Going back to the monthly check on media mentions of video games, let’s have a look at both August (I neglected last time to check on specifically the impact of gamescom) and September. You can find more about the monitoring tool in the previous blog post.
August 2014
August is a bit of paradox. For one half of the month, you have a number people going on holidays and part of the news output slows down. On the other, gamescom is the source for many announcements and previews that make for a slower first half of the month.
Platforms
Both Playstation and Xbox had very strong showings in the media throughout the month and unsurprisingly, Nintendo’s lack of a dedicated announcement platform meant there was no specific media attention compared to the previous month.
To be noted though, a surprising drop for Oculus (1,849 articles against 2,364 in July).
Games
Contrary to what we are used to (ie: Watch Dogs’ performance earlier in the year), not a single title really pulled ahead – probably a double effect from the lack of AAA release that month and the attention that the gamescom and PAX are driving to multiple high profile titles.
September 2014
September had the Tokyo Game Show, SCEJA (Sony press conference), plus an Apple reveal event and the very first Oculus Connect.
Platforms
Unsurprisingly, the dedicated events (Sony, Apple, Oculus) all helped generate further presence in the media. The Nintendo DS performance is directly related to the excellent media coverage Super Smash Bros received (see below).
Games
Predictably, Destiny was clearly the September blockbuster – head and shoulders above any game in terms of media presence. It is quite impressive to see the media coverage that Minecraft has received – while not always apparent on the charts we provide, Minecraft is interesting in the sense that it is always receiving a fairly large media presence. With the Microsoft acquisition of Mojang this month though, it received a remarkable increase in coverage, which is to be expected. We measured close to 1,000 outlets mentioning Minecraft on the 15th of September alone. For context, Facebook acquiring Oculus VR had about 1,400 articles on the day it was announced.
Worth mentioning too is Grand Theft Auto V, one year after its release and still ranking as one of the most mentioned games in the media. That’s mostly thanks to the new-gen trailer and release date announcement (20% of the monthly coverage on that day).