If it wasn't already popular enough, gaming has exploded in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has led to numerous lockdowns and, therefore, lots of downtime. And while gamers have a general idea of which games are most popular in the industry (often being free-to-play), Compare the Market ran a study to see exactly which game became most popular over the course of lockdown.
That game (or gaming online platform) would be Roblox, which dominated in internet searches across more than half the globe.
Compare The Market came to this result by comparing the number of Google searches for games by country. In Europe, for instance, Roblox had the highest number of Google searches in more than 20 countries. Other titles by number of Google searches include Fortnite, Minecraft, Valorant, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
North America and South America were nearly unanimous in their predominant Google searches for Roblox. Meanwhile, the people in the Middle East mostly searched for PUBG and Minecraft was a popular Google search in Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China.
Epic Games' Fortnite was Africa's most popular Google search while Roblox dominated the Australian continent in terms of internet searches.
Of course, just because the now nearly 14-year-old game was the most searched-for game during lockdown, this doesn't necessarily mean that it was the most played game during lockdown. Considering consistently popular titles like Apex Legends and Fortnite, as well as 2020 releases like Call of Duty: Warzone and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it's more than likely that, even if Roblox was entered into the search bar on Google the most, it wasn't necessarily used the most.
Plus, Roblox is also a digital platform that encompasses a number of user-created games. So, if one were to disqualify Roblox by this measure, Fortnite and Minecraft would be the next two most searched-for games on Google, with PUBG and Call of Duty: Warzone dominating in some areas as well.
This would make sense, since Roblox and Minecraft of gaming's most popular titles. Fortnite is now weeks into Season 3, featuring Aqua Man content, and Minecraft continues to march on, with Minecraft Dungeons getting its first Jungle Awakens DLC.
Source: Compare the Market