From minor updates with major appeal to immersive theme parks, the video game industry gave fans numerous moments to celebrate in Q4 of 2020. Let’s explore the stories that inspired high velocity, positive conversations in our final installment of Positivity in Perspective: 2020.

October

Small features can generate considerable joy, and the popularity of the @CanYouPetTheDog account on Twitter is a prime example of this. Thus, we weren’t too surprised that people reacted rather positively to an update for Ghost of Tsushima that allowed people to pet the dog in the game.

Meanwhile, the appeal of IPs that transcend formats to enrich the narrative experience was prevalent in fan reactions to Daily Bugle Now stories, which generated significant positive conversations for Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

Blizzard Entertainment leveraged the appeal of thematic seasonal events, enjoying positive reactions for its Overwatch Halloween legendary skin and Darkmoon Faire bundles in Hearthstone. Other stories to elicit notable conversations were gameplay coverage of Scorn on XBox Series X and Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire.

November

With digital interactions providing the primary means of social connectivity for many in 2020, the desire for more immersive experiences was palpable in many conversations in November. Indeed, Nintendo’s declaration that the Super Nintendo World Theme Park would open in February of 2021 generated a high volume of extremely positive conversation, as people looked forward to experiencing the world of Mario in-person. (That opening date has subsequently been delayed.)

Within gameplay experiences specifically, the introduction of proximity chat to Among Us offered a much needed realism to in-game communication. For a game whose appeal and sudden success were due in no small part to its social components, this was a well-received addition, and conversations surrounding the update generated an overall reaction sentiment of 74.

Other stories in gaming to inspire notable positive conversations in November included a legendary edition of Mass Effect (smartly announced on November 7th for N7 Day), Neo: The World Ends with You, a BTS music pack in Beat Saber, and card reveals in Hearthstone.

March

A smart crossover promotion is the way to many hearts, and the promotion of Mandalorian themed Xbox controllers was a prime example of this, generating a rather impressive reaction score of 99. Meanwhile, the reveal that actors from previous Spider-Man movies would be involved in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 game was received rather warmly and drove a reaction sentiment of 85.

In mid December, Overwatch provided yet another example that audiences enjoy seasonal events, as their 2020 Winter Wonderland event inspired a notable amount of positive conversation.

Other stories in gaming that brought joy and inspired conversations in December included Persona 5 Strikers, a photo mode trailer for Cyberpunk 2077, and a trailer for Genshin Impact.

About the Series

This is the final installment of our Positivity in Perspective series, which sought to celebrate the moments in gaming that captivated our attention and inspired positive conversations in 2020.

Methodology

Spiketrap’s platform uses NLP AI to automatically identify and analyze naturally occurring conversations in real-time. The conversations referenced in this article reflect the largest and most positive stories monitored by Spiketrap across over 1100 sources. For each month, conversations were first ranked by their total engagement volume. From the top 20 conversations, the conversations that yielded the highest sentiment scores were included.