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Few moments in gaming are as unforgettable as when a single release (or even event) manages to break the internet. Sometimes it is plain pure hype, sometimes it is a bit of chaos – but one thing is for sure: when it happens, everyone online feels and remembers it.
There is no specific formula for a game to go viral on this level, whether it is for the right reasons or the wrong ones.
Sometimes it is because of T-posing NPCs and remarkable day launches, other times it is lawsuits, digital store crashes, or even characters that awaken the players’ thirsty side. So, for this list, I tried to keep things varied in the spirit of fun – after all, there are many different ways to blow up the internet, right?
No further delay, let’s finally dive in. Here are some titles that took gaming far beyond the screen and broke the internet, each for its own wild and unforgettable reasons.
10 Cyberpunk 2077
Breaking The Internet (And Then Fixing It)
You probably saw this one coming the moment I mentioned T-posing NPCs in the intro, because there’s simply no way Cyberpunk 2077 wouldn’t make this list, since its launch day was one of the most talked-about gaming moments of the decade, though sadly, not for the reasons CD Projekt Red had hoped.
The hype was sky-high, with years of anticipation building up to what was supposed to be the next big leap in open-world RPGs. But when the game finally dropped, especially on PS4 and Xbox One, players were met with a mess of bugs, crashes, and performance issues that turned excitement into collective disappointment overnight.
Within hours, the internet was flooded with clips, memes, and players’ reports of every glitch imaginable. It was chaos, and it completely took over social media.
However, developers stuck with it, patch after patch in the following years, and managed to turn things around. Today, Cyberpunk 2077 is not only stable but genuinely fantastic – and that’s why it opens our list of best games that broke the internet.
9 Resident Evil Village
Falling For A Nine-Foot-Tall Vampire Lady
Resident Evil Village managed to capture massive fan attention long before its release, and all thanks to a single character who quickly became every fan’s wildest dream: yes, you know we’re talking about Lady Dimitrescu.
A single glimpse of her enormous presence (quite literally) in the first trailers was all it took for the internet to lose its mind. Her elegant design, mysterious personality, powerful voice, and, of course, her unforgettable height turned her into a full-blown online sensation, inspiring endless memes and fan art.
The hype grew so intense that even Capcom fully leaned into the moment, making Lady Dimitrescu a central figure in the game’s marketing and keeping her in the spotlight long after Village launched.
8 Palworld
Pokémon With Guns (And a Lawsuit On the Side)
When Palworld first launched in early 2024, it completely skyrocketed in popularity, thanks to its similarities to Pokémon with a chaotic, gun-toting twist that no one saw coming.
And its numbers alone were quite staggering, since it broke some players’ records on Steam, even directly competing with highly acclaimed triple-A titles like Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3 at the time.
Players from around the world were instantly hooked by how unexpectedly fun (and weird) it was for an open-world survival title, where your goal is to capture and battle alongside creatures known as “Pals”, which can use fire guns as their weapon.
So it was viral, and social media was flooded with memes and compliments celebrating its charm. However, all that fame came with a price, and the buzz quickly caught Nintendo’s attention, kicking off one of the most tense legal battles the gaming world has seen in years (and it’s still going).
7 Among Us
Our Little Quarantine
The COVID-19 pandemic was quite a difficult time for everyone, and gamers found some comfort in online games to reunite with friends and family – even far away. But none hit harder and spread faster than Among Us, which somehow turned global isolation into one of the most social gaming experiences ever.
Even though it first launched back in 2018, InnerSloth’s indie title absolutely exploded in 2020, dominating the internet as a simple and hilarious way to gather everyone online. Sure, its premise (a group of crewmates trying to survive while an impostor secretly sabotages them) may have destroyed a few friendships along the way, but that was all part of the fun.
Its success surely brought people together when they needed it most, and the memes born from it are still alive and thriving today, guaranteeing the 7th place here.
6 Elden Ring
The Internet Died and Respawned
Elden Ring’s release back in 2022 raised the bar for what fantasy action RPGs could be, basically setting a new gold standard for what came after in the genre.
Immediately on launch, it did not just draw in Soulsborne veterans, but it also won over newcomers by expanding its formula we all came to know and love, while staying true to its essence at the same time.
Its numbers surely reflect that: according to SteamDB, the game registered an impressive all-time peak of nearly one million concurrent players, and by the end of that same year, it shattered records for the most Game of the Year awards ever won (which were previously held by The Last of Us Part II and The Witcher 3).
