Do you know what Fortnite is?
Do you want to know what is the most popular video game in the world?
Is it Fortnite, Minecraft or something else?
Listen, I will assume you have heard of Fortnite. But if not here’s a brief summary:
- Fortnite is best known for its Free To Play (F2P) version, Fortnite Battle Royale
- Fortnite made over $1 Billion in revenue in 2018 by selling in-game cosmetics (skins)
- Epic Games are the creators of Fortnite and are owned by the world’s largest gaming company, Tencent
Now from that information, you might think that Fortnite is the most popular game of all time.
But is that true?
We can answer this using Google Trends. A free online tool provides data about search terms using Google.
Here’s Fortnite vs some of the most popular games
The above chart shows the Google search term trends from the 5 most popular video games in 2018.
You see Fortnite is very much in the lead because 2018 was the peak year for Fortnite.
But what do things look like in 2019?
So Fortnite (in the blue) was in the lead for most of the last 12 months. But as of writing in June 2019, Minecraft has overtaken it. Some say Fortnite is dying.
Now I have never played Minecraft. But here are some things I know about it:
- Minecraft was released in May 2009 and is the best selling PC game of all time with over 25 million copies sold
- Rob McElhenney could direct a Minecraft movie
- You can build things in Minecraft, sort of like you can in Fortnite
- Minecraft is recognized as the original Battle Royal because of the Minecraft Hunger Games Servers
League of Legends (LoL) on the other hand, is something I am familiar with because I played it competitively in 2016. LoL is a MOBA and its initial release date was 27 October 2009. It is most popular in Asia, in particular, South Korea and China.
The Asian countries are renown for dominating the competitive scene and winning almost all major international tournaments.
But no data is available from Google Trends in those countries. So, League of Legends could be the most popular game in the world right now. Because China, for example, has a population of 1.386 billion.
Anyway, who knows?
What is the most popular video game of all time?
Google Trends lets you go back as far as 2004 to analyze search terms.
Now you see Minecraft (in red) has the most search interest over time.
However, Grand Theft Auto V (GTA5) has the biggest “spike”. In other words, it was the most popular search term at one point in time. This was in September 2013 which was the initial release date.
I still remember that day and the 10/10 reviews it received from sites like IGN. While it couldn’t sustain its search interest, GTAV has remained a popular and successful game because of its online mode.
Roblox is another game I have never played. But here is everything I know about it:
- Roblox was first released in 2005
- It is one of the most popular video games of all time
- There is a Roblox player with the name KR4M
Anyway, what we have learned is that Fortnite is not the most popular game ever.
Yes, Fortnite is a cultural phenomenon that has captured a generation with its defaults and dances. And it was the most popular game at one point.
But not anymore.
What is your favorite video game?
Let me know in the comments below!
Heres what you should read next:
Fortnite vs PUBG According to Google Trends in 2019
Comments
I think it’s lovely that Minecraft is coming back from the dead because I played mine craft as a kid and oh those old days well I still play Minecraft but not much people play now that it is coming back I have people to talk and play with and with that saying fortnite is annoying me on how popular the game is but how toxic it is at sometimes I just thought I’d share my thoughts HAVE A GREAT DAY
I think it’s great, too. Competition, in general, is good for us players. Thanks for your comment and have a great day.
I play fortnite a lot and i don’t think it was ever as popular as minecraft but i don’t think google trends truly shows the popularity of a franchise as you stated in this article china doesint have google so you can only get a rough and not very accurate analysis on how popular it really is, just stick to copies sold, or game downloads
Scott, you have a good point and you’re right that Google Trends has its limitations. However, certain data that would be more reliable isn’t publicly available. Moreover, because Fortnite is a free game, total downloads or registered players isn’t ideal either because players can make more than one account. I think Google Trends serves as a fairly reliable indicator of popularity in general, especially for measuring changes in circumstances or opinions like we’re seeing with Fortnite and Minecraft.
I am Chinese but now live in Europe. Back in 2019, I used to play both Fortnite and Minecraft. When I went back to China, Fortnite was banned in the place I lived in, whereas Minecraft is not. This means, that even if you stick with the copies sold, you still can’t get an accurate analysis because Minecraft is not banned in China and Fortnite is.
That’s interesting to know. Thank you for sharing.
This report is very interesting, but as the author wrote, there is certain data that could be missed.
You’re right. Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
I’m so glad that Minecraft is taking over!! I don’t really like Fortnite. My brother, on the other hand, is team Fortnite all the way. 😒
fortnite is bad
Each to his own 🙂
zees
harsh
but kinda very slighly true
i like fortnite and roblox but minecraft costed alot of money my parents couldenet buy it so i like fortnite and roblox if minecraft was for free id play it but they never do that -Aariz