Friday, February 23, 2024
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The Most Passionate Gaming Fanbases

Jones
  • Final Fantasy XIV has the most invested players of any game fanbases following analysis from Uswitch based on popular video game subreddits
  • Three of the top five most passionate fanbases are MMORPGs
  • The Fallout franchise receives the most criticism from fans
  • Nick Baker Uswitch broadband expert, gives tips on upgrading your online gaming experience

The UK’s gaming industry is an exponentially growing market, worth £2.688 billion as of 2022. But as more and more fans immerse themselves in the gaming world, and their favourite franchises, some games are bound to have more impassioned fanbases than others.

Fanbases

To discover which game series has the most passionate fans out there, Uswitch broadband analysed the most popular video game subreddits for positive and negative sentiments and assigned them a ‘passion score’.

Gaming Franchises With The Most Passionate Fans

Rank Game Positive Comments Negative Comments Passion score (/100)
1 Final Fantasy XIV 45.5% 18.1% 63.6
2 The Sims 43.3% 19.3% 62.6
3 Elder Scrolls Online 46.7% 15.6% 62.3
4 Mass Effect 43.0% 18.5% 61.5
5 World of Warcraft 43.4% 17.8% 61.2
6 Hearthstone 40.2% 19.5% 59.7
7 Dark Souls 42.6% 17.0% 59.6
8 Halo 38.9% 20.5% 59.4
9 Fallout 38.1% 20.9% 59.0
10 Animal Crossing 42.9% 15.6% 58.5

Research found that Final Fantasy XIV has the most passionate fans out of any of the game fanbases that were analysed. 2013’s entry into the Final Fantasy franchise received the second highest frequency of positive comments from players (45.5%), behind Elder Scrolls Online (46.7%). FFXIV’s fiery following is also represented in its sales: at 24 million copies sold, the MMORPG is far and away the best selling game in the series.

Fans of The Sims are the second most passionate gamers out there, with a score of 62.6/100. However, they are more likely to be critical than FFXIV fans, with 19.3% of comments made being negative. That’s 1.6 percentage points less than Fallout’s negative sentiment from fans (20.9%), the most of any game analysed.

Elder Scrolls Online – one of three MMORPGs in the top five – places third, with a score of 62.3/100. ESO receives more praise from its players than any other game analysed, with 46.7% of language used by fans being positive. That’s 8.6% more than the least praised series in the top 10, Fallout (38.1%). In fifth, World of Warcraft earns a score of 61.2/100, made up of language that is 43.4% positive and 17.8% negative[.

Nick Baker, expert at Uswitch broadband, comments on the best ways to get the most out of your online gaming experience:

“When you’re investing time in your favourite game, a poor internet connection can bring the experience to a halt and ruin your immersion. However, there are steps you can take to keep your online gaming lag-free:

  • Check your broadband speed: Technically, a minimum speed of 3mbps is all you need to play online. However, that figure doesn’t take into account others using the same internet connection, and that some games require large downloads. With this in mind, a download speed of 50mbps – 100mbps is more appropriate for gamers.
  • Switch to a wired connection: Currently, a wired connection is the best way to get the fastest speeds in the UK. While a wireless connection can allow for a cleaner set-up, a wired connection can better ensure that your online play runs smoothly.
  • Check your ping: Your ping is essentially the reaction time of your broadband. Usually measured in milliseconds, ping is the time it takes for your device to communicate your in-game actions to the server. Most online games will have a way to check your ping in settings, but you can also see your ping on most internet speed testing websites. If you have a ping over 150ms, it may be worth talking to your provider to see if there are alternative plans to help reduce this.”