Modding has had a huge impact on gaming, and some of your favorite games were probably made by modders. While some games like Quake have huge modding communities it isn’t just limited to those classic games.
Counter-Strike
Before Counter-Strike was one of the biggest esports ever it was first a mod of the original Half-Life game. The mod was first released on November 9, 2000, by a group of modders. The game received several updates and developed its own esports community. However, the game became so big that Valve bought the IP for the game. Counter-Strike received several sequels including the extremely popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is another classic walking simulator game. However, this game is known for being one of the most experimental hit games of the 2010s. It is still beloved to this day. Despite this, most people don’t know that it was a Half-Life 2 mod.
Antichamber
Antichamber was first released as a mod of Unreal Tournament 3 in 2009. However, the game was first called Hazard: The Journey of Life. Antichamber is an incredibly inventive first-person puzzle game and became an indie darling of the early 2010s.
Dota 2
Defense of the Ancients was first released in 2003 as a mod of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. However, the rights to the mod were bought by Valve, and DOTA 2 was made in the source engine. Dota 2 is one of the most popular games ever, and the International is always breaking records of the biggest esports prize pool.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was first created as a mod for ARMA 3 in 2015. The mod was called DayZ: Battle Royale which is an offshoot mod of another mod. However, the game was later released as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on December 20th, 2017. PUBG was one of the most popular games of the end of the 2010s.
Auto Chess
Dota Auto Chess was a mod of DOTA 2 that was first released on January 4th, 2019. However, the game was later released as a standalone game as Auto Chess. Auto Chess has spawned a whole genre of games, and several big studios have released their own version.
DayZ
DayZ was a mod of ARMA II that was released on February 21st, 2013. However, due to the game’s immense popularity, it was released as a standalone game on December 16th, 2013. The game was massively popular and was released right during the big wave of zombie media.
Chex Quest
Chex Quest is a mod of the original Doom game that was released in 1996. The game is an officially licensed conversion of Doom that stars a piece of Chex cereal. However, the interesting part of the game is that it was distributed through cereal boxes in the late 90s.
Killing Floor
Killing Floor is a mod of Unreal Tournament 2004 that was first released in 2005. However, the game had an official standalone release on May 14th, 2009. Besides that, the game had a sequel called Killing Floor 2 that was released in 2015. Despite this, the game has become massively popular and has a cult following.