So its impact on the genre is impossible to overstate, reinforcing FromSoftware’s mastery and pushing the Japanese studio’s own creative boundaries even further.
Oh, and as if that weren’t enough, the game even managed to break the internet all over again with its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, which was one of the most highly praised gaming content of 2024 (even competing with full releases for the coveted GOTY status).
5 No Man’s Sky
The Greatest Comeback Ever
This was probably the most notorious case of a much-anticipated title that didn’t meet people’s expectations in the last decade, since its launch basically became the textbook case of why preordering games can be risky.
That’s because No Man’s Sky started as one of the most infamous examples of a developer overpromising and underdelivering, and fans got incredibly disappointed, which was very, very clear in multiple posts (and memes, of course) on social media and gaming forums at the time.
But over time, Hello Games flipped the script and gave the game a happy ending by working on dozens of major updates post-launch (all free, I must add) and gradually turning the game into the expansive, feature-rich experience players originally dreamed of.
While its trajectory might have some similarities to Cyberpunk 2077 in some ways, No Man’s Sky stands apart as one of the greatest comeback stories in game development history.
4 The Last of Us Part II
The Game That Split The Internet Right Down The Middle
The Last of Us is easily one of my favorite franchises ever, and the arrival of The Last of Us Part II was one of the most intense and emotional experiences I have ever had as a gamer – and I know I’m not alone in that!
The buzz surrounding this game was quite intense, and it managed to break the internet before, during, and even long after its release (and honestly, it is still doing it to this day).
The first time came with leaks that flooded social media with major spoilers, including key events and character deaths. I still remember how I avoided the internet almost completely just to dodge them (and somehow, I actually succeeded). Then, the launch day finally came, and playing through that story hit harder than anyone expected. It divided the fanbase right down the middle: while some loved it, others hated it.
And everyone’s feelings continue to be quite intense, since conversations surrounding The Last of Us Part II just won’t die, proving how deeply it resonated (or provoked) those who experienced it.
3 Hollow Knight: Silksong
A Sequel So Hyped It Broke The Stores
We sure waited over seven years for Hollow Knight’s sequel, so, of course, it was destined to break the internet the moment it arrived, right?
Jokes aside, Hollow Knight: Silksong truly became one of the most anticipated indie games of all time in the last few years, holding the top spot on Steam’s wishlist charts for a long time. And a big part of that hype came from the developers’ unusual approach: while most studios ramp up marketing campaigns, Team Cherry went completely silent.
Eventually, the result was that when the game finally dropped, digital storefronts across nearly every platform crashed under the flood of players rushing to buy it – a chaos that quickly turned into memes, celebrations, and pure internet euphoria (I was there, obviously).
2 Fortnite
Every Time You Blink, Fortnite Breaks The Internet Again
It is no secret that Fortnite is basically a cultural phenomenon in the gaming world – not only did it redefine the battle royale genre, but it also expanded far beyond it, delivering some of the most ambitious crossovers ever.
Today, the game boasts an endless lineup of skins inspired by movies, series, comics, and other games, while keeping its community alive with seasonal events and even in-game concerts that feel like massive cultural moments.
But what really secured its spot on this list was one event in particular that literally broke every corner of the internet: the Big Bang event. This in-game spectacle marked the end of Chapter 4 and featured a sick live Eminem concert, leaving even non-Fortnite fans completely stunned.
And hey, at this point, we never really know when we will open social media only to be instantly flooded with players losing their minds over whatever wild thing Fortnite just pulled off.
1 GTA V
The Heist That Keeps Robbing The Internet
Only a few IPs have ever managed to cross over so powerfully into mainstream culture as Grand Theft Auto, and the upcoming GTA 6 is proof of that – since it’s already the most-anticipated game of the decade and its trailers registered hundreds of millions of views within days.
But back in 2013, GTA 5 was responsible for setting the tone for that phenomenon. The buzz surrounding its launch was massive, shattering sales records and becoming the fastest-selling entertainment product in history at the time—it grossed $800 million on its first day and surpassed $1 billion within just three days. And people were losing it on the internet, of course, especially when GTA Online came along a few months later.
Now, over a decade later, GTA 5 remains one of the best-selling games of all time, and it surprisingly continues to dominate headlines. For instance, when it was briefly made free on the Epic Games Store in 2020, the platform’s servers crashed, proving the game’s potential to break the internet had not faded one bit.
