Welcome to the Mod Hall of Fame, a celebration of the best video game modifications ever made over the past 25 years. Every mod on this list has earned its spot be it via commercial or critical acclaim and has influenced gaming in some way. Millions of mods have been released since the earliest days of video gaming, so whilst we cannot list them all, we attempted to pick the standout mods spanning various genres and games. Each year we shall consider new and old mods for inclusion on this list, enjoy the best of the best!

2019

Auto Chess

Dota 2

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Auto Chess burst onto the scene in the beginning of 2019 and within 5 months had 8 million players and spawned an entire new genre of games the "auto battler". Valve, Riot Games and Drodo (the mods creators) have all launched massively successful commerical adaptations with more to come.

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"auto battler with chess elements"
2018

Fallout: New California

Fallout: New Vegas

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Incredible detail, amazing storyline and astounding voice acting - Fallout: New California set the bar really high and doesn't dissapoint the many fans of Fallout wanting to reenter the wastelands, and experience the world from the perspective of another character. A masterpiece on par with AAA quality that once again demonstrates what modders are capable of.

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"return to the wastelands"
2016

GTA RP (Role Play)

Grand Theft Auto V

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A combination of mods, multiplayer tech (FiveM) and private servers, GTA V Role Play was popularized by Twitch streamers playing on the heavily curated servers run by nopixel.net and others. These servers mandate gamers follow a strict set of rules, take on a virtual identity and leads to all manner of hilarious and eye opening situations for the worlds participants.

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"real life meets GTA V"

Enderal

Skyrim

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Skyrim is perhaps the most beloved and modded game on the planet, and Enderal as a mod is its swan song. A total conversion many years in the making and hours and hours of dialog, that leaves no stone unturned in it's quest to completely transform Skyrim into a new, dark and mysterious world with thousands of new secrets to discover.

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"total conversion with thousands of secrets"
2014

PLAYERUNKNOWN's Battle Royale

ARMA 3

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Inspired by The Hunger Games and Battle Royale movies, PLAYERUNKNOWN pioneered large scale 50 player last man standing action games. Now a top seller on Steam along with H1Z1, this is a mod that has pushed boundaries using the powerful ARMA III engine and opened up a new genre of games. Perhaps one of the large few total conversions made, and a testimate to their power of proving game concepts.

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"bloody last man standing"
2012

DayZ

ARMA 2: Combined Operations

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A 225 km2 open world post-soviet state and one of the areas hit by a new and presently unknown infection which has wiped out most of the world's population. You are one of the few who have survived and now you must search this new wasteland in order to fight for your life against what is left of the indigenous population, now infected with the disease. Go Solo, team up with friends or take on the world as you choose your path in this brutal and chilling landscape using whatever means you stumble upon to survive.

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"only the brave survive"

Cry of Fear

Half-Life

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A singleplayer and multiplayer modification of Half-Life 1 which brings you the horror you've always been afraid of. Using new gaming styles that you will rarely find in Half-Life mods, such as advanced cutscenes, retro inventory, save systems, custom campaigns, unlockables and multiple endings.

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"you wake up in a dark alley, not knowing anything..."

Brutal Doom

Doom

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19 years after Doom was first released, the community is still alive and kicking thanks to mods like Brutal Doom that takes gameplay to new heights with realistic gore, headshots and epic new boss battles, to make Doom harder, louder and better than ever before.

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"doom perfected"
2011

The Stanley Parable

Half-Life 2

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It is an exploration of choice, freedom, storytelling and reality, all examined through the lens of what it means to play a video game. You will make a choice that does not matter. You will follow a story that has no end. You will play a game you cannot win.

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"an experimental narrative-driven first person game"
2010

Nehrim: At Fates Edge

Oblivion

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A Total Conversion for the RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It is a self-contained game that bases upon the Oblivion game engine, but has no relation to Oblivion's lore. It is a world in which neither Tamriel nor any other TES based name exists. The continent itself on which the game is situated is called Nehrim, it is completely independent from the base game.

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"one of the largest conversions ever undertaken"

Company of Heroes: Eastern Front

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

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A mod for Company of Heroes. Following the ethos of mimicking a Relic Entertainment expansion pack, Eastern Front has succeeded in adding a full Soviet faction packed with unique and exciting units to the existing armies - a feat never before achieved in the Company of Heroes world.

