I’ve already checked my calendar and it’s definitely not April 1st, however it seems as though Roblox (yes ROBLOX!) has been crowned the “most popular game in the world right now” according to data from Compare The Market.
As spotted by TheGamer, Compare The Market has just published a study which reveals the most popular games in different parts of the world since the beginning of the global lockdown. This is based on Google search figures, so it doesn’t take into account the actual number of players online. Still, it’s a pretty insightful snapshot into the world of gaming.
Explaining their methods, CtM writes: “We used Google Trends, which gives a normalised search interest score over a given period. We took an average of the search interest from January until 23 March 2020 (the date the UK entered lockdown) and then an average from this date until the present day, 5 June 2020, and calculated the increase between the two.”
The research shows that more than half the globe have been searching for Roblox during the dates above, with Minecraft coming in pretty closely behind.
In Europe, Roblox had the highest number of Google searches in over 20 countries, while both North and South America showed an overwhelmingly huge number of Roblox searchers.
As for the games which have seen the highest boost in popularity since lockdown, it’s iRacing, Terraria and NBA 2K20 which take the crown.
CtM writes: “Top of the list is a game which might not be a household name but has seen a huge increase in players over the last couple of months. iRacing is a racing simulation game which has been around for over a decade but has seen its popularity really take off since lockdown, with real-life drivers from Formula 1 and NASCAR using it to stage virtual championships. The game has had over 60,000 new subscriptions in the last two months, which is the most it’s had in a year since it launched.”
Check out the full list here. Have you been playing any of these games?
Featured Image Credit: Roblox Corporation