Research has revealed the games initially released in the days of Xbox 360 and PS3, consoles debuted in the November of 2005 and 2006 respectively, that gamers are still the most keen to play in the era of Xbox Series X and PS5.
The data index created by CSGOLuck analysed a number of factors relating to the persisting popularity and desire to play these games today, many years after their releases.
1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
If this game’s iconic status was ever a question, here it is solidified. MW2 ranks as the game with the most play and download related searches worldwide. Trueachievements.com identifies that the game has the eighth most players using the backward compatibility feature of newer consoles to play. These gamers still playing the classic on newer generation consoles still rate the game, on average, at 4.2 stars. An average campaign completion rate of just 13.4%, 11th of all the games, suggests that those famous online lobbies are still being populated, over 14 years after the games release. MW2 tops the list with an index score of 90.63.
2) Assassin’s Creed (2007)
The first iteration of Assassin’s Creed takes second spot on the list. Another iconic game, it takes the spot of the second most searched game globally. It is still rated by players at four stars out of five, and it has the 15th highest average completion rate of all 100 games. This earns Assassin’s Creed second place with an index score of 82.25.
3) Red Dead Redemption (2010)
The 2010 released western, open world, story game produced by Rockstar makes third on the list. RDR has the fifth most players among those playing on newer consoles and is the second highest rated of the 100 games, boasting a 4.6 star rating. As the ninth most searched game, Red Dead comes in with an index score of 80.70.
4) Assassin’s Creed II (2009)
Another classic, Assassin’s Creed II makes fourth place. Players still rate the game at 4.5 stars out of five, the game has the fifteenth most backward compatible players and is crucially also the fourth most completed game when being played on newer consoles. Despite being only the 31st most searched game globally, its other accolades earn Assassin’s Creed second place on the list with an index score of 78.21.
5) Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
GTA IV comes in fifth as the second Rockstar release on the list. The iconic Liberty City based, open world, third-person shooter has the third most gamers playing through back compatibility, an average star rating of 4.1, and comes in as the game with the sixth most relevant Google searches. Ultimately this game chronicling the rise of Niko Bellic scores 76.76 on the index.
6) Fallout 3 (2008)
The 2008, third installment of the role playing game by Bethesda, takes sixth on the list. Fallout 3 comes in with the fifth highest average star rating at 4.5. The game is only the 19th most completed game among this 100, and ranks in the 28th for relevant Google searches. However its high star rating and coming in as the 14th most played back compatible game give it an index score of 76.52.
7) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
In seventh place comes the original iteration of the classic ‘Modern Warfare’ franchise. The 2007 first person shooter developed by Infinity Ward is the tenth most completed game of this 100 and 11th highest rated, with an average star rating of 4.4. While it is the 17th most played back compatible game, and only the 34th most searched, CoD 4 achieves an index score of 74.47.
8) Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
The third Call of Duty game on the list, 2010’s Black Ops makes eighth place. Black Ops lands the accolade of being the game most played using the backward compatible feature on newer consoles. Despite this, relatively lowly ranks of 73rd for completion ranking, and an average star rating of 4 ranking it 50th in this category, limit the games index score. Ranking as the 23rd most Googled game allows this Call of Duty an index score of 74.20.
9) Borderlands (2009)
The 2009 role playing, first-person shooter, Borderlands, makes the penultimate spot on this top ten. The game is the 12th highest rated with gamers allocating it an average of 4.4 stars. Coming in 18th for the number of back compatible players, 20th for the amount of relevant Google searches, and 24th for average completion percentage, Borderlands scores 74.10 in the index.
10) Halo Reach (2010)
This 2010 Halo edition, published by Microsoft Game Studios makes the final top ten spot. Halo Reach ranks as just the 47th most Googled and the 52nd most completed. However, the 22nd highest average rating of 4.3, and the achievement of being the second most played back compatible game, makes for an index score of 73.84.
A spokesperson at CSGOLuck commented on the findings: “It’s great to see that some of these classic PS3 and Xbox 360 releases are still getting play time even as we move into the era of modern consoles. It’s also fascinating to find which are firing up nostalgic gamers and being sought out, bought, downloaded, and played the most, so many years after their development and releases. We believe this shows just how important some of these games were to many of us growing up, and it will be very interesting to see which modern games will make a list like this in ten years time.”
CSGOLuck is a gambling site, focussed around the popular game Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
