Effective and influential video games can achieve a cultural reach that is truly enormous. Some inspire entire genres, others become essential touchstones that most players consider well worth at least seeing, it’s actually not playing. Less well documented, however, are the games that have had an impact that is not just limited to the gaming industry.
While this is not unexpected, given the number of people who play video games and the reach they have in pop culture, some people are still surprised when they influence non-gamers. Whether they influenced real-life events, caused moral or even legal discussions, or had economic effects on other industries, some games have reached beyond the console and into the real world.
10 Musicians Held Concerts In Fortnite
Few video games have been as far-reaching and notoriously popular as Fortnite, especially Battle Royale mode. This may interest you : Miyazaki says From the next Software game is ‘in the final stages of development’. By becoming one of the most played games ever, as well as one of the most profitable, Fortnite invaded pop culture in a dozen different ways, from media appearances to memes.
However, pop culture also reached into Fortnite. Most notably, several mainstream musicians have given concerts in the game. With an avatar patterned after the musician performed in the world of the game while their music was being played, the concerts gained significant ratings in the game and were widely reported in the media.
9 Pokemon GO Caused A Flurry Of Safety Concerns
Pokémon is one of the most famous and enduringly popular game franchises in the world. When it came to the incredibly popular mobile market with Pokémon GO, it gained a unique amount of interest. Read also : The best sci-fi movies on Prime Video. Even many non-gamers were fascinated by the ability to capture the creatures in real life, and the game became a huge hit.
With its unusual, true AR format, Pokémon GO raised concerns. In the media and even in the government, pundits became preoccupied with the notion of players wandering into private property or traffic in their quest to hunt Pokémon, and issued warnings. Only a handful of such incidents occurred, but the expectation was remarkable.
A popular game mascot from the 1990s, Sonic the Hedgehog retained enough interest as a character to arouse a wide reaction when a trailer for a Sonic the Hedgehog film in 2019. However, the reaction was not joy or nostalgia, but horror over the unappealing design the film’s animators had given to the main character.
Disappointing aspects of game adaptations were nothing new, but this indignation extended further. For several days, Sonic’s appearance was one of the dominant memes on all social media platforms. This impact reached even further – with the studio completely redesigning the Sonic model and creating a much more well-received look for the character.
7 Minecraft Entered The Classroom
Minecraft is one of the best-selling games of all time, capturing audiences from all walks of life. This may interest you : Ryan Fitzpatrick joins Amazon Prime Video as a studio analyst. With its wide-open sandbox, almost unlimited creative potential and wide variety of games, the game became a pop culture sensation known all over the world
Ultimately, Minecraft left the boundaries of gaming and tried to become a learning tool. Minecraft: Education Edition hoped to use the unique resources available in the game to improve teaching along with the other tools a teacher has at his disposal. Although it does not revolutionize education, it has seen some benefit due to its accessibility for both students and teachers.
6 Injustice Spawned A Popular DC Comic Book
The fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us took place in an alternate version of DC Universe where Superman turned to evil and established himself as a tyrant around the world. Although not a new concept, fans enjoyed the game’s story to show a different side to many beloved characters. This story was continued in a comic book connection.
Although the first editions were released before the game, the cartoon Injustice was based on the game’s concepts and designed to follow the game as a prequel. Although it never threatened to darken the ordinary DC universe, the comic was popular and ran for three years, to positive reviews.
5 Epidemiologists Studied A World Of Warcraft Glitch
One of the most infamous episodes in World of Warcraft history was “Corrupted Blood Incident”. A deadly and contagious status effect managed to escape a boss arena due to an oversight and ran wildly through the player base. Developers struggled to fix the problem, and for several days the game was bypassed by the incident, with players describing cities in the game as full of corpses.
Ultimately, the Corrupted Blood Incident necessitated a rollback of the game to undo the effects and get things under control. Although it was a pandemic that was ultimately limited to a video game, the incident saw genuine interest from epidemiologists, who wanted to study the way human players had reacted to the incident – both benevolent and malicious.
4 Street Fighter Gave Raul Julia One Final Beloved Role
Many video games have seen film adaptations, most of them unsuccessful and at best mediocre. One such example that could have been just as memorable if it had not been for one actor was Street Fighter from 1994. Veteran actor Raul Julia joined the cast as its villain, General M. Bison, and delivered a performance that even the film’s harshest critics showered with praise.
This might still not have had a big impact outside the gaming industry, if it were not for the fact that it was Julia’s last role. Incurably ill during filming, he died shortly before the release of Street Fighters. Street Fighter, already a well-respected actress, gave Julia one of her most iconic and beloved film roles, which is still one of his best remembered to this day.
3 Manhunt Sparked Outcry From Public Figures
Video games have always been viewed with suspicion by the media for their violent content, despite the fact that there are many games that do not contain homicides at all. Few were more controversial for the level of graphic violence than the game Manhunt.
A game where the player controls a convicted man made to fight against others in snuff movies, Manhunter was unusually brutal for his time, and some saw it as glorifying violence. Several ministers and other public figures brought the news by criticizing Manhunt, and laws were even introduced against it – especially after it was falsely linked to a murder in Britain.
2 Halo 3’s Release Harmed Cinema Box Office Sales
The Halo series was one of the most popular in the 2000s, and each of the games was praised and played a lot. The last game in the original trilogy, Halo 3, was long awaited, with players eager to see the story’s conclusion. When it was released, it had an unexpected side effect – sales of movie theaters fell.
The weekend when Halo 3 was released, ticket offices across America were down 27% compared to the same time last year, without many other exceptional circumstances. As such, Halo 3 has the honor of occupying so much of the players’ time that it actually harmed another entertainment industry.
1 Battlefront II Made Several Countries Review Their Gambling Laws
Microtransactions have long been controversial in video games, but the release of Star Wars Battlefront II in 2017 made them a hotly debated topic of society. The game’s microtransaction – heavy nature closed important content such as Darth Vader behind lootboxes and promoted a “pay to win” atmosphere. This led many to call the game little more than a Star Wars-themed casino.
Due to the popular character of Star Wars, this got many to pay attention. Although EA later changed the game’s revenue generation system, several governments, including the one in Belgium, reviewed their gambling laws to ensure that minors were adequately protected from predatory microtransactions.
NEXT: 10 video games that were the first in their genre
