What’s even harder to predict is when something will go viral for a second time. And while that’s rare, it’s even rarer for a second viral moment to turn into long-term popularity. Which brings us to the map-based browser game GeoGuessr.

What in the world is GeoGuessr?

Before we get to GeoGuessr’s resurgence, we need to explain what it is. It’s a simple concept. You are plonked down in a random place on Google Street View and then have to work out where you are. You put a pin on a map, enter your guess, and see how close you got. The closer you are, the more points you get.

There’s options to customize your game too. You can set time limits for each round, and you can also turn off moving, panning, and zooming to really give yourself a challenge. There’s other game modes too, and the ability to challenge your friends. Based entirely in your browser, it’s accessible and easy to get to grips with.

GeoGuessr was launched in May 2013 by the Swedish IT consultant Anton Wallén. It saw a very successful launch, going viral instantly as people competed to beat each other’s scores and show off their geography knowledge.

That initial interest quickly died off, but it didn’t disappear entirely. The number of people discussing the game online remained fairly steady over the years, cementing itself as a niche online game you might occasionally spend a half hour on when someone sent it your way.

That was until 2020 anyway. As the pandemic began, interest in GeoGuessr mildly increased with a modest spike in June last year. Things seemed to steady here until November when mentions shot up, and then shot up again each month after until peaking in March 2021.

While the discussion has dropped off since, it still remains far above its pre-pandemic levels. The number of people talking about GeoGuesser in November of this year was 695% higher than the same month in 2019.

Fewer people, bigger names

But the number of people discussing the game hides just how big a comeback it was for GeoGuessr. Let’s look at the same time period, but switch to the reach of GeoGuessr mentions. This is based on our own reach calculation which estimates how many people see the mentions (you can read more on how this works here).

Despite having fewer people speak about the game in March 2021 compared to May 2013, reach was 289% higher. How does that work?

The explanation lies with Reddit, YouTube, and Twitch. As interest in the game grew during the pandemic, eventually it was picked up by streamers who would play the game to their audience.

One of the early popular examples of this was in the r/TheGamerLounge subreddit where the user Gwavity would stream the game, racking up tens of thousands of views. Eventually it was picked up by bigger names, like Dlive, Fresnorock, and Giant Bomb.

By March 2021, some of the biggest streamers in the world were now playing. Tyler Oakley added the game to his rotation, while Ludwig started making videos with GeoWizard, a creator dedicated to geography and GeoGuessr videos.

The game now has its own category on Twitch boasting 244k followers, while GeoWizard has 1m YouTube subscribers and racks up hundreds of thousands of views on his videos to this day.

GeoGuessr turned eight this year, so why has it become popular again now?

Getting out and about

We think there are two main reasons. The first is that when lockdowns forced us to socialise virtually, we looked for games to play with each other, a topic we covered in a previous bulletin. GeoGuessr was another game that we found ourselves playing at the time.

With the game refreshed in people’s minds, it also tapped into another aspect of the pandemic. While staying indoors many of us dreamed of travelling, and did so virtually instead. From watching videos of people hiking to exploring city streets, a lot of people had homebound wanderlust.

GeoGuessr taps into this perfectly, transporting you to anywhere in the world and letting you discover places you may never have come across otherwise. Combined with a gaming element, it is no surprise GeoGuessr has taken off during the pandemic.

It looks like it’s here to stay too, and will survive its more viral moments. Why not take a break and give it a go now. Who knows where you’ll end up. Happy travels.

What should we cover next?

Is there a topic, trend, or industry you’d like us to feature in the Brandwatch Bulletin? We want to hear your ideas to make sure our readers are getting what they want. We may even ask to interview you if you’re involved with the topic.

Send any and all ideas to [email protected] and let’s talk.

Thanks for reading

That’s it for today, but we’ll be back next Friday. If you were forwarded this email and want in on the action, get subscribed to the Brandwatch Bulletin here.

Stay safe,

The Brandwatch React team