Business picked up again in week 42, with an increase in
activity across the board. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla received the most
coverage and secured the number one spot. Launch Details was the most talked
about topic for Assassin’s Creed at 22.7%, the title was featured frequently in
articles listing playable games on the Xbox Series X launch day. 13.8% of
Valhalla’s press came under the Trailer topic following the release of the game’s
Deep Dive trailer. Technical Specs was up next with 10% as the details of the
PC requirements to run the game were made available.
There was no movement in second place as Cyberpunk 2077
received a similar amount of coverage as the week prior and held firm. In Game
Elements was the most talked about topic for Cyberpunk at 18.9%, this came as a
result of a Night City Wire video exhibiting the array of vehicles included
within the title. At 13.3% the second most covered topic was Launch Details,
Cyberpunk was featured in a large amount of articles about the games which will
be playable on the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5. The Trailer topic was up
next at 11.3% again after the release of new vehicle-based video content.
Fortnite returned to its normal form in week 42, snagging
the number three position, three places up on the previous week. Like Valhalla
and Cyberpunk previously, Fortnite gained coverage from featuring in lists of
titles ready for the next gen consoles, the Launch Details topic was worth
23.8%. Usual business resumed with the second most talked about subject being
Guide/Walkthrough at 9%. Another Fortnite mainstay, DLC/Content Update made up
an additional 8.3%.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War continues to be a
well-covered title, down one spot week on week, it secured the fourth spot. Once
again Beta was the most discussed topic as the game’s pre-launch period
continues on, the Beta topic was 34% of the game’s PR this time around. Launch
Details made up another 11.2% of the game’s coverage, again for the same
reasons as the titles mentioned previously. Modes/Interface was up next as
outlets spoke about the cross-play functionality soon to be arriving to the
beta.
Down from fourth in week 41 to fifth in week 42 is Genshin
Impact. Guide/Walkthrough was the dominant topic here at 23.5%, articles
covered just about everything players would need to know about the Chinese
smash hit. Genshin Impact continues to perform well from a sales perspective
and news on this success led Sales/Player Numbers topic to a 12.6% chunk of the
games PR. Launch Details was up next with 9.9%, articles spoke about new areas
launching in game and the titles upcoming release on other platforms.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales returned to the Top Ten in week
42, grabbing sixth. As the title was mentioned a lot in articles about the
release of the Playstation 5 it’s of no surprise to see the Launch Details
topic as the most covered, Launch Details related content made up 24% of the
games’ press. The Gameplay topic made up another sizable chunk at 23% after new
in game footage was revealed to the gaming world. Screenshot/Artwork followed
with 12.8% as articles spoke about the new imagery from the game which will
feature in the last edition of Game Informer.
After taking the number one spot in the previous Top Ten it’s
quite a drop for Fifa 21, down in to seventh. Sales/Player Numbers was the most
touched on subject at 15.5%, Fifa’s placement within sales charts from around
the world remains unsurprising. Guide/Walkthrough was up next with 14%,
articles helped players with their skills and Ultimate Team strategies. The
third most talked about topic was In Game Elements at 13.2% with outlets
covering everything from Team of The Week to save migration and Volta
incentives.
Borderlands 3 makes an unexpected return to the Top Ten
after a 175% increase in activity week on week, the third outing of the
original looter shooter made it in to eighth. Borderlands also benefited from
being listed as a title on next gen titles and the Launch Details topic made up
a 45% chunk of its PR. DLC/Content Update was up next with 23% after news of a
new season of content for the title was announced. The announcement of the new
content led the topic of the same name to a 14.2% share of the game’s overall
coverage.
No stranger to the Top Ten, League of Legends made its way to
ninth position in week 42. Characters was the most talked about topic at 14.2%
with the news surrounding new hero Seraphine piling up. eSports is a topic
which is always well represented when it comes to LoL news and in week 42 it
made up 12.6% of the game’s coverage. Launch Details made up a 7.9% chunk of
the League press; articles spoke about a range of subjects including merch,
competitions and pc hardware.
Watch Dogs: Legion only lost out on 8% of activity week on week, but it was enough to make it drop in to tenth. The In Game Elements topic was discussed at length following a bounty of information let loose by Ubisoft, content of this nature made up 34.2% of Legions overall coverage. Much like a handful of the title in the Top Ten, Watch Dogs: Legion featured multiple times in articles about software available on the next gen hardware; the Launch Details topic was a 15% chunk of the game’s PR. Part of the information released by Ubisoft included the specifications required to run the game on PC, this led the Technical Specs topic to 13.5% share of the coverage.
