In France, what are the most popular games? One PC game dominates all others
Game News In France, what are the most popular games? One PC game dominates all others
In France, what is the most searched game on the Google search engine? Let’s go back every year.
As you probably know, Google is such an effective search engine today that it has become a good indicator of current social trends. In the case of video games, a recently published study offers us a good overview of the most sought-after productions in the world. The results won’t really bring any big surprises, the usual behemoths naturally emerge as big winners from the video made by YouTuber Sundellviz who breaks down his work by country. It should be noted that the work is based on data collected by the Google Trends platform since 2004.
In France specifically, what’s the trend? Counter-Strike, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto succeeded each other unsurprisingly on the podium in 2004 while the following year, the top spot is monopolized by World of Warcraft although many other countries also open FIFA, Call of Duty, or even Football Manager. Locally, not so, the Blizzard production remains the king of our PCs. WoW maintains its most sought-after game title until 2011, when it will finally be dethroned by a new kid that appeals more to Western Europe: Minecraft, which remains in first position while most of Europe is gradually catching up. of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim colors at release. In 2012, the game from the Mojang studio finally took over the entire continent before disappearing the following year with the arrival of Grand Theft Auto. France will then juggle between the two giants until 2015 when it will give short shrift to FIFA and Fallout. 2016 will belong to Pokémon GO, a global phenomenon that will impose itself on France until the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild., less popular in other countries. The year 2017 will be more heterogeneous, the country is juggling between Pokémon, Minecraft, FIFA, GTA and Call of Duty.
The most searched games on Google in July 2016 (left) and April 2018 (right)
December 2022, a month marked by Fortnite, World of Warcraft and Roblox
Who owns 2022?
Then you can imagine it, Fortnite took over the country in 2018 without saying goodbye once a year while Minecraft imposed a little on our neighbors again. A first place is almost always maintained and only given on rare occasions for Pokémon and FIFA. Then comes the year 2022, first occupied by the surprise of the MMO Lost Ark to be quickly swept away by the Elden Ring, two trends more in line with Western Europe. And then finally get Fortnite to end the year. Epic’s free-to-play seems to have maintained its popularity over the years. Note, however, that the game has made news recently for the wrong reasons. Canadian justice will indeed look into a class action accusing Epic Games of “create an addiction“similar”in that heroin or cocaine can do“, as indicated by a document from the Superior Court of Montreal dated December 7.”The court concluded that there is a serious question in dispute (…) about the existence of risks and dangers arising from the use of Fortnite”can we read in particular.
In practice: mobile first
If Google is certainly one of the most reliable indicators in terms of the popularity of a product, remember that the annual review of the video game industry in France published by SELL remains the most frequent indicator in our local practice. The latest report began in November 2022 and reported that 7 out of 10 French people play video games at least occasionally. And despite research published this year, it’s actually casual and mobile games that dominate training by at least 36% (see screenshot on the left). We see in the second position the car racing which rises to 24% after the platform games also to 24%. Parallel and more anecdotally in terms of social skills, the document also tells us that 50% of gamers like online gaming and 31% say that video games have helped them make friends.
