Summary
Between AAA titles and the indie scene, thousands of video games are launched every year. Only a small fraction is successful; even fewer are remembered. Even during the best years in gaming, for every game that became a classic there were hundreds that didn’t.
The key to a game’s long-standing success is if it can cultivate a loyal fanbase. If it can achieve that, it will continue to thrive long after it slips out of the mainstream. Here are some games whose community deserves to be celebrated: if it weren’t for their fans, these titles would be footnotes in the industry’s history.
To help you gauge how long a series has maintained its fan following, series entries will list information about the first game.
10Like A Dragon
The series formerly known as Yakuza was always popular in Japan thanks to its cinematic depiction of the yakuza lifestyle. Despite that, it struggled to become a major hit in the West. Part of the reason was that the games, with their wealth of content, were difficult to localize (the first game had a notoriously disastrous English dub). Yakuza 0 took nearly two years to come stateside.
Yet once it did, and received a PC port, the series finally broke through. After a decade of on-off success, Like A Dragon finally got the love it deserved. The series' deep storytelling and exploration, as well as its wacky humour, won hearts worldwide.
At this point, RGG studio can make whatever it wants -even a game where Majima is stuck on an island with amnesia and forms a gang of pirate misfits- and fans would welcome it.
Team Fortress 2 has been out for the best part of two decades, and still maintains a healthy player count,unlike some others. The game launched with a massive promotional campaign including Source Filmmaker shorts and an online comic book. It went free-to-play in 2011, resulting in an even larger audience.
Over the years, despite a lack of updates and rampant bot activity, fans have continued to play the game. They also launched two fan campaigns, dubbed ‘Save TF2’ and ‘Fix TF2,’ to attract Valve’s attention to the problem. Valve responded, and the game eventually received an update.
8Genshin Impact
Only a few years after its launch, Genshin Impact gained a massive following due to its vast open world, likeable characters and surprising degree of substance for a gacha game. This culminated in a controversial win over Sonic Frontiers at the 2022 Game Awards, with claims that it was the work of bots rather than a fiercely loyal fanbase.
If you’ve been held back from Genshin Impact due to the community’s online reputation, stop worrying. As in many other cases, it’s the result of a vocal minority. Most of your interactions within the game are going to be positive: the first things veterans ask when they join your world is if you need help.
Once a commercial flop best known for its poorly conceived marketing campaign, Earthbound (titled Mother 2 in Japan) has since become one of thebest-loved RPGs on the SNES. The game was re-evaluated and explored through emulation, and Western fans were excited for Mother 3 when it came out.
It never did. Mother 3 was denied an English release due to a perceived lack of interest by Nintendo. When that happened, the community took matters into their own hands and made arguably the most comprehensive fan translation ever. There really isn’t any need for an official translation at this point, given that the fan-made one is so good, but that doesn’t stop Mother fans from demanding one.
1997 (original release); 2025-05-09 (freeware release)
Publisher
Self-published (US), Iridon Interactive (Europe)
In 1997, a three-person team calling themselves Robinson Technologies released an action RPG called Dink Smallwood. The game was sold via mail order in the US, and went freeware in 1999. By all rights, it shouldn’t have made an impact. Thanks to its small but devoted following, however, Dink refuses to die.
After several fan sites went defunct, the community coalesced in one place: The Dink Network. The community-driven site patched the game and created mods that outstrip the original Dink. Over the years, this one-time indie protagonist has gone on hundreds of adventures thanks to his fans.
If a game has community-driven servers, jumpstarts the careers of content creators and has its own convention, you know it’s built to last. Minecraft is that game: since its 2011 launch, it’s become the singlebest-selling video game of all time.
Part of Minecraft’s appeal is its low system requirements and availability on any console you may think of. But what’s really made it such a success is the freedom it offers players. A decade later, Minecraft maintains an active modding community and has branched out into spin-offs and a film adaptation.
Pokemon isn’t the best-selling video game series, even if it’s close. Despite that, its media franchise is the most lucrative in history. It became a household name early, backed by a trading card game and anime adaptation. Of course, havinga bunch of cute critters to collecthelps.
Well into its third decade, Pokemon has a dedicated fanbase that spans generations. While the base games are simplistic, their multiplayer component reveals the depth of gameplay. Fans' study of Pokemon’s EV and IV mechanics should qualify as a college course at this point.
From the late ’90s to the early 2000s, Lara Croft was a cultural icon. Having a film adaptation starring Angelina Jolie does that to you. Thereboot of the same namebrought in a new generation of fans, but the character’s reinvention didn’t mean the original Lara was gone.
Far removed from the spotlight, the first five games continue to have an active modding scene to this day. The Tomb Raider Level Editor community hosts thousands of fan-made levels, some of which are more ambitious than the official titles. They also hold themed events, maintain an active forum and have their very own hall of fame for the best modders - or authors, as they call them.
2025-07-07 (Highly Responsive to Prayers, first entry)
Self-published under the name Amusement Makers
Touhou Project is a series created almost entirely by one person, Zun. Every so often, he finishes another game and visits Comiket, Japan’s semiannual self-publishing convention to sell it. But if the series was created by Zun, it’s been maintained by the fans. Even if you’ve never played a Touhou game, you’ve probably seen some fan art or heard a music remix.
Credit goes to Zun for embracing his community so openly. Not only does he welcome fan-made content, but he’s even helped fan games gain official releases on the PS4 and PS Vita. All this has helped Touhou become the quintessential bullet hell series.
Sonic the Hedgehog
If any other series had garnered the reputation Sonic had by the mid-2000s, it would have died out. The blue hedgehog suffered setback after setback, with the 2006 reboot providing a steady source of bread for the ‘angry YouTube game reviewer’ demographic for years.
Two things have kept Sonic running: Sega’s unabashed acceptance of the memes and mirth the series inspires, and the fans' undying faith in the blue hedgehog. Sonic Frontiers served as the comeback everyone wanted, withTheGamer declaring it the best Sonic game in years.
