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A lot can change in 10 years, but thanks to the shift to digital gaming on the vast majority of marketplaces, gaming history can be preserved indefinitely. Players can still buy games from just about every era of gaming's past, and, perhaps more interestingly, see who's still playing them.
Thanks to services like SteamSpy, and equivalent for other services, it can be seen how many players are still going back to the best PC games of 2012, as rated by Metacritic. Some popular games have faded from memory, barely being touched, whilst others are just as popular, if not more popular than they were a decade ago.
10 FTL: Faster Than Light
One of the big indie hits that put the PC indie market on the map was FTL: Faster Than Light. The intelligently designed rogue-like real-time strategy saw players travel through the galaxy, battling all manner of ne'erdowells along the way, and PC gamers loved it, scoring it 88 on Metacritic.
The rogue-like nature of the game has kept it going for many years, still sitting pretty today at 1500 average daily concurrent users. There's so much to do in FTL, even 10-year veterans may not have seen it all, or unlocked all the ships, and that's not even mentioning the vast expanse of mods the game enjoys.
9 Torchlight 2
Torchlight is an odd series because it often flies under the radar but always does very well. This hybrid of the RPG and dungeon-crawling genres allows players to play co-operatively with their friends to take on all manner of fantasy enemies, with a host of colorful characters.
Hitting a Metascore of 88, it was one of 2012's biggest successes on PC, and a dedicated handful of players still stick with it to this day. While the eventual sequel drained the player base away from this game, it still sees an average of 500 daily concurrent users.
8 Far Cry 3
The game that transformed the Far Cry series into what players know it as today, Far Cry 3 was one of Ubisoft's biggest hits right as it was hitting its stride with its open-world formula. Combine that with refined first-person shooter gameplay, and the iconic villain, Vaas, and players were hooked.
Despite Far Cry releasing several high-quality sequels in the years since there's something about the third installment that keeps drawing players back to it. As a result, it still sees an average of 1200 daily concurrent users ten years on.
7 Mass Effect 3
The climax to the much-beloved Mass Effect trilogy, to say it divided opinion would be an understatement. Whilst the bulk of the story was enjoyed by most players, a large part of the game's legacy will be the controversial way in which the game ended, with many players feeling ignored by the crucial final choice.
That said, Mass Effect's overall quality still shone through, leaving the game with an 88 on Metacritic. As a one-shot narrative experience, however, it didn't retain players very well, especially not with the remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition releasing years later. Now it only averages around 50 daily concurrent users.
6 XCOM: Enemy Unknown
It was unclear how well 2K would perform when trying to revive the beloved XCOM franchise for the modern-day. Thankfully, they did a fantastic job, bringing the series into the mainstream and once more claiming the crown for turn-based tactical gameplay.
Scoring an 89 on Metacritic, the game saw a major DLC a year later that kept the game going for much longer. The sequel, which players generally agree improved vastly on the first game, drained off a big chunk of the player base, it still sees around 1200 concurrent users each day.
5 Borderlands 2
The quirky looter shooter franchise that no one can seem to hate, Borderlands has always had a very dedicated fanbase. Although the first game did pretty well, the sequel is what put the franchise on the map, hitting a mainstream audience who has never seen anything like it before.
Most games that have seen sequels since 2012 see their player base drop dramatically, but not Borderlands 2. Although Borderlands 3 was a huge success, something about the second game keeps players coming back to it, and it still amasses an average of 4000 daily concurrent users.
4 The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game
The game that brought the Telltale-style of narrative games popularity, The Walking Dead was one of the first major examples of the gaming scene on YouTube being a big contributor to a game's success. Plenty of YouTubers, most famously, Pewdiepie played the game and went viral with their reactions to the heartbreaking ending.
The series would continue for many years, even after Telltale went out of business, releasing a total of four seasons. A complete edition with all four seasons was released in 2019, which has stopped players coming back to the original. However, a nostalgic few still return, as the game sees 250 average daily concurrent users.
3 Guild Wars 2
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As an MMO, Guild Wars 2 has a distinct advantage when it comes to retaining players over the years. It's fair to say that, even ten years on, the game remains one of the most popular MMOs out there. A unique take on all the MMO staples, the game was an instant hit in 2012, scoring 90 on Metacritic.
It has grown exponentially since 2012, with regular expansions keeping the fanbase replenished with new content. It is estimated that there are now over 16 million accounts, and that translates into a lot of daily players, with the average figures seeing anywhere between 300,000 and 400,000 daily players, with a sharp increase around the launch of new content.
2 Mark of the Ninja
A surprise indie hit of 2012, Mark of the Ninja blew critics away when it launched. Its side-scrolling stealth gameplay was like nothing done before to that point, and there was a surprising amount of narrative going on in the background that really hit hard at the end. It scored a whopping 91 on Metacritic.
Unfortunately, the game has not been remembered all that well by gamers ten years on. The original game barely hits 10 concurrent users most days and even the remastered edition released years later only pulls in an average of 45 concurrent daily users.
1 Dishonored
Arkane Studio's first game they produced partnered with Bethesda, they created a hit for the ages in the beloved Dishonored series. The first game created some of the most refined stealth/action mechanics ever seen to date, and set it all in the dreary, beaten down and unreachably immersive world of Dunwall.
The game was undoubtedly a hit, scoring 91 on Metacritic, and it earned an ambitious sequel years later that did similar numbers. While the game is remembered fondly by many, it is a somewhat linear game, meaning there isn't much room for multiple playthroughs for all but the most dedicated players. Today, it has a modest average of 800 concurrent daily users.