Video gaming has become one of the world’s leading industries, and it’s a favourite pastime for hundreds of millions of people around the world. There’s a lot to love about video games: they’re creative, challenging, social, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting to the end of a good game.

The games that we know and love today would not be possible if not for the hard work of key individuals over the last few decades, and they have allowed the industry to boom into what it is today.

1. Sid Meier

Sit Meier is widely considered to be the founding father of the video game industry within the United States. Most gamers have at least heard of his games, even if they haven’t played them, and they encompass a range of different genres.

He began his journey in 1982, when he and Bill Stealy created MicroProse, which was their platform to begin development of their games, many of which would become the most successful of all time. These include Sid Meier’s Civilisation, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates!, Colonization, and more. He would eventually find a new company, Firaxis Games, and would continue to develop more games.

2. Hideo Kojima

There are not a lot of gamers that have not heard the name of Hideo Kojima, a man accredited as being one of the most influential forces of video gaming both in his home country of Japan as well as the rest of the world. He’s probably most well-known for the Metal Gear Solid series, the latest of which is regarded as one of the best video games ever created.

He began working within the industry in 1986, where he was a prominent developer for Konami, and started work on the first Metal Gear game. At the time, Kojima was creating video games as nothing more than a hobby and was much more interested in film.

3. Gabe Newell

Although Newell is associated with a large number of memes, a lot of games take this developer’s contributions for granted. Gabe Newell is the founder of Valve and Steam, which has become the PC gaming world’s largest digital platform, home to millions of games from thousands of developers.

Before Steam changed the world of PC gaming forever, Newell was at the forefront of modern games, with such notable titles as Half Life, a game so famous that it would become a part of pop culture, inspiring works in everything from other games, novels, and Australian bingo online games. Newell worked for many years at Microsoft, where he was able to earn enough money to follow his dreams and begin offering quality video games to a much wider audience.

4. Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto is arguably the most important person in the history of video gaming. Starting a career with Japanese gaming company Nintendo, Miyamoto was quick to prove his unique creativity by developing some of the most well-known games of all time. He is credited with creating such franchises as Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros. Star Fox, and many others.