Over the last three decades, sports culture and video game culture have become woven together as the two worlds have collided through the rise of sports video games.
From Tiger Woods to Tom Brady, Lionel Messi to Mike Tyson, these games allow you to become your favourite sporting idols and live out your wildest dreams from the comfort of your own home.
But which games have had the biggest impact on fans around the world? Sporting Loft writer Joseph Ould gives his thoughts.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
In the 1990’s Tony Hawk was something of a cultural icon, so when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater released in 1999 it was an immediate hit.
I would imagine 99.9% of people playing the game had never performed a skateboard trick in their life, but that didn’t matter. In fact it made the game all the more intoxicating.
The punk rock music playing in the background fit the game perfectly as you explored the urban environment, collecting video tapes and completing objectives.
The Pro Skater franchise would go on to have further successful game releases in the years that followed and in 2025 the series was relaunched much to the excitement of fans around the world.
Ashes Cricket 2009
There have been many cricket video games released over the years, but none have quite captured the magic quite like Ashes Cricket 2009.
Perhaps this game was released at a golden moment, as England won the 2009 Ashes series, increasing the nation’s love of cricket and making the game a huge hit.
Ashes Cricket 2009 featured the most realistic gameplay that a cricket game had ever seen at the time whilst still maintaining the arcade style fun that was prevalent in previous games.
From hitting sixes with Kevin Pietersen and bowling swing with James Anderson, this game had a perfect balance between bat and ball.
Every stadium hosting an Ashes Test featured in the game, adding to the realism and giving the game a level of immersion never seen before.
Ashes Cricket 2009 encapsulated the nation’s love of cricket, making it one of the finest sports games of all time.
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EA Sports College Football 25
With sports video games still being released consistently, It would be unfair not to feature a recent release on this list.
In 2024 the College Football franchise made its long-awaited return, following an 11-year hiatus.
134 college teams and 134 home stadiums feature in the game, making it the biggest college roster to ever appear in a video game.
Superstar mode gives you the ability to lead your team to glory and win the Heisman Trophy along the way, whilst Ultimate Team allows you to combine your favourite players and taste online glory.
Most importantly, the gameplay is one of the most enjoyable football experiences we have ever had.
Both offence and defence are challenging but rewarding and online gameplay runs smoothly, allowing EA Sports College Football 25 to be the perfect game to play with friends.
WWE 12
Back in 2011, WWE 12 hit the stores as the first WWE game in six years not to feature the Smackdown vs Raw title.
An all new gameplay engine was in place, leaving fans anxious to see if the game would live up to expectations.
And it certainly did just that.
The game was the smoothest wrestling game ever released and featured more playable characters than ever before.
The Universe mode featured more detail than ever, giving you the chance to play through years and years of your own unique storylines.
What truly made this game great, however, was the Road to Wrestlemania mode.
Three unique journeys, all with different main characters and compelling stories, made this one of the greatest story mode’s ever created.
The third and final story featuring your own created character battling legends of yesteryear was a bold but brilliant story.
The WWE video games have always been immensely popular but WWE 12 was undeniably one of the finest wrestling video games ever created.
FIFA 17
Every year, EA Sports release a brand new iteration of their football video games formerly known as FIFA, now EAFC.
Often met with criticism for the lack of changes, FIFA 17 certainly did not suffer from this problem.
In fact it was the boldest game release that EA had made in years.
An all new game engine was risky enough, but they didn’t stop there, adding for the first time ever to a FIFA game a story mode, as The Journey made its debut.
FIFA 17 also had some of the fastest, smoothest gameplay ever seen in a football game, meaning players couldn’t get enough.
This was also the year that Squad Building Challenges were introduced into the game, something that has been a mainstay in Ultimate Team ever since.
FIFA 17 managed to shape the future of football games due to it being one of the most highly regarded FIFA’s ever released.
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