Week 41 definitely felt like a slower press week as far as video games are concerned and the results of the Strongest PR Presence Top Ten reflect that.
Fifa 21 managed to take the number one spot with just over 1500 articles, a lot less than recent weekly totals. As the yearly sports giant got its launch it’s not surprising to see the most covered topic was Launch Details at 17.1%, this was followed by Review at 14% and then In Game Elements at 10.8% as numerous discussions took place regarding player stats and other details.
Cyberpunk 2077 seems like it will finally be making its long-awaited launch in November and its marketing campaign has therefore ramped up, it was the second most covered game of week 41. The most talked about topic was Gone Gold at 16.5% with the title making its production milestone. Stages/Location/Maps/Areas was up next at 13.9%, articles talked about a full map image which did the rounds on various websites. Leak/Spoiler/Rumour/Speculation followed with 13.3% speaking about the same leaked map content.
The third spot belongs to a title I’m sure we will see very frequently in the coming weeks, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The dominant topic for Black Ops Cold War was Beta at a hefty 40.9%. The Trailer topic accounted for 9.3% of the game’s coverage as new footage for the aforementioned beta released alongside it. On a similar theme the Technical Specs made up 7.9% of the COD press as articles outlined the PC requirements for playing the beta.
Genshin Impact saw release in week 40 and managed to pick up the number four position in week 41. Guide/Walkthrough was the most covered topic for the game at 26%. Sales/Player Numbers was up next with 14.9%, Genshin Impact is credited as having the most successful Chinese game launch of all time after amassing 17 million downloads in just 4 days. The Characters topic followed with 8.4% as articles outlined the tiers and details of the games avatars.
Fifth place in week 41 belonged to Ghost of Tsushima, the title returned to the Top Ten after details of upcoming content were revealed. Ghost of Tsushima’s Legends update will release in October and the articles about this news led the Launch Details topic to a 29.5% share of the games overall press coverage. 11.4% of the Tsushima discussion came under the Modes/Interface topic as articles spoke specifically about what the Legends update would contain. Technical Specs was up next at 10.1% as press covered news about how the game will run on the PS5 console under the Game Boost system.
Even Fortnite struggled to gain its usual amount of press coverage in week 41, it took sixth despite a 18% drop in articles week on week. Guide/Walkthrough was the most talked about topic for Fortnite with 10.8%, this was followed by Game Components at 10% and then DLC/Content Update with 8.8%, the bulk of all of these articles covered Season 4 Chapter 2 Week 7 challenges and content.
Another recent release, Star Wars: Squadrons, snagged the number seven spot after just a 7% drop in activity compared to the previous week. The Review topic was the most prominent for Squadrons at 21.3% as you might expect from a title just after release. DLC/Content Update was the second most talked about topic at 17.8% as EA Motive released a statement saying the game would receive no additional content. Sales/Player Numbers was up next with 11.4% as Star Wars: Squadrons appeared frequently on lists of best-selling products in the week prior.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was the eighth most covered title of week 41, benefitting from the “launch day” PR boost. BG3 specifically launched its Early Access program, the topic of the same name was a rather large, 35.7%, of the title’s coverage. Guide/Walkthrough came next at 11.5% with the usual articles helping out players new to the Baldur’s Gate series. Like Genshin Impact previously, the third most talked about topic for Baldur’s Gate 3 was Characters, the content under this topic was worth 8% of the games PR pie.
Ninth place belongs to Watch Dogs: Legion after a massive 611% increase in activity week on week. In Game Elements was the main topic of conversation at 44.9%, this comes after a game info blowout came from the publisher/developer, Ubisoft. Trailer was up next at 16.6%, part of the info blowout was new footage from the story and multiplayer modes. At 4.5% the DLC/Content Update topic was the third most covered, articles spoke about the games paid and free content due to land after launch.
Rounding out the Top Ten is one of the worst kept secrets of the year, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered. The Hot Pursuit remaster was officially confirmed and its release date were revealed, the Launch Details topic made up 28.2% of the games press. The Leak/Spoiler/Rumour/Speculation topic made up an additional 17.4% as the official details, leaked online before the announcement could be made. Announcement was the third most mentioned topic at 14.3%, with articles reflecting on the games reveal after the official announcement went live.
