There are countless video game franchises available to play across consoles, PC, handhelds, mobile devices, virtual reality headsets, and more. However, there are some video game franchises that stand above the rest as some of the most popular in the industry. A new study has analyzed Google Trends data to figure out the most popular video game franchises in each state.
The study was conducted by Yahtzee Craze and looked at the top trending franchises by each state. The study found that Star Wars was the top searched video game franchises in seven states, with fans looking up things about games like Star Wars Jedi and LEGO Star Wars. Super Mario took away second place by being the most-searched game in five states, whereas Pokemon and Spider-Man tied for third place.
Other big gaming franchises featured on the list include Call of Duty and Resident Evil, which both took the top crown in three states each. Various other video game franchises appear on the list as well, with Madden NFL and Warhammer 40,000 being the most-searched in two states, and the rest all taking home one state each.
Most Popular Video Game Franchises by State
- Alabama - Mario Bros.
- Alaska - Pokemon
- Arizona - Red Dead
- Arkansas - Warhammer 40,000
- California - The Last of Us
- Colorado - Star Wars Jedi
- Connecticut - Spider-Man
- Delaware - Mario Series
- Florida - Assassin's Creed
- Georgia - The Last of Us
- Hawaii - Pokemon
- Idaho - Halo
- Illinois - Spider-Man
- Indiana - LEGO
- Iowa - Madden NFL
- Kansas - FIFA
- Kentucky - Among Us
- Louisiana - Resident Evil
- Maine - Halo
- Maryland - The Elder Scrolls
- Massachusetts - LEGO Star Wars
- Michigan - FIFA
- Minnesota - New World
- Mississippi - GTA
- Missouri - N/A
- Montana - Pokemon
- Nebraska - Star Wars
- Nevada - Super Mario Bros.
- New Hampshire - Star Wars
- New Jersey - Sonic the Hedgehog
- New Mexico - Star Wars
- New York - Call of Duty
- North Carolina - Uncharted
- North Dakota - Star Wars
- Ohio - Battlefield
- Oklahoma - Resident Evil
- Oregon - Spider-Man
- Pennsylvania - Spider-Man
- Rhode Island - Pokemon
- South Carolina - Call of Duty
- South Dakota - Warhammer 40,000
- Tennessee - The Witcher
- Texas - Mario Bros.
- Utah - Far Cry
- Vermont - Madden NFL
- Virginia - Batman: Arkham
- Washington - Resident Evil
- West Virginia - Star Wars
- Wisconsin - Call of Duty
- Wyoming - Super Mario Bros.
While Google Trends can give a decent indication of what fans are interested in, one could argue that it would make more sense to look at sales data. One could also point out that it's not necessarily fair to compare franchises like Star Wars and Spider-Man to other video games. After all, Star Wars is primarily a film franchise while Spider-Man is a comic book franchise. It would be interesting to see what the results would have been had they been removed, and the study focused exclusively on pure video game franchises.
Otherwise, there aren't many surprises in the list. Call of Duty, Pokemon, Resident Evil, and Super Mario are some of the longest-running and most popular video game franchises of all time, so it makes sense that they would appear frequently on a list like this.
Source: Yahtzee Craze