Overwatch, Minecraft, and Fire Emblem Dominated Tumblr's 2019

Around this time every single year for many years now, Tumblr takes stock of the various fandoms [...]

Around this time every single year for many years now, Tumblr takes stock of the various fandoms on the social media platform to see what's popular, how that popularity has changed from the previous year, and what new things have made the cut. That includes, but is not limited to, gaming, and while there are a couple more granular categories (characters, mobile games, Pokemon) the overall "Top Video Games" makes for an interesting temperature check, and as it turns out, there's one big surprise and two obvious titles right at the top.

The fairly obvious wins on this year's list include Overwatch, the hero shooter from Blizzard Entertainment, and Nintendo's Fire Emblem: Three Houses at #1 and #3, respectively. Both games are heavily invested in characters and design, both of which seem to really play to Tumblr fandom's strengths.

"One thing that Tumblr loves is lore and lots of stuff to dive into, so that's one thing that people are really into when it comes to Overwatch," Amanda Brennan, head of content insights and social at Tumblr, says. "I've seen people role-play, make fan art, fan fiction. There's tons of shipping in the Overwatch fandom. People just love to explore absolutely every bit and piece of these characters, and just really get into the game even if they're not necessarily playing the game. They like the story of it, they like these histories of the characters, and every piece of their personalities."

The big surprise here is Minecraft at #2. According to Tumblr, the game jumped 27 positions from 2018, making the largest positive shift for any game on the list. (Cuphead dropped 29 positions, making it the largest overall move to still be accounted for in the top 50.)

"It pretty much felt like a Mineblr Renaissance almost, with #Mineblr being the tag that the community on Tumblr specifically uses," Brennan says. "It's been a huge year of people just really getting back into the game. Maybe they found new mods or different communities to jump into. And one of my favorite things about the Minecraft community is not only does it have like people playing the game again, but people who are really interested in the aesthetic of it."

Here are 2019's top video games on Tumblr, according to the official year-in-review accounting:

  1. Overwatch
  2. Minecraft
  3. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
  4. Undertale
  5. Pokémon Sword and Shield
  6. The Sims 4
  7. Persona 5
  8. Deltarune
  9. Danganronpa
  10. Sally Face
  11. Devil May Cry 5
  12. Red Dead Redemption 2
  13. Hollow Knight
  14. Splatoon
  15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  16. Final Fantasy XIV
  17. Stardew Valley
  18. Borderlands 3
  19. Kingdom Hearts III
  20. Dead By Daylight
  21. League of Legends
  22. Detroit: Become Human
  23. Apex Legends
  24. Flight Rising
  25. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  26. Ace Attorney
  27. The Walking Dead Game
  28. Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate
  29. Five Nights at Freddy's
  30. Untitled Goose Game
  31. Team Fortress 2
  32. World of Warcraft
  33. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
  34. Destiny 2
  35. Bendy and the Ink Machine
  36. Hiveswap
  37. Cyberpunk 2077
  38. Final Fantasy XV
  39. Warframe
  40. Dragon Age Inquisition
  41. Fortnite
  42. Cuphead
  43. Smile For Me
  44. Far Cry 5
  45. Monster Prom
  46. Bayonetta
  47. Bloodborne
  48. Fallout 4
  49. Life is Strange
  50. A Hat in Time

What do you think of this list? Anything surprising stand out to you? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

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