EDGE's 100 greatest games of all time, as voted by Harvey Smith, Swen Vincke, Derek Yu, Jeppe Carlsen, and other notable devs
UK video game magazine EDGE is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a new list of the 100 greatest games of all time. Dozens of developers and othe industry professionals participated in the voting.
The anniversary edition of Edge came out on October 5, with the magazing saying that the 100 greatest games list was a result of the largest poll it has ever conducted. It took votes from readers, former and current staff, and a “broad selection of leading lights in game development and publishing.”
Our sumptuous cover image, from pixel artist Octavi Navarro, references every game to receive the coveted Edge 10, and also features on a double-sided poster (included inside) with 30 years of Edge covers. pic.twitter.com/Xl4zbSL7vj
— Edge (@edgeonline) October 5, 2023
Which developers voted for the 100 greatest games?
A list of industry professionals who took part in the voting was posted on ResetEra. Here are some of the names:
- Sam Barlow — game designer (Her Story, Immortality);
- Alex Beachum — creative director of Outer Wilds;
- Jeppe Carlsen — game designer (Limbo, Inside, Cocoon);
- Aaryn Flynn — former BioWare programmer and general manager (Baldur’s Gate II, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.);
- Casey Hudson — game director of the Mass Effect trilogy;
- Alex Hutchinson — creative director at Raccoon Logic, also known for his work on The Sims 2, Spore, and Assassin’s Creed III;
- Greg Kasavin — creative director, writer at Supergiant Games (Hades, Bastion), former games journalist;
- Ilari Kuittinen — CEO of Housemarque (Returnal, Super Stardust);
- Greg Lobanov — indie developer (Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Wandersong);
- Dana Nightingale — campaign designer at Arkane Lyon (Dishonored, Deathloop);
- Dave Oshry — co-founder and CEO of publisher New Blood Interactive (Dusk, Gloomwood, Ultrakill);
- Lucas Pope — game designer (Papers, Please, Return of the Obra Dinn);
- Lena Raine — composer (Celeste, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Chicory);
- Jade Raymond — founder of Haven Studios, former producer at EA and Ubisoft (The Sims Online, Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs);
- Paweł Sasko — quest director at CD Projekt RED (The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077);
- Harvey Smith — studio director at Arkane Austin and game designer/writer (Deus Ex, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Dishonored);
- Jake Solomon — former programmer and designer at Firaxis (Civilization III & IV, XCOM: Enemy Unknown);
- Feargus Urquhart — CEO of Obsidian Entertainment and founder of Black Isle Studios (Fallout 1-2, Planescape: Torment);
- Swen Vincke — founder and CEO of Larian Studios (Baldur’s Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin);
- Tim Willits — creative director at Saber Interactive, former studio director at id Software (Quake, Hexen, Doom 3);
- Shuhei Yoshida — one of the key people behind PlayStation, former president of SIE Worldwide Studios;
- Derek Yu — game designer and artist (Spelunky, Aquaria).
100 greatest games of all time, according to Edge:
Below are the top 20 titles of the past 30 years:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Dark Souls
- Super Mario 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Resident Evil 4
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Half-Life 2
- Portal
- Elden Ring
- Doom
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Bloodborne
- Minecraft
- Final Fantasy VII
- The Last of Us
- Deus Ex
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Outer Wilds
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Interestingly, the top 5 consists entirely of Japanese games: three titles from Nintendo (BotW, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time), one from FromSoftware (Dark Souls), and one from Capcom (Resident Evil 4).
The top 100 also includes classics such as Metal Gear Solid, TES V: Skyrim, World of Warcraft, Street Fighter II Turbo, Civilization II, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Silent Hill 2, Thief: The Dark Project, and The Sims. The full list is available in the new issue of Edge.
When it comes to publishers/developers with the most appearances in the top 100, Nintendo leads the way with 16 games. It is followed by Sony/PlayStation (10), Valve (6), Sega (6), FromSoftware (5), Konami (5), Rockstar (4), and Capcom (4).
