September 7th, 2022, Kineree Shah
The rankings feature on YouGov BrandIndex allows us to examine the brands that have generated the most significant improvements in specific metrics over a period of time. In this piece, which we aim to run as a periodical series, we look at the video gaming franchises that have registered the biggest month-over-month improvements in their Buzz scores among gamers in the US and Great Britain, respectively.
A video game’s Buzz score is a net measure based on responses to two questions: “Over the past two weeks, which of the following video games have you heard something positive about?” and “Now which of the following video games have you heard something negative about?”. We create our Buzz metric by calculating the difference between these two scores.
In the US, Plants vs. Zombies witnessed the biggest spike in Buzz scores, rising 2.1 points to 8.1. The rise could be attributed to recent news of the Plant vs. Zombies 3 game which is currently being tested in selected territories.
Clash Royale follows as a close second, rising from 2.6 to 7.4. The improvements in its Buzz score might have to do with the news of a celebration event in Clash Royale and Clash of Clans titled Clash Fest, featuring seven themed in-game challenges.
Madden NFL rounds out the top three among US gamers with a 3.6-point improvement in Buzz score. The game saw a new edition launched in August.
In Britain, Grand Theft Auto claims the top spot with a 6.4-point increase. Its maker Rockstar Games, recently published a thank you message on its website crediting everyone involved in its GTA 5 project. The credits are typically played at the end of something – and have set afoot speculation that a GTA 6 announcement is in the works.
At number two, we have FIFA which saw a rise of 5.4 points. FIFA 23 is releasing later this month and will feature playable women’s domestic leagues for the first time. Bringing up the rear at number three is Super Mario, which announced an invitation-only Splatoon 3 Enter the Splatlands and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Championship Cup 2022. It saw an increase of 4.0 points.
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Methodology
YouGov BrandIndex collects data on major video gaming franchises. Buzz score is based on the questions: “Over the past two weeks, which of the following video games have you heard something positive about?” and “Now which of the following video games have you heard something negative about?” and delivered as a net score between –100 and +100. Scores reported represent the change between the 30-day daily average between June 4 – July 5, 2022 and August 4 – September 5, 2022. Scores are based on an average daily sample size of 272 gamers in Great Britain and 342-357 in the US. Daily figures are based on a four-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.