The annual BAFTA Game Awards ceremony is one of the most prestigious nights on the industry’s calendar. Ahead of the 21st edition on April 8th, BAFTA held a poll to decide what the most influential game of all time was. Numerous games could stake a claim to that for different reasons, including the likes of Super Mario Bros., Grand Theft Auto 3, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, among many, many others. The winner of the poll may come as a surprise to some, however. The winner undeniably helped create the blueprint for open-world games, but it doesn’t spring to mind immediately.
Indeed, the winner of the Most Influential Video Game of All Time BAFTA poll, as voted by players from around the world, is Shenmue. Initially released on the Dreamcast in 1999, Shenmue paved the way for many games that came after it. It used cinematic storytelling, day-night and weather cycles, and dynamic NPCs to create what was at the time an incredibly detailed open world.
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Shenmue Beat Out Several Other High-Profile Games to Win the Poll
BAFTA’s Full Top 21 Most Influential Games of All Time Poll Results
- Shenmue (1999)
- Doom (1993)
- Super Mario Bros. (1985)
- Half-Life (1998)
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
- Minecraft (2011)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2025)
- Super Mario 64 (1996)
- Half-Life 2 (2004)
- The Sims (2000)
- Tetris (1984)
- Tomb Raider (1996)
- Pong (1972)
- Metal Gear Solid (1998)
- World of Warcraft (2004)
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023)
- Final Fantasy 7 (1997)
- Dark Souls (2011)
- Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
- Skyrim (2011)
- Grand Theft Auto (1997)
In claiming this crown, Shenmue beat the likes of Doom, which is considered to be a pioneer of the FPS genre, and Super Mario Bros., the game in which a certain famous plumber made his proper debut. Meanwhile, Ocarina of Time is one of the highest-reviewed games ever, but it’s worth reiterating that this was a played-based poll based on which game had the most influence, not popularity. Still, the winner is surprising even if much of the list is not.
Other notable titles in the top 10 list include Half-Life and its sequel, which are still extremely popular to this day, and the ever-popular sandbox title Minecraft. The most recent release to make the top 10 is the impressive Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which was released in February 2025. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s highly immersive open world shows how influential many open-world games and RPGs are, and the game’s popularity is reflected by its inclusion so highly on this list. More established household names like Final Fantasy 7 and Grand Theft Auto 3 had to settle for 17th and 19th, respectively.
Overall, it’s an interesting poll. It’ll also be interesting to see which games take home rewards when the BAFTA Game Awards take place in a few days.
The 21st BAFTA Games Awards will be held on 8 April 2025.
BAFTA Game Awards
- Location
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United Kingdom
- Dates
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Annual