8 Video Games That Caught Lightning In A Bottle

While a new Elder Scrolls game was always going to be successful, since Skyrim released in 2011 it's sold an insane 60 million copies across countless platforms, far outpacing any other RPG Bethesda has published.

Though Skyrim's sales can be largely attributed to it being a very, very good game, it also benefitted from releasing just as Internet meme culture was blowing up in a majorly mainstream way, in large part thanks to the burgeoning popularity of smartphones.

The infamous "arrow in the knee" meme - quoting an NPC who tells the player, "I used to be an adventurer like you. 

Then I took an arrow in the knee" - was everywhere in 2011 and 2012, ensuring that Skyrim had mindshare far outside the gaming bubble. It was a genuine pop-culture event in the public sphere.

While memes are simply an accepted part of any popular game nowadays, back then Skyrim was well ahead of the curve with how organically it fostered engagement online and made itself into a genuine phenomenon.