There is perhaps no other timeline of technological milestones as fun and engaging as that of game development. From tabletop RPGs to hyper-realistic VR gameplays, let’s take a trip down memory lane as we examine the industry’s growth throughout time.

Indeed, we are lucky and fortunate to be enjoying technology in the way that we are at this point in history. Not only is it changing the way we live our lives, but it is also dictating how we will continue to do so in the future.

One industry that surely benefits from all this growth and development is none other than game and development. Now, computer games go all the way back to several decades ago, but it is in the last couple ones that we truly witnessed a drastic evolution. It’s mostly thanks to the internet coming to the forefront of our daily lives, some would argue, but it’s not nearly as simple and black and white as just that.

20 in Retro

We kicked off this historical look at the industry of game development with a retrospective on the things that went down and came out these past 20 years. Needless to say, game dev’s growth was meteoric, if not also historic. From the Console Wars (that we now look oh so fondly back on) to the introduction of online play, and of course to the rise of mobile games along with the rise of mobile technology, we give it a quick but comprehensive look with these eight milestones.

2000 to 2010 Up Close

After that general overview, let’s take a step closer as we further examine just how meteoric these developments in the industry actually were. Here we start with the—well, start of the new millennium. Everything’s shiny and new, and flashy with virtual graphics, and CSS coding, and 3D, to name a few.

This is also the timeframe wherein we discovered the beauty that is open world games and online roleplaying games. It was also a golden age for indie developers and homebrewers for the various consoles. All of these contributed to making the industry that much more vibrant and compelling.

2010 to 2015: Further Down the Rabbit Hole

And deeper we go as the closer we get to the industry’s current state. For the 2010 to 2015 era, we look at what we could call “major influencers” in gaming development. Minecraft, mobile gaming, AR/VR, and video game technology in film were some of the trends that kicked into high gear—and has proven lasting power thus far. Oh, and hello, esports! We’ll be seeing a lot of that in the next one.

Hooray for 2015 to Today

And now we’ve come to this: today. Gaming today, as you would know by now, is miles apart from what it was some three, four decades ago—as it should! Otherwise it would mean nothing much developed all this time.

Curiously enough, however, is that at this point, we’re seeing a lot of revivals. Arcade and 2D games are seeing major makeovers, as if developers want to give these old favorites a new lease in life, but look so much better! Not that we’re complaining—these games are classics for a reason. Even more interesting is how these remade classic games are actually co-existing with the new ones, such as, yes, esports. And even Battle Royale ones. Oh, and upping the development ante: haptic suits: for when controllers or VR sets aren’t cutting it anymore for you.

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And that’s a wrap for The Art Bundle: Game Development edition. Plenty more where this came from, so keep hanging out with us. We’ve got you covered.

Meanwhile, if you don’t want to be just a fan, get started on being one who develops games. Academy of Art University has a topnotch game design school, as well as other design programs, including graphic design, industrial design, interaction & ui/ux design, as well as advertising, illustration, and photography.

Get in touch with our admissions representatives to request information. If you’re ready to be a part of our art school community, send in your applications now. We’ll be waiting for you!