People sure love watching other people die in Dark Souls III.
YouTube revealed which games were most popular in April for the online video site. YouTube bases the data off which titles people make and watch the most videos about. These days, people love to see others play games almost as much (or maybe even more) than playing themselves. Dark Souls III topped the list, which isn’t a huge surprise since it was arguably the month’s biggest release (and it has been receiving great reviews). However, four games on the list aren’t even out yet. You can check the full rankings out below.
Gears of War 4, Doom, Overwatch, and Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst were all only playable in beta tests during April. While betas are supposed to exist to help developers balance games and find bugs before release, this shows how they’ve also become effective marketing tools. Even if everyone isn’t playing the beta, they’re still watching those that are via sites like YouTube and Twitch.
Sims 2’s appearance on the list shows the power a single personality can have on YouTube. That game came out in 2004 and has had a couple of sequels, but it appeared on April’s list largely because a popular YouTube personality, The Diamond Minecart, made videos featuring it.
However, new releases — Dark Souls III, Quantum Break, Enter the Gungeon, MLB The Show 16, and Ratchet & Clank — still topped the list. Along with the usual entertainment factor, a lot of people will watch videos of new games to help determine their own purchases.