10 Video Games That Revolutionized Genres

Some say that World Of Warcraft was the biggest leap forward in the history of MMORPG, bringing millions of new players to online gaming. While the genre's pioneers like Ultima Online introduced numerous features and mechanics way before WoW, the huge impact that the Blizzard game had is just undeniable.

When World Of Warcraft was first announced, we didn't know what to expect. The company that previously specialized in isometric action-RPGs and real-time strategies now was aiming at an open-world online RPG in full 3D. However, Blizzard knew what they were doing, since the game skyrocketed to the number one position right from the launch. The world of Azeroth enticed players with tons of new lore, characters, stories, and a truly huge world to explore which only grew bigger with every expansion.

World Of Warcraft became the highest populated MMORPG ever with over 11 million active players at one time. With this game, Blizzard had done what they always did best - taking all the existing components of a genre game, adding rich lore, and polishing everything to perfection. While the massive popularity of the game meant that every other company began copying the game's elements in their own projects, no one could even come close to overthrowing the king of the MMORPGs for a very long time. Now, the numbers of active players in Azeroth have dwindled somewhat, but no other game has surpassed Blizzard's creation yet, and WoW is still remaining a benchmark for any new online RPG.