. For the first time, VR could be experienced from home, for not much more expense than traditional forms of gaming.
Cultural Breakthroughs
While online gaming had existed long before the 2010s, it was his decade when it really came to overtake single-player gaming in popularity. Video-gaming-related content had been some of the most popular content on video sharing sites like YouTube before this decade, but the launch of services like Twitch in the 2010s made video game streaming a viable career for many people.
When it came to mobile gaming, apps became even more advanced and accessible, with people who had never before been gamers starting to play poker online or hunt creatures in real-world spaces in Pokemon Go! Games like Minecraft also became hugely popular, and even used in schools for educational purposes.
Artistic Achievements
Not only did gaming technology make huge steps in the 2010s, but also there was no shortage of video games that made full use of the medium to deliver unforgettable and immersive experiences. One of the most popular games to dominate the decade was Grand Theft Auto V, due largely to its online component receiving unprecedented attention and design from the developers Rockstar Games.
The decade also saw games that pushed the artistic boundaries of the medium. While the question of “are video games an art form?” has been debated to death for decades, this 2010s saw releases that made it even more difficult to argue against gaming’s potential for artistic merit. The Last of Us and sequel The Last of Us 2 surprised media commentators with their unexpected emotional maturity and complex characterization within a relatively standard survival horror format. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and the Red Dead Redemption games dazzled with the detail and immersion of their open world settings. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice explored mental health issues in a visceral and ground-breaking way, and various other games did similar!
