Let’s take a look at the changing landscape of video games, examining the impact of two COVID-19-related lockdowns the emergence of new titles in 2023, the dichotomy between story-driven games and everlasting games, the influence of The Sims 4 in creating a community, the dynamic between online gaming platforms and consoles, and the already colossal impact of GTA VI, more than a year before its release. Explore video game trends and stay current with gaming culture!
Trends in France: the Unmissable Video Game Trends
Share of search volume on 31 games in France over the last 48 months
Looking at the evolution over 31 games, it is clear that COVID-19 lockdowns have considerably boosted video game searches. An increase of more than 6 million searches has been recorded, compared with 2 million since mid-2021.
Share of search volume on 8 must have games in France over the last 48 months
Among the most popular games, Fortnite and Minecraft maintain a dominant position, released in 2017 and 2009 respectively. On one hand, Fortnite is a game that has evolved a great deal since its release, combining aspects of battle royale, survival and sandbox mode through the game’s highly-developed construction mode. The game’s graphics are also fairly realistic, but it’s still quite fanciful.
As Fortnite is more recent and quite different from Minecraft, it retains a higher level of interest, with search volumes varying between 600k and 2.4 million, and manages to keep interest regularly renewed thanks to its new seasons, which include new maps, new objects, missions, etc.
Official Fortnite game poster
Official Minecraft poster
On the other hand, Minecraft really focused on the sandbox aspect and has developed the quest and dungeon aspect in a second time, so it doesn’t specifically attract the same type of audience.
Minecraft has nevertheless maintained a fairly high level of interest over time, with its search volume varying between around 530k and 1.5 million searches per month.
Twitch live extract of a french streamer, Antoine Daniel.
Among the games that attracted the most interest during the lockdown, Among Us shone particularly brightly in 2020, even though it was released in 2018, thanks to Twitch streamers such as Antoine Daniel, le Joueur du Grenier and Mynthos.
The Most Awaited Games during 2023
Share of volume of 8 games released in 2023 in 10 countries over 48 months
Thanks to search listening, we can see the impact of marketing campaigns on consumers and the expectations they create in their community. Some games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, aroused a great deal of interest well before their release, demonstrating the effectiveness of a well-orchestrated marketing campaign that lasted 8 years from the unveiling of the game’s name in 2012 to its release.
CD Projekt Red, the studio best known for The Witcher series, was able to develop a futuristic game that was extremely different from their previous projects, and to captivate the world with this new adventure for 8 years before the game’s actual release – quite a marketing prowess.
Official Cyberpunk 2077 poster
Extract of the official trailer of Cyberpunk 2077 starring Keanu Reeves
And to add to their success, they’ve included actor Keanu Reeves as a character in the story. After such cinematic successes as The Matrix and John Wick, the actor fits perfectly with the universe the studio wanted to create.
Despite the initial success of Cyberpunk 2077, numerous bugs marred its reputation on release, and although the development teams responded with fixes, this also helped to increase the number of searches on search engines.
Official poster of Hogwarts Legacy
On another note, the Hogwarts Legacy game was eagerly awaited by the Harry Potter community, which also saw an impressive spike in searches on its release, with over 20 million searches during February 2023.
It was also an excellent example of a marketing campaign, as the game aroused the curiosity of fans of the saga as early as January 2020 (around 92k searches) with the first revelations about Hogwarts Legacy, and reached a peak in September 2020 (1.48 million searches) with the release of the game’s first trailer, almost 3 years before its official release!
Although the number of searches has dropped, the game still averages 2 million monthly searches in France.
Official trailer for Hogwarts Legacy
Other games also saw a spike in interest when they were released, but to a lesser extent. This is particularly true of Zelda: Tears of Kingdoms, which attracted a timid interest with the release of its 1st trailer in September 2022 and around 465k searches. It peaked in May with over 5.3 million searches, but fell back to 1.2 million in June, ending the year with around 420k monthly searches.
Official poster of “The Legend of Zelda : Tears of Kingdoms”
The games that have marked the year 2023 have aroused the interest of their communities to varying degrees, but all share a common trait: after a while, interest wanes. This is because, as games with linear stories, once the quests have been completed, the game has nothing more to offer, unlike other types of game that seem to last longer.
Storytelling Games vs Everlasting Games
The distinction between games with a story and enduring games is clear. There are different types of games, games with a specific scenario, quests, missions, stories, a beginning and an end. Once you’ve finished, you can start the story again, but the result will always be the same. This is the case for series such as The Witcher, Zelda, and Assassin’s Creed.
Franchises such as Assassin’s Creed experience marked research peaks each time a new opus is released, but interest wanes once the game is finished.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage official poster
Assassin’s Creed is (literally “Assassin’s Creed”) a series of historical open-world (limited platform) action-adventure and infiltration video games developed and published by Ubisoft. The first game was released in 2007 and the last in October 2023.
Assassin’s Creed uses the “Animus”, a machine that reads genetic memory to explore the past of the ancestors of the protagonist, Desmond Miles, a member of the Assassin’s Order. The game covers a variety of historical periods and features the conflict between the Assassins and the Templars. The latest episode, Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023), takes place in Baghdad in 862 AD.
Share of volume of searches for Minecraft and Assassin’s Creed in France and the UK for the last 48 months
The difference between Assassin’s Creed and Minecraft, a sandbox game, is that Assassin’s Creed can have large peaks in popularity in searches, with a higher penetration rate. For example, with the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in November 2020, searches for this game rose to 4.99 million but quickly fell back to around 1 million queries. This is a type of game where interest is high but is unique to each new opus in the series. Once consumers have bought the game and finished it, interest drops off.
