http://gearburn.com/2016/06/microsoft-xbox-won-e3/
Microsoft Xbox won E3 2016 according to social media numbers
By
Andy Walker: Gearburn Editor on 16 June, 2016
Microsoft Xbox’s conference received 29% of social mentions during
E3 2016, while
Sony‘s PlayStation soiree only mustered 13%. According to BrandWatch’s chart (above),
Electronic Arts and
Ubisoft both enjoyed more mentions than Sony. That’s quite a bitter pill to swallow for Sony fans convinced that PlayStation owned this year’s event.
It’s not surprising at all that
Project Scorpio — the company’s forthcoming 4K console — saw the tallest mention spike. The conference also saw a steep initial mention incline, thanks to its
Xbox One S announcement. These two announcements were likely bolstered by previous leaks.
Interestingly, Microsoft’s game announcements didn’t see many marked spikes, with the likes of
ReCore,
Dead Rising 4 and
Sea of Thieves seeing the biggest spikes. But the biggest spike of all went to
We Happy Few — a
once Kickstarter gamecoming to Xbox platforms.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the most popular game
Even though (subjectively)
Nintendo‘s conference was one of the dullest, the new
Zelda game —
Breath of the Wild — was the most talked about on social media. BrandWatch counted over 73 000 mentions for Nintendo in total, but remarkably Breath received just under 12 000 of those.
Other popular games were Electronic Arts’
Battlefield 1, Sony’s
God of War, and surprisingly in fourth,
Crash Bandicoot.
So, who actually won E3 2016?
Here’s the big question. Based on the numbers, it’s clear that Microsoft and Nintendo share the spoils, but it’s not that simple.
For one, people may argue that Sony’s announcement took place in the early hours in Europe (3am in South Africa), while Microsoft’s took place at a much more pleasant 6.30pm CET/SAST. This could’ve skewed mentions in Microsoft’s favour. Bethesda’s conference was also scheduled for 3am in South Africa and central Europe, which could explain its relative pale social numbers too.
Also, not too many companies announced new hardware (at least not live on stage), which allowed Microsoft’s console announcements to take the limelight.
Furthermore, social media mentions don’t always indicate positive sentiment, so one shouldn’t really read these numbers as wholly in favour of the company or game receiving the mentions. Humans are a lot more complicated than that.
So, what’s the verdict then? Well, numbers don’t lie, but its also important to be cognisant the content behind these numbers. So that brings us to this: we really want to hear from you. What company do you think won E3 2016? Vote in our poll below.
