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.
Videos by ComicBook.com
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:
- Overwatch
- Minecraft
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Undertale
- Pokรฉmon Sword and Shield
- The Sims 4
- Persona 5
- Deltarune
- Danganronpa
- Sally Face
- Devil May Cry 5
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Hollow Knight
- Splatoon
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Stardew Valley
- Borderlands 3
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Dead By Daylight
- League of Legends
- Detroit: Become Human
- Apex Legends
- Flight Rising
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Ace Attorney
- The Walking Dead Game
- Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Untitled Goose Game
- Team Fortress 2
- World of Warcraft
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf
- Destiny 2
- Bendy and the Ink Machine
- Hiveswap
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Final Fantasy XV
- Warframe
- Dragon Age Inquisition
- Fortnite
- Cuphead
- Smile For Me
- Far Cry 5
- Monster Prom
- Bayonetta
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Life is Strange
- 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!
