Videogames, much like anything else in the pop culture zeitgeist, tend to go through cycles. Genres fall in and out of fashion as saturation exhausts people on one thing, before those same people grow deeply nostalgic for it a decade later.
Some genres do seem to stay dead a little longer though, and as their absence continues to stretch across the years, it's felt more heavily by the ones who love those games the most. I put a poll to you all last week asking which dead (or dying) genre you'd like to see make a comeback, and unsurprisingly the two most PC-ass styles of videogame that defined the '90s and 2000s were at the top of your list.
(Image credit: Future)
It was pretty close between them, too: RTS games and immersive sims take the top two spots for your most-yearned-for genre to make a return, coming in at 29% and 28% respectively. Less than 30 votes separated the two!
Now, we at PC Gamer have been perhaps a little too confident in the return of the RTS over the years. To be fair, it was looking pretty good for 'em! Back in 2022, Fraser Brown looked ahead at the likes of Homeworld 3, Sins of a Solar Empire 2, and Company of Heroes 3 with a delighted twinkle in his eye and proclaimed: "Real-time strategy is back from the brink of death."
Unfortunately, two years and a handful of upsettingly mid launches later, Fraser had to return and solemnly write about the genre's attempt at a renaissance only to fall flat on its face. So I can say with certainty that there are a good chunk of writers here at PC Gamer who are right there with you on wanting a triumphant RTS return.
And of course, our beloved immersive simulators. Our immsims. A genre very few developers seem to dive into these days, despite half of the PC Gamer team constantly banging on about how cool they are. As someone who has never been immsim-pilled (I'll hand in my PC Gamer card at the front desk), I've not yearned for it the way some folks on our team do. But as someone who desperately wants more turn-based RPGs in their life, I can certainly understand the desire for games that defined your early years with the hobby.
But those weren't the only two genres you wanted back. MMOs and point-and-click adventures also showed up pretty high with 16% and 11% of the vote respectively. Now, you could argue if MMOs are truly a dying breed with World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14 and Guild Wars 2 pumping out expansions every other year. But when so many newcomers try to enter the ring and falter, I think you could say they're certainly not quite at their potential peak.
Surprisingly, a handful of you wanted to see the return of text adventures. I much prefer to do all my reading in a book or a good visual novel, but I certainly wouldn't be against the idea of text adventures making their way back into cool territory again.
And finally, some of you were really into the idea of beat-'em-ups, an understandable answer, but I'm surprised that even more of you wanted more games that usually have some egregiously expensive peripheral bolted onto them in order to play. Hell, I love a good plastic guitar or flight stick, but I think I'm good with them not cluttering up my already tiny apartment.
Whether you voted on the poll or not, now's your chance to drop into the comments and tell us exactly what you want to see from these once-dominating genres. Or maybe there's a completely different type of videogame you'd like to see come back, which we'd love to hear about.
And if you're already itching to share more of your opinions, I've concocted another poll which you can see above. Off the back of Mortal Kombat 2 and a slew of other videogame movie adaptations this year, I'd love to know which game you want to see hitting the silver screen next.
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