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"bringing the eastern front to war"
2009

Out of Hell

Unreal Tournamnet 2004

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A singleplayer horror experience for UT2004! Make your way through a decimated town overrun by blood-thirsty zombies! Powerful firearms and brutal melee weapons are at your disposal as you cut and cleave through over 20 grimy and blood-soaked maps!

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"Survive hell"

The Nameless Mod

Deus Ex

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In Forum City, the Internet is serious business. As its name implies, the city is the physical embodiment of Internet forums and bulletin boards. However, as the troubles of the city are no laughing matter. Embracing the style of Deus Ex, Forum City has as much crime and conspiracy as the world of JC Denton - but most citizens would have it no other way.

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"7 years in development"

MechWarrior: Living Legends

Crysis Wars

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A total conversion modification for Crysis. MWLL is at its very core a mix between a First Person Shooter and a Simulation. This will be achieved through the use of a mixed arms massively multiplayer gaming experience where the player takes part in a battle using a variety of vehicles and weapons.

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"will you be a living legend or a forgotten casualty?"

Multi Theft Auto: SA

GTA: San Andreas

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A multiplayer mod for the Windows version of Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that adds an otherwise absent online multiplayer component.

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"bringing multiplayer to GTA:SA"
2007

Europe in Ruins

Company of Heroes

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Europe in Ruins takes the fast paced, intense and surreal combat that you've come to know from Company of Heroes and combines it with persistent environment, ever changing meta-gameplay and ongoing war. The modification sees you creating and commanding your very own battalion in which you can customize with any units and upgrades you wish; CoH strategy has never had so much choice. Not only do you get to build up your battalion, but as you units battle, they will gain and retain all the experience they earn, carrying over from battle to battle; going from green to elite!

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"COH with persistent online army management"

Fall from Heaven

Civilization IV

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Fall from Heaven II is a dark fantasy mod for Civilization IV. The Age of Ice has ended, what is left of the once great empires of man have formed into small tribes, ready to rebuild and retake that which was lost. But the world is not empty. Hordes of barbarians await these new civilizations. Wild animals stalk hapless scouts and reckless emissaries. Giant spiders lie in patient wait in the jungles and the forests waiting for their prey to take that last, fatal, step.

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"feature rich total conversion for Civ IV"

Median XL

Diablo II

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The main attraction of Median XL is the brand new skill trees, 30 skills per class, providing a whole new experience. The mod also offers a new base item setup with 7 quality tiers, 480 uniques, 310 runewords, a new affix pool and gem/jewel stats, honorific items and many new and powerful crafting recipes. All this would be for nothing without the monster AI modifications and new abilities, elite and heroic monsters with even more powerful skills, and for advanced players 30 new uberquests based on Diablo lore await you.

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"diablo 2 on colorful steroids"

Killing Floor

Unreal Tournament 2004

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In 2007 Killing Floor pitted up to 4 players vs never ending waves of zeds. It combined each wave with weapon upgrades and a difficulty curve that required teamwork, and different skillsets to overcome. Today Killing Floor 2 developed by Tripwire Interactive has sold over $100,000,000 lifetime, and continues to grow as a beloved zombie coop survival horror shooter.

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"squads + weapon loadouts vs waves of zeds"

Insurgency

Half-Life 2

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2007 was a massive year for modding, with Insurgency combining heart pounding gameplay with an unapologetic depth of realism rarely seen in games at the time. Join a squad, follow the chain of command, be disciplined with your attacks and you stand a great chance of coming out on top. Today the same development team that created the mod, New World Interactive continue working on game, with Insurgency: Sandstorm released to critical acclaim in 2018.

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"modern infantry combat"

Prop Hunt

Garry's Mod, TF2 & Fortnite

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Originally a mod for TF2 and Garry's Mod, today prop hunt continues to grow as a mod for Fortnite. PropHunt plays much like a Hide and Seek. Players on the RED team, disguised as props, are given a 30 second set up time to hide, and afterwards players on the BLUE team must find and kill them in the given time period.

