React: Pokémon is the Best Game on the Internet, Apparently

The React TL;DR: Pokémon generates million of web mentions a month, but that doesn’t mean it wins on social media.

Sports fans are one of the most vocal and vicious groups on Twitter. Last month we revealed the millions of abusive Tweets sent to, and about, football players and teams. There’s something about the competitive, tribal nature of the sport that appears to bring out the worst in people.

Tribalism is also rife the gaming community – perhaps moreso. There’s a fight between platforms every generation, dating way back to the Sonic vs Mario days.

E3, the industry’s biggest trade show, is just one week away. There, the biggest game franchises return every year to appease rabid fans and risk-averse shareholders.

Activision will be showing off the newest installment of cultural phenomenon Call of Duty, while Ubisoft will returning with a London-based version of Assassin’s Creed.

We decided to take a look at the top selling game franchises of all time, and see how many mentions they got on social media, forums and news articles.

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Looking at which games are on top

The grand champion is Pokémon. With 15 top-tier releases over almost 20 years, it’s no surprise they have such a strong online fanbase.

Forums make up the majority of Pokémon’s conversation, with Serebii Forums and Pokémon community making up a large part of the total. Facebook, by comparison, barely factors makes a blip in the game’s online presence.

Call of Duty’s mentions on Facebook are 7x greater than Pokémon’s.

Looking to consoles, we the see the buzz online reflecting the current state of sales/customer preference.

Playstation 4 is scoring ahead with Xbox One just behind. Always in last place, the Wii U rarely breaks more than 100,000 mentions a day.

And how many online mentions consoles get every day…

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Want to know where to find more interactive social data stories? This week, we’ve:

• Analyzed the reaction to every announcement at #WWDC15
• Plotted the remarkable rise of @GiveBloodNHS’s #MissingType campaign.
• Discovered America’s favourite theme park. (Hint: It’s not Disneyland)
• Tweeted out hourly social insights at @BW_REACT.

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