Video games have been a staple of the American way of life ever since Atari burst into living rooms in the late 1970s. They’ve been so ingrained in our culture over the years that it’s hard to pinpoint the pinnacle of their game. popularity. Was Nintendo’s dominance in the mid-’80s the zenith of video game popularity? Was it the real rise of Sony in the late 90’s and early 2000’s?
In 2022, with more options than ever, gaming may be more popular than ever. Gamers are enjoying a moment in time when gaming can truly be at its peak.
Sure, one can use countless metrics to find out what the most popular video games are today, and one group has taken it upon themselves to identify the most popular games, by state!
To create this revealing list, the gaming experts at Minesweeper took data from the 25 most popular video games according to HowLongToBeat. They then compared those games to Google trending search data from the first six months of 2022.
This gave them the most wanted game in each state. The findings are interesting. Some popular legacy franchises appear multiple times. There are also some surprising omissions.
Although it was released nearly a decade ago in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V appears on this list 15 times, showing off its staying power and lasting impact on gamers’ minds. After all, it is known to be one of the best video games of recent times, if not the best. In addition, GTA V was the most popular game in more than a dozen states, especially in the southern and midwestern regions of the country.
Grand Theft Auto turned heads in 2013 when its initial three-day sales hit $1 billion. The fact that gamers are still searching for information about it at such a high volume today is an equally impressive feat.
More recent games to appear in the top positions in other states include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Elden Ring, both of which released in the first half of 2022.
“It’s no surprise that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Elden Ring were the most popular video games in multiple states, as they were only released this year,” a Minesweeper representative commented. “Grand Theft Auto V, however, has almost been played for the past ten years by gamers; it’s clear that the game’s immersive story, fun characters, and gameplay still resonate with a large number of American gamers.”
Doom, originally released in 1993, is listed as the most searched game in three states. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, as dozens of iterations of the original Doom game have been released over the years, most recently in 2022 with Doom Eternal.
The complete list of the most wanted video games in each state:
The most popular video games, by state
Connecticut – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Shredder’s Revenge
Delaware – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Shredder’s Revenge
Massachusetts – Horizon Zero Dawn
Minnesota – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition
Mississippi – Grand Theft Auto V
Montana – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
New Hampshire – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Shredder’s Revenge
New Jersey – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
North Carolina – Grand Theft Auto V
Pennsylvania – Grand Theft Auto V
South Dakota – Final Fantasy VII
Utah – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Virginia – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition
West Virginia – Red Dead Redemption 2
Interestingly, there are notable omissions in these finds. Almost all of the top 10 video games that have the largest active concurrent player base, such as Fortnite, League of Legends, and Minecraft, were absent from this list.
(An obvious reason for this could be that these players were simply too busy playing these games instead of looking for information on them!)
GAME ON: Video Games Taking Place in Wyoming
GAME ON: Video Games That Take Place in Wyoming
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