Legendary games predicting tech's sinister future

The future is and always will be uncertain. There's no way to tell what tomorrow will bring, but it's always fun to speculate and imagine what kind of world we'll live in and what kind of technology we'll have access to. What better way to explore the unknown than through the medium of video games? Gaming has always found itself looking forward, whether it's 1,000 years ago or just a few decades, yet it seems that for every good and beautiful universe, there's an equally dark and terrifying one to follow.

Technology is a fascinating part of our society, and over time, it has become more integrated with our daily lives, many for the better, but some for the worse. While these fantasy worlds may only be believable for now, the chances of them becoming real increase every year, as AI evolves, warfare advances, and the companies that oversee it all from above become power-hungry at the expense of our personal freedoms.

Deus East

Privacy is a premium

• Explores a world ruled by private interests.

• Predicts growing anxiety around surveillance and digital control.

Deus East envisioned a future where governments, corporations, and intelligence agencies wield immense power and influence through technological control. The promise of an interconnected network brought with it convenience and security, but also created unprecedented opportunities for monitoring and control, two things that have become more prevalent over time.

What makes the game feel remarkably creepy is its focus on who owns the technology, rather than the technology itself. Looking at the modern day, it is clear that we care more about those who use our data, especially when it is entrusted to a faceless company. The game's warnings about centralized control are among the best established in the entire industry, and I recommend revisiting it now, if only to see a snapshot of the world we may soon enter.

Nothing is as it seems

• Misinformation becomes a weapon.

• The digital world shapes the real.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty The social media revolution is famous for discussions about the future of information released long ago. You're in a world where digital networks produce massive amounts of data, making it increasingly difficult to separate truth from noise, while also opening the door for bad actors to exploit the system.

Its central concern was not censorship but curation, suggesting that future societies will be shaped by algorithms, information gatekeepers, and technologies that determine what people see and believe, rather than their actual physical reality. Now, years later, I'm still amazed at how accurate the game is in terms of the modern tech landscape, and how well the debate can be transferred today, even if we don't see Raiden scrolling through TikTok or updating his bios.

Tom Clancy's The Division

Unity has its weaknesses

• Modern infrastructures are heavily dependent on interconnected systems.

• The feature creates new points of failure.

It was only a few years ago that we faced a global pandemic, and while Division All is not well, it still paints a good picture of a city in the midst of crisis. Society and the technology around it are built on a complex digital infrastructure that unravels quickly in times of disaster, with supply chains failing and essential services struggling to function once support systems are disrupted from within themselves.

Technology itself is not portrayed as evil; Instead, the game highlights how modern life is deeply dependent on these kinds of interconnected networks that can quickly break down at the seams if targeted in the right way. I've always found the world more fascinating than many other semi-apocalyptic ones, and I think that even though things look pretty bright overall, we're only a few evils away from burning barrels and total societal failure.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Wars fought without soldiers

• Military technology is much less dependent on humans.

• An autonomous system raises questions about accountability.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Much of its conflict centers around drones and automated military systems that were futuristic back in the day, but have now become a common part of modern warfare. If you told me that in my lifetime we would see unmanned drones launching strikes around the world, I would have called you crazy, but the rapid development of these technologies has made the fantasy world a reality.

A darker prediction of the game concerns the delegation of power. As warfare becomes more dependent on machines and remote systems, questions about responsibility emerge. In a world where we can press a button and start a war, it is important to ask what happens when war becomes easy, because few people are directly affected by its costs.

Perfect Dark

Knowledge is power

• Megacorporations compete through information dominance.

• Data as a resource.

Perfect Dark A few steps forward to a reality in which corporations rival governments in effect, and technology is a real indicator of who is in charge. Much of the conflict revolves around gathering information and controlling access to valuable data, putting you at the center of an extraterrestrial mission that could very well determine the fate of the world.

Far from your average detective story, I enjoy the game's dedication to unity. No matter how complex the galactic conflicts, there is always a sense of purpose behind each individual action. The year it's set in 2023 may be a bit far away, but the concept of large corporations and entire governments vying for control is as relevant now as ever.

I have no mouth, and I must scream

What a way to go

• The extreme end of AI progress.

• Pushes the boundaries of what future technology can become.

If there is a game that represents technology gone wrong, then this should be it I have no mouth, and I must scream. In the distant future, where a superintelligent AI finally takes control, you and four other humans are presented with a life of endless torture from which there is no escape, orchestrated by an all-powerful and rage-filled computer known as AM.

I, like many others, have always found this piece of the story to be one of the scariest of all time, as there is no specific monster or tangible threat at play, just an unyielding hatred of humanity from a soulless entity capable of warping the fabric of its victims' minds. ChatGPT is relatively basic, but it's hard not to feel a little wary of where it might go.