Collider has published a ranked list of what it considers the 20 most influential video games of all time, judging titles on originality, industry impact, genre innovation and overall quality. The piece frames the ranking within a brief history of the medium, noting how early experiments such as Tennis for Two and Spacewar! laid the groundwork for modern masterpieces like Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War.

The countdown begins with a handful of landmark titles, each credited with reshaping gaming in a distinct way. The Sims (2000) is praised for popularising the life-simulator genre and broadening gaming's audience, Minecraft (2011) is cited as the best-selling game ever at over 350 million copies and a driver of the open-ended sandbox and survival genres, and Half-Life (1998), from Valve, is highlighted for showing that narrative could matter as much as gameplay. The full article extends this through the remaining entries, though the provided text cuts off partway through the Half-Life description.