All of the 11 biggest video game companies in the world that you’re about to see have watched gaming go mainstream and turn into one of the largest branches of the entertainment industry and also one of the fastest growing. Gaming has been around for a long time now and it has reached a point of development which probably none of its founding fathers would ever consider possible. In the beginning gaming was restricted to a beam of electrons being shot at a screen with the pixel density that would make your tamagotchi proud. Controller inputs were pretty much either the x or y axis’s either direction (but never all four). Over time, as gaming grew more popular and games enjoyed a wider audience, people took technology’s advances and started building consoles while PC gaming was pretty much left behind due to the general idea that computers were not suitable for games at the time.
As time passed, technology got more and more sophisticated and both PC and console gaming were blooming with new titles and innovations in the gaming experience. Some of the older games on our list of the 10 best selling games of all time, namely Tetris and Super Mario, were already out and winning masses of people’s attention and interest. Then came the 1990s which was probably the decade that defined modern gaming. The first-person genre was defined by Wolfenstein 3D and Doom and later on went to be set off on the journey to becoming the most popular gaming genre with titles such as the legendary Half-Life and later on, Counter Strike.
Roleplaying games became more and more intricate with plots and stories never seen before. Then at the break of the twenty-first century, the massively multiplayer online genre was defined and went on to become the competitive sport it is today with international tournaments and prize funds in the millions. Computer and games evolved together to the point where we can enjoy a close to total immersion in a game’s universe with technologies such as virtual reality and the numerous other enhancements to gaming that the modern industry offers.
11. LucasArts
LucasArts is the company that brought to some of you the most memorable gaming moments of your childhood. Of course, these are all games related to Star Wars and taking place in the Star Wars universe but some didn’t exactly follow the story but instead gave the players a more arcade, competitive experience.
Shelly Wall / Shutterstock.com
10. Id Software
Id Software is the company behind some of the most notorious and dear to people all around the world, genre-defining games in the history of the industry. The include all the Quake games, Wolfenstein 3D, the Doom series and many, many more games.
Lauren Elisabeth / Shutterstock.com
9. Maxis
Maxis are the best known as the people behind a game that defined a genre of its own. Basically one of the most popular games in the history of gaming, the Sims series and related games are Maxis’s most popular titles.
8. Blizzard
Blizzard are the people who brought into existence all the World of Warcraft games which not only made history with their complexity and legendarily huge player base but also made it into popular culture in areas far from gaming.
marcello farina / Shutterstock.com
7. VALVe
Valve, styled as VALVe, gave us the genre-defining Half-Life games which are thought to be some of the finest in the history of gaming. Valve are also behind the highly innovative and widely loved Portal games, as well as some more recent shooter hits like Left4Dead.
6. Squaresoft
Squaresoft is the North American subsidiary of Square Enix. This is the company which gave us one of the most important RPG games ever. The Final Fantasy series, however, is not the only greatly successful Square Enix creation.
5. Atari
Atari are pioneers in everything gaming related. From huge arcade games, the first gaming consoles, the first gaming computer systems and an endless library of game names behind them, Atari have seen it all. However, the company has been laying quite low for the past decade.
4. Konami
Konami is another game company that has been in the business for as long as mainstream gaming has existed. This company takes the fourth place in the list of the eleven biggest video games companies in the world with titles such as Dance Dance Revolution, Silent Hill, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pro Evolution Soccer.
3. Rockstar North
Rockstar is the name many games carry but Rockstar North, a branch of the company is the producer behind smash hits such as GTA III and GTA IV which went on to become some of the most influential titles to ever hit the market.
2. Capcom
You’ve probably played Street Fighter at least once in your life. It might be Capcom’s best known title but you might reconsider knowing that they also make all the Resident Evil games, the Devil May Cry ones as well as the amazing Monster Hunter.
1. Nintendo
Nintendo rightfully takes the leading place among the 11 biggest video game companies in the world. This company has been in the game even before gaming became a thing. Having started out as a humble toy making company, Nintendo rose to global leadership with hard work and amazing titles.
