If you somehow didn’t know the holiday season is approaching you can tell pretty quickly when looking at the uptake in video game press coverage.
Cyberpunk 2077 secured the number one spot in week 47 after a staggering 3000+ articles where published about the game. Articles under the Gameplay topic made up 22.8% of this coverage with outlets responding to the new content displayed in the latest Night City Wire stream. Technical Specs was up next at 13.1% as discussions of Ray Tracing and double disk releases took place. 12% of the press generated surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 came under the Trailer topic, again relating to the Night City Wire footage.
Second place belonged to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, just a week after the titles launch. Launch Details was still a popular topic for Valhalla at 21.6% with many articles mentioning the game as a launch title for the Playstation 5. Guide/Walkthrough was up next with 14.8% with websites helping users with everything from saving to finding hidden treasures. Game Awards was the third most talked about topic for Valhalla at 12.7% as it was revealed the latest AC title was nominated for both the Best Action/Adventure and Innovation in Accessibility awards.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War managed to make third, after just a 5% increase in activity week on week. At 23%, Launch Details was the most talked about subject with articles mentioning Cold War when speaking about the launch of the PS5. Guide/Walkthrough was the second most discussed topic with 11.3%, players were given tips on finding collectables, using the right loadouts and completing challenges.
Up next, with 7.6%, was Sales/Player Numbers with the latest Call of Duty outing placing well in sales charts worldwide. In forth, for week 47, was
Fortnite after a 66% increase in activity compared to the week previous. The most talked about topic being Game Awards as Fortnite received a nomination for “Best Ongoing”, the Game Awards topic made up 16.8% of the title’s coverage. In Game Elements added an additional 10.5% as articles spoke about the Venom skin and video calls via Houseparty, at length. Alot like titles mentioned previously, Fortnite was mentioned frequently in articles listing games available on the PS5 when it launched, content of this nature came under the Launch Details topic and made up 9.9% of the coverage.
Launching in week 47 alongside the PS5 was Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, its not then surprising to see the title made it to the Top Ten with a fifth-place positioning. Also, unsurprisingly, Launch Details was the most discussed topic at 29.7%. At 14.4% the second most touched on topic was Game Awards, were Spider-Man: Miles Morales was nominated for the Best Action/Adventure and Best Performance awards. Articles on the Sales/Player Numbers topic made up 8.2% as the game made it into the sales charts and in some cases, topped them.
Returning once again, in at number six, after a hefty 267% increase in activity was Animal Crossing: New Horizons. New Horizons was nominated for the Game of the Year and Best Family awards at the Game Awards which led the topic of the same name to a 27.7% chunk of the games press. DLC/Content Update followed at 14% as articles outlined the new Winter Update content that would be arriving as temperatures drop. The Awards/Rankings/List topic was the third most covered with New Horizons also getting a mention from the Golden Joysticks and TIME Magazine awards as well as The Game Awards.
Fifa 21 also experienced a bit of a bump from award related content and this activity helped the game secure the number seven spot. Game Awards was the most covered topic for Fifa at 19.1% after a Best Sport/Racing nomination. Daily Deals/Offers was up next with a 15.6% share of the press as Amazon and other retailers advertising a discount on the title for the upcoming Black Friday. At 14% In Game Elements was the third most talked about topic for Fifa with articles talking about Team of the Week, the games fifth title update and rather strangely, Dua Lipa.
Eighth position belongs to serial Top Ten returner, League of Legends. Game Awards was also the driving topic for LoL making up 31.1% of its coverage with a nomination for Best Esports game and mentions throughout the other eSports-based awards. eSports the topic is always a prominent one for League and this time around made up 13.6% of the games press, articles spoke about all manner of events, competitions and related stories. Awards/Rankings/Lists came next at 12.7% with League of Legends being mentioned alongside a number of award shows.
Destiny 2 was another title that made a return as a result of award nominations, it secured the number nine spot. Game Awards was the biggest topic for the title at 30%, Destiny 2 was nominated for the Best Ongoing and Best Community Support awards. Awards/Rankings/Lists added 12.6% again touching on similar themes. 7.9% of Destiny 2’s coverage came under the Announcement topic with a variety of items being discussed including a footwear collaboration and a new in game raid.
Bringing up the rear in week 47 was The Last of Us Part II, it’s been a little while since we’ve seen TLOU2 in the Top Ten but as with other titles the award season has given the rankings a bit of a shakeup. 28.6% was the chunk of Last of Us Part II’s taken up by articles under the Game Awards topic, the game was nominated for a whole range of awards. The Game Awards wasn’t the only awards Last of Us was nominated in, the Awards/Rankings/Lists topic was up next at 15.8% featuring articles talking about the other nominations. Daily Deals/Offers was the third most talked about topic at 9.3% with the title being a popular choice for mark down in upcoming Black Friday sales.
