10 Incredible Video Games That Came Out Of NOWHERE
5. Dirt Rally
One genre that typically avoids releasing out of nowhere is the racing game, because it's simply tough to get general gamers massively excited about them - racers appeal to their niche of racing fans, and that's cool.
But Codemasters tried something different with 2015's Dirt Rally, which was announced in April 2015 and confirmed to be immediately available through Steam Early Access.
This marked an attempt by the developer to gauge feedback from players on an unfinished build of the game.
Yet even early access reviews were loudly positive for the most part, lauding Codemasters for giving players a challenging racing simulation, while noting how it could become even better on full release.
And indeed, when Dirt Rally left early access eight months later, it was a more polished and content-packed affair, and got even better when it hit consoles the very next year, where PlayStation VR support was introduced.
These tricky, unforgiving racing games won't be for everyone, but for fans of the subgenre the Dirt Rally franchise basically has the market cornered.