David Sandler
Now that The Game Awards 2023’s winners have been officially announced, we can say for sure— from record-breaking releases to groundbreaking technologies, 2023 will undoubtedly go down in history as a blockbuster year for video games. This inspired us to compare the popularity of the top 2023 video games across 40 countries over the past 12 months, analysing Google Trends data within the Computer & Video Games category.
With thousands of new titles released every year, the gaming industry has evolved from a mere way of entertainment into a cultural phenomenon, pushing boundaries, fostering communities and captivating millions worldwide. In 2023, the global gaming market is projected to reach a revenue of US$249.60bn. In comparison, the global film industry is estimated to reach a revenue of US$152.17bn, while the global music industry is set to surpass US$65bn in the same year.
Eager to discover the most played and searched-for video games in 2023, the team at BonusInsider embarked on a thrilling quest through the latest trends and news in the gaming universe. We analysed the search volumes for a total of 15 video games, all released in 2023, within the Computer & Video Games category from December 7, 2022, to December 7, 2023, on Google Trends and identified the most popular titles in 40 countries, visualising our findings with a world map.
Grab your controller and let’s dive into the most recent breakthroughs that are reshaping the gaming world!
These are the most popular video games of 2023 around the world:
The Most Popular Games of 2023
In 2022, The Game Awards crowned Elden Ring developed by FromSoftware as Game of the Year. Elden Ring was the winner in multiple other categories such as Best Game Direction and Best Role Playing Game, selling over 20 million copies in a year.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
This year, the winner in the Best Action/Adventure Game category— The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, has been the most popular video game on Google over the past 12 months. It is a long-awaited epic adventure follow-up to Breath of the Wild (2017), developed and published by Nintendo in 2023. With its unfathomable open world and focus on exploration, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the most searched title in 17 out of all 40 countries we examined and one of the fastest-selling games on the Nintendo Switch, having sold over 10 million units in its first three days of release and more than 19.5 million by September 2023. It is the top game in countries from Central and North America, including Canada (52%), The United States (51%) and Mexico (51%). It is extremely popular in Europe as well, being the most searched title in France (72%), Spain (55%), Austria (55%), Germany (49%) and the UK (35%). The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has also been the most popular with audiences in The Dominican Republic (62%), Australia (48%), and New Zealand (48%).
Resident Evil 4
Another release, one of The Game Awards 2023’s nominees for Game of the Year and the top title in 9 out of all countries we looked at on Google is Resident Evil 4— a 2023 remake of the legendary 2005 game of the same name. The survival horror installment, developed and published by Capcom, is one of the best-selling Resident Evil titles, having sold four million copies in its first two weeks of release and more than five million by July 2023. From smoother controls and improved graphics to a completely remastered plot that might surprise even die-hard fans of the original game, every aspect has been brought fully up-to-date for the current generation, becoming a total must-play experience. Resident Evil 4 is the most searched-for video game in countries from South America and Asia— Iran (83%), Argentina (65%), India (66%), Brazil (63%) and Thailand (57%), to name a few.
EA Sports FC 24
EA Sports FC 24 is yet another extremely popular game on Google this year (in 9 out of all 40 countries) that brings its fans closer to football than ever before. It is the 31st overall installment of EA’s football simulation series, launching worldwide on 29 September 2023 for multiple platforms. In the two weeks following its release, it reached 11.3 million players and topped the UK’s video game sales charts for physical copies. On Google, audiences in countries from Africa, including Zimbabwe (89%), Nigeria (71%), Egypt (52%) and South Africa (45%) have been enjoying EA Sports FC 24 more than any other 2023 game we looked at. It is the most searched title in Haiti (75%), Albania (62%), Jamaica (50%) and Romania (37%) as well.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Here comes Baldur’s Gate 3— not only a widely searched release on Google but also the winner of The Game Awards 2023’s Game of the Year! With its alluring gameplay, captivating narrative and breathtaking production quality, Baldur’s Gate 3 surpassed the Larian studio’s expectations by selling 2.5 million copies on PC through Steam Early Access. In addition to Game of the Year, Baldur’s Gate 3 took home prizes for Best Performance, Best Community Support, Best Multiplayer, Best RPG, and Players’ Voice. Surprisingly, right after the show, Larian Studios launched the game on Xbox. According to the data we collected on Google, it is the top-searched title in Taiwan (66%), China (44%) and Belarus (39%) over the past year.
Diablo IV
All hell breaks loose in our last but not least top popular 2023 video game— Diablo IV. The fourth installment of the Diablo series is an online-only release developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Whether you’re playing alone or with other adventurers, the game is impossible to put down as you slaughter demons, explore dungeons and master new abilities. Diablo IV generated $666 million in revenue within the first five days after launch and reached 12 million players by August 2023, becoming the fastest-selling game in Blizzard Entertainment’s history. According to the data we gathered, Diablo IV’s top fans are from South Korea with roughly 63% out of searches for the top 5 games we looked at on Google.
Other 2023 game releases
Alan Wake 2, Street Fighter 6, Dead Island 2 and Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon are just a few among other 2023 big titles that unfortunately didn’t top any of the countries subjected to our research.
The Hottest Video Games of 2023
While exploring the vast land of Hyrule, or maybe on your way to Hell and back— a gripping question grabbed our attention: Are the most searched 2023 video games on Google also topping the overall charts this year? To answer this question we checked both Metacritic and OpenCritic’s 2023 ranking lists and compared their score. Here is what we found!
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is splitting the first place with Baldur’s Gate 3 on both websites. They have the highest ranking score of 96 points, thus becoming the best 2023 video games on these lists;
- Resident Evil 4 takes the 5th place on OpenCritic with a 92 score overall, while on Metacritic it is in 7th position having a score of 93 points;
- EA Sports FC 24 is surprisingly way behind on both websites’ rankings, with 74 and 78 average scores on OpenCritic and Metacritic, respectively;
- Diablo IV comes 12th on Metacritic with Metascore of 91 points, while on OpenCritic it is further back in the rankings, coming at 30th position with an 88 average score.
Methodology
This report is based on Google search analysis. Google Trends has become a popular data source among researchers in a wide variety of fields. It allows us to track what people across different regions are searching for, over a certain period. We used Google Trends data to determine what the majority of people around the world were searching for within the Computer & Video Games category over the past 12 months (December 7, 2022—December 7, 2023). After identifying the most popular 2023 video game titles on Google, some of which scored 90 or higher on Metacritic and OpenCritic, we compared their relative search volume in a selection of 40 worldwide countries and then visualised our findings with a world map. Bear in mind that Google Trends provides relative data and doesn’t reveal the actual number of searches, which makes it more useful to observe trends and patterns rather than exact figures. Despite this limitation, Google Trends results are based on search volume and are therefore reliable. All data is correct at the time of writing.