However, Assassin’s Creed has a community of gamers who are always on hand for the release of new instalments but have no great need to research the game. There may be solutions and help on occasion, but this is much more succinct than for Minecraft, for example.
Minecraft game image
Indeed, enduring games such as Minecraft maintain a steady interest over the years, offering a variety of gameplay and a loyal community.
Minecraft, a three-dimensional game with an infinite pixelated world, offers a variety of game modes including survival, creation and adventure. Players explore, extract materials, build and battle monsters. The active community contributes user-generated content. Unlike Assassin’s Creed, Minecraft has maintained its popularity for over 13 years, with updates every two years. Its diversified gameplay, including construction, farming and animal breeding, has ensured player loyalty and the game’s longevity.
The Sims 4: A Golden Community
Like Minecraft, some games have created a real craze and a community of loyal players who wants to develop their virtual world. This is particularly true of the Sims franchise and here of Sims 4.
Official posters for The Sims, The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and The Sims 4
The Sims is a series of life simulation video games, considered to be sandbox games, developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The first Sims game was released in 2000, followed by Sims 2 in 2004, Sims 3 in 2009 and Sims 4 in 2014.
Share of volume on The Sims over the last 48 months in the UK
The Sims 4 is a fairly popular game throughout the years but has seen two significant spikes in searches.
A first in March of around 950k monthly searches and in April 2020 of around 740k due to numerous updates of different DLC such as Evolution Outdoor Retreat and the addition of new interests such as cabinet making, but mainly due to the COVID 19 lockdown.
A second significant peak was noted when the game became free, reaching 412k searches in October 2022.
The Sims 4 has succeeded in creating a durable community thanks to the diversity and regular release of its expansions, packs and kits, reaching a total of 71 DLCs, made up of expansion packs, game packs, kit and stuff packs.
Volume of searches between the different types of dlc existing in The Sims 4 in the UK over the last 48 months
Expansion packs are the most sought-after because they offer more items, new game modes, etc., making them more attractive to players.
The ability for players to use cheat codes, add mods and share their creations has also strengthened community loyalty. The Sims 4 has evolved over the years and remains a reference in the life simulation genre, thanks in particular to the freedom it gives players.
Share of volume on searches about Mods, and customized content in The Sims 4 over the last 48 months in the UK
Maxis has cleverly included cheat codes in the game and the possibility of adding mods and customisable content. The sharing of constructions has strengthened a loyal community, encouraging mutual support and the game’s longevity. Players particularly appreciate the customisable content created by other enthusiasts, offering unique items for the home, clothing and accessories that significantly enrich the gameplay.
Tumblr page from a Sims 4 fan who has created her own customisable content that can be downloaded for free by other players in the community
Thanks to numerous developments over the years and the enthusiasm of the gaming community, The Sims has become the reference for life simulation games on the market. That makes it a sandbox game that’s hard to lose its reputation.
Online Game Store vs Game Consoles
Share of search volume for online game stores (Nintendo eShop, PS Store, Xbox Store etc.) in 6 countries over the last 48 months
Searches for online game stores reached fairly significant peaks, particularly around the Christmas time, with between 1.1 and 1.5 million searches. There was also a notable peak for COVID-19 in April 2020, with 1.5 million searches per month.
Share of volume searches of game consoles over the last 48 months in 6 countries
However, searches for game consoles remain more significant than those for online game stores. In fact, the PS5 is the most searched-for console, with a phenomenal rise in November 2020, when it was released, reaching 87.7 million searches over the month. Following this explosion, it is still highly sought-after, fluctuating between 5 and 15 million searches per month by consumers.
Share of volume on different types of online game store in 6 countries over the last 48 months
Despite very different search volumes, the PS5 is the most searched-for console, but the Nintendo eShop remains the most popular online game store, despite a target group of consumers who appear to be less ‘gamer style’.
Comparison of the Nintendo Eshop interface (left) and the PS Store interface (right)
However, as the PS store and Xbox store are well known to gamers, searches via a search engine are irrelevant, as gamers will go directly to the store in question and look for the games that interest them.
As Nintendo has created consoles that are more geared towards younger gamers and family games or games for friends, as a general rule, gamers on this console are generally less informed, as they are not real connoisseurs of the world of video games.
Indeed, we can notice the differences between the Nintendo eShop who show mostly Mario games while the PS store highlights more mature content with Tekken 8, the Last of Us, etc.
Most Anticipated Games in 2024 vs GTA VI
Finally, looking to the future, a number of games eagerly awaited in 2024 are paving the way for the monumental release of GTA VI in 2025, given its already overwhelming success on the market.
Share of search volume of 7 games scheduled for release in 2024 compared to GTA VI scheduled for 2025 in France over the last 48 months
GTA VI‘s marketing campaigns were already making an impact on Internet users in 2020, when Rockstar Games confirmed that the 6th opus would be released, creating more than 170k searches, i.e. 5 years before its release!
Since the end of 2022, announcements have become more regular and have gradually increased the monthly search rate, until the release of the emblematic trailer in December 2023, more than a year before the game’s release.
Screenshot of the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer to be released on 4 December 2023
With over 170 million views already, the GTA VI trailer has already become iconic, not least for its comparisons of real life moments. From Easter eggs to real-life references, it worked like a charm to make this first iconic trailer.
Screenshot comparing events taking place in Florida and extracts from the GTA VI trailer
The trailer’s influence has become so strong that it has already inspired advertising campaigns from major brands such as Hyundai, with its “Grand Test Auto XXIV” trailer released on 17 January 2024 and already racking up 1.2 million views.
Official brand campaign of Hyundai
Time will tell whether GTA VI will maintain this hype until its release, but for now it looks set to become a major phenomenon in the world of video games.
Don’t hesitate to check out our other trend reports!