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"hide and seek - props vs players"
2006

Project Reality

Battlefield 2

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Bring realism to the battlefield is the focus of Project Reality. This includes adjusting various game play elements including physics, visual effects and overall game play formats. Along with changes to how the game handles, the Project Reality team has introduced British, Insurgent, IDF forces, Canadian and Russian factions each with new units with more to come. This mod is not for the faint of heart and wimps, due to the steep learning curve players will face when thrust into the virtual battlefield. This is the real deal.

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"the mod Battlefield 2 SHOULD have been"
2004

Garry's Mod

Half-Life 2

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GMod is a Sandbox Modification that allows players to pose ragdolls, meaning you can position people from HL2/CS/DoD and change their faces. A big comic book creating community has popped up around this feature. GMod can also be used to build whatever you can think of. Take props from HL2/CS/DoD and weld them together to make walls. Axis a wheel to it to create a working car. Rope some cans to the back. A big contraption creating community has popped up around GMod - creating such things as Rube Goldberg devices, catapults, cannons, bridges etc.

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"a player driven sandbox experience"

Complex

Homeworld 2

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Complex is a free advanced game modification based on Homeworld 2 game engine. Designed for players that like having long, technical and complex game matches; it's recommended only for H2 professional gamers, not for who's searching quick deathmatch. Complex tries to expand all features (research, technologies, abilities, weapons, subsystems, unit characteristics and physics) of the original game without change its game structure.

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"HW 2 for the advanced and hardcore players"
2003

Defense of the Ancients

Warcraft III

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Defense of the Ancients is a custom scenario for Warcraft III, based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft. The objective of the scenario is to destroy the opponents' "Ancient". The two teams' ancients are heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied heroes and AI-controlled fighters called "creeps". As in role-playing games, players level up their hero and use gold to buy equipment during the mission.

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"insanely popular team based hero RPG"

Red Orchestra

Unreal Tournament 2004

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Red Orchestra is the award winning Unreal Engine mod that pits players in scale combat of the most intense and grueling warfare in history; the Eastern Front conflict of World War II. Real missions set in real scale settings from elite tactical units vieing for control of strategic industrial assets in close quarter combat, to brutal heavy infantry assaults and bayonet charges to take tactical objectives, to heavy mechanized armor units battling for strategic control of entire cities in blistering exchanges of fire power. RO delivers unprecedented tactical realism.

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"explosive, intense and realistic WW2 FPS"
2002

Natural Selection

Half-Life

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Natural Selection blends first-person combat with real-time strategy. It features intense "marines vs. aliens" teamplay, where one marine can become Commander. The Commander plays from a top-down perspective and leads live players. The aliens can evolve upgrades like "Cloaking" and "Scent of Fear", and can change lifeforms to run on walls, fly, and even devour marines whole. NS has atmospheric indoor sci-fi environments full of steam and smoke, and features custom orchestral music from the award-winning Jeremy Soule.

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"pioneer of the FPS/RTS hybrid genre"

Desert Combat

Battlefield 1942

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Desert Combat is a popular modification for Battlefield 1942 created by Frank Delise, Brian Holinka and Tim Brophy. Set in Iraq during the first Gulf War, DC featured many new weapons and maps for both the Conquest and Capture the Flag game types. Desert Combat won many awards for its polished gameplay and features. In 2004 the developers of the mod were acquired by Digital Illusions CE otherwise known as Dice, the original team split and a final version was released in 2004.

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"innovative modern warfare mod"
1999

Counter-Strike

Half-Life

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Arguably the most well known and successful mod of all time, Counter-Strike puts the player in the shoes of terrorist or counter-terrorist units. The mod is team-based with both sides having access to different guns and equipment, as well as different abilities. Maps have different goals such as: hostage rescue, assassination, bomb defusion, Terrorist escape, etc. Intense, frustrating, exhilarating multiplayer combat awaits those who attempt to survive and win each round of gameplay.

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"intense team-based multiplayer combat"
1996

Team Fortress

Quake

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While most believe Half-Life was the birthplace of TFC it actually begun its life as a Quake mod way back in 1996. The premise of the game is a class-based battle between opposing sides, Red and Blue. Players are defined by which class they select (i.e., Medic, Sniper, Soldier, Demoman, Pyro, Spy, Heavy, Scout or Engineer), with each class having strengths and weaknesses. Each class also has unique weapons (e.g., Pyro has the flamethrower and Heavy has the minigun) and abilities (e.g., scout being able to run the fastest).

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"where it all began"