Cover art for video games has had a tough time getting the recognition it deserves over the last ten years. This is predominantly due to the gaming industry's continued transition into the digital world, as gamers have been spending less time browsing their local game shop and more time using online stores from the comfort of their own home.
However, the next ten years may see the direction change once again, as cover art is regaining importance thanks to the prominent rise of Game Pass and other subscription services. With EA Play included, Game Pass now has over 200 games available to players, giving cover art newfound importance as games need to find ways to stand out from the crowd.
To give recognition to great pieces of cover art from the last 10 years, a time when they lacked their deserved acclaim, here are ten of the best.
10 The Last of Us
As this list will show, cover art is similar to band names. The Beatles and Rolling Stones may not sound great on paper, but they're iconic because they're attached to iconic bands. The same can be said for box art, where the game's quality affects how the cover art is perceived.
However, the cover art for The Last of Us has had the opposite effect in some ways. Because of how accustomed gamers are to The Last of Us' post-apocalyptic world and the characters Joel and Ellie, it's easy to forget how striking the game's cover art is, with a young girl carrying a large rifle and a man with a gas mask seemingly unfazed by the car next to them with a dead body inside.
9 Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
PlayStation 2 classic Shadow of the Colossus was remade on the PlayStation 4 in February 2018, giving the game's artistic brilliance a fresh coat of paint and technical improvements.
As well as providing a beautiful view of the game's landscape, Shadow of the Colossus' cover art is brilliant for two main reasons. Firstly, it shows the game's "David vs. Goliath" theme in a very striking way with the enormous size difference between the two figures. While the second, very spoiler-heavy reason is that it foreshadows the game's ending. Wander has his sword out, ready to fight the colossus, while the enormous creature has its back to the playable character, seemingly not interested in fighting.
8 Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy
From one remake to another, fans of the Crash Bandicoot franchise were overjoyed when it was announced that their favorite marsupial would be returning with a modernized version of the original PlayStation 1 trilogy. The game didn't disappoint and it sparked a resurgence for the series that has seen the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.
The cover art may not have any striking images or elements of foreshadowing like the previous entries, though it does exactly what it sets out to do; show the updated visuals in a way that will warm the hearts of the franchise's pre-existing fans while making it vibrant enough to stand out to those who had never heard of the series before.
7 XCOM 2
XCOM 2's cover has a far more minimalist design than the other entries on this list. The game's cover is extremely sinister, with the alien's face being made up purely of human skulls, letting players know straight away that this isn't going to be a wholesome Bandicoot-like adventure. Moreover, the morbid aesthetics and fact that the alien is looking straight at the viewer could be seen as an implication of the game's punishing difficulty.
Firaxis Games' XCOM 2 was released in 2016 and stayed true to its roots of brutal challenge and tricky mechanics, despite its newfound mainstream attention.
6 Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3's cover art is great because it exemplifies everything that the game is all about with its unique combination of bright visuals, charismatic characters, and extreme violence.
The game's cover art is a reference to a classic religious artwork with the depiction of a sacred heart in the middle of the chest; the heart has been replaced by a grenade in Borderlands 3's cover, possibly a reference to the "Holy Hand Grenade" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
5 Grim Fandango Remastered
Grim Fandango was one of many iconic graphic adventures to have been remastered in recent years, joining The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. The point-and-click classic is considered to be the genre's final bow, with its huge 94 Metascore being a testament to how it encapsulated so much about what was great about graphic adventures.
The game's cover art hits home Grim Fandango's neo-noir themes. The pastel image succeeds in sparking intrigue while implementing many of the game's iconic characters and settings.
4 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is regarded by some to have the greatest open-world in the genre's history. It's easy to see why, as Breath of the Wild's map wastes little space despite its enormous size, with things to do and see around every corner.
Breath of the Wild's artistic cover gives players a glimpse at the game's beauty, making them want to explore the world being shown and venture to the ominous castle that Link's body language clearly shows has his full attention.
3 Halo 4
A sign of a good cover is if someone who has no idea about the product can guess what genre it's in and what it's going to be about. It doesn't take a gaming expert to look at Halo 4's cover and know instantly that not only is Master Chief the hero but that the game is going to consist of him at war with the odds stacked solidly against him, exemplified by him kneeling beneath the crumbling world above.
Halo 4 was the first main series Halo game not to be developed by Bungie, as 343 Industries took over the reins.
2 Far Cry 5
Borderlands 3 isn't the only game to take inspiration from religious artwork, as Far Cry 5's cover is a clear reference to one of the most famous paintings of all time, Leanardo De Vinci's The Last Supper. The reference is an ingenious way of telling players just how highly regarded Joseph Seed is among his cult members.
Like any good work of art, Far Cry 5 is dripping with interesting details and insight at every turn, with the influx of guns in front of a church showing it's not the sort of place for a relaxing Sunday prayer.
1 Ōkami HD
An Ōkami cover art featuring on this list is fairly ironic, as the franchise is known for having one of the biggest box art botches of all time. When the Nintendo Wii version of the game was released, eagle-eyed fans noticed that a barely visible IGN logo was included due to the artwork being taken from the site.
Thankfully, the cover art for the game's HD remaster made up for the error, with its beautiful aesthetics that give a taste of the stunning art design featured alongside the game's epic adventure.