12 Most Influential Video Games Of The 2000s

10. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

elder scrolls oblivion
Bethesda

Considering that Oblivion and its predecessor Morrowind both came out in the same decade, you could make the case that the elder Elder Scrolls deserves to make the cut. But Morrowind still came in the era before RPGs were the phenomenon they are today, and Oblivion's release on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 after its PC release helped open console gamers up to the joys of open-world RPGs.

Oblivion quickly became one of the best-selling RPGs of all time, and if people didn't already know about the wonderful openness of Bethesda RPGs, then they certainly did when this came out. With a relatively light story, Oblivion embodied the 'open-world' buzzword way before it even was a buzzword, letting you create a character and set off on an adventure wherever in the world you damn well pleased.

Once gamers got a taste for that unprecedented freedom Oblivion offered, they never looked back, and the fact that 'open world' is in itself seen as a selling point in so many games, can be largely traced back to here. Well, this, and another little game...

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Gamer, Researcher of strange things. I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.