While gaming has been growing in its popularity and revenues over the last few years, in 2020, the whole entertainment medium stepped up a great deal. Mobile gaming is the most popular form, with the likes of PUBG Mobile constantly catching headlines for its popularity, but it’s in PC gaming that the games of the moment are found.
Powering the eSports industry and offering a tremendous selection of titles, PC gaming has long been recognised as the platform for the more dedicated players. Even though there are so many games across all PC-based platforms, there is a distinct selection that has defined this year through their popularity. These are those top PC games of 2020.
Working out the imposter
Battle royale games, where it’s all about finding the last player standing, have been all the rave in gaming, but now, the Among Us game looks to be setting the new trend. In the game, between four and ten players are bundled into the maze of a spacecraft, with one being given the secret label of ‘impostor.’ While the others go about completing tasks, the imposter tries to reap chaos, with others tasked with finding out which one is the imposter. Its massive popularity will undoubtedly spawn copycats in the years to come.
Finding the ancient Egyptian artefact
The intrepid explorer build has been incredibly popular throughout the history of gaming, from Lara Croft to Nathan Drake, but right now, it’s browser-based adventurer Rich Wilde who’s captured the imaginations of players. At Mr Green online, Book of Dead remains the platform’s biggest game. Played on five reels, everyone in the game is aiming to land the fabled Book of Dead, with the special symbol triggering the high-tempo, symbol-expanding feature. The game’s so big that it has already spawned a spin-off: Cat Wilde and the Doom of Dead.
The eSports sensation picking up more speed
Despite preference generally going to more strategic, area-based games, one of the biggest titles in the ever-growing scene of eSports is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The first-person shooter was initially released in 2012, but through continued updates from Valve and a strong competitive scene, CS: GO now ranks consistently among the most-played games on Steam. The Loadout reports that this year saw the game reach its highest average and peak player counts, with it maintaining incredibly high numbers throughout 2020.
PC’s behemoth continues to hold its popularity
While League of Legends is often cited as the driving force behind eSports, DOTA 2 can be considered the other core pillar of the industry. It’s a similar game to LoL, only DOTA 2 has a much more intense learning curve, with the prologue and tutorial taking around 10 hours alone. If players develop enough skill, though, they can find themselves competing for part of a prize pool that exceeds $30 million, per eSports Earnings. While the game doesn’t have as many players as it once did, it’s still one of the most-played games on Steam each month.
PC gaming is huge right now, and it’s games like Among Us, Book of Dead, CS:GO, and DOTA 2 that are driving people to the platform.