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2008 Nowhere to Be Found in Nielsen’s Most Played PC Games of 2008

Posted 01/05/09 at 05:00:49 PM |  by Nathan Grayson

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Research group The Nielsen Company recently released a list of 2008’s 10 most played PC games, but seeing as how you’re probably still scraping bolded numbers off your monitor after you last careened into our list sanctum, we nearly skipped it. However, as it turns out, Nielsen’s runway strut contained a pretty interesting anomaly, so we want you to look at it.

Top 10 PC Game Titles in the U.S.

  1. World of Warcraft (2004) / Blizzard Entertainment 671 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.723% AU*
  2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) / Infinity Ward 403 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.163% AU*
  3. Halo: Combat Evolved (2003) / Gearbox, Bungie 295 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.092% AU*
  4. The Sims (2000) / EA Maxis 213 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.09% AU*
  5. The Sims 2 (2004) / EA Maxis 291 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.086% AU*
  6. RuneScape (2001) / Jagex Ltd. 451 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.084% AU*
  7. Diablo II (2000) / Blizzard Entertainment 313 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.065% AU*
  8. Team Fortress 2 (2007) / Valve 371 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.063% AU*
  9. Counter-Strike (2000) / Valve 282 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.062% AU*
  10. Counter-Strike: Source (2004) / Valve 426 Avg Minutes Played Per Week / 0.061% AU*

*AU is the percent of PC Gamers playing title in the average minute.
Data from Jan - Oct 2008.

Notice anything? Yep. Not a single game on the list was released in 2008 – except for maybe WoW: WotLK, but even then, this is telling sign of where PC gaming now needs to park its tuckus. Bottom line: Subscriptions and microtransactions. You’re welcome, industry. Our bill’s in the mail.

COMMENTS:
8
TAGS: 
gaming, Software, news, world of warcraft, halo, team fortress 2, Nielsen, most played of 2008, Diablo II
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COMMENTS
avatarBottom line: Subscriptions and microtransactions?

Submitted by Righteous Fury on Tue, 2009-01-06 10:27

I don't think so. What it looks like to me is that 2008 was the year the game companies decided to take it easy as far as innovation and imagination are concerned. Also, since when did The Neilsen Company start getting it right? At 34 years of age, they have always been a consistant source of FAIL.

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avatarman...

Submitted by wowman on Tue, 2009-01-06 02:34

Is it really a wonder that World of Warcraft made it to #1? I mean seriously... with Blizzard first making the game "casual" and then turning it into more of an everquest style life-long-grind, it's no wonder people spend so much time playing it. Especially trying to get wow gold. You really have to spend every waking moment of your life to be the best in that game.. ugh...

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avatarWhen I want to know how many

Submitted by Jox on Mon, 2009-01-05 22:31

When I want to know how many families are watching new episodes of "I love Lucy", I'll consult the Nielson ratings.

-Jox

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avatarI call

Submitted by Digital-Storm on Mon, 2009-01-05 18:42

I call fake

 

 

87,922

91,782

 

Counter-Strike: Source

 

68,714

69,737

 

Counter-Strike

 

29,430

31,320

 

Football Manager 2009

 

21,520

29,110

 

Left 4 Dead

 

12,521

16,019

 

Team Fortress 2

 

9,523

9,717

 

Condition Zero

Clearly proves that more people play CS:S rather than CS

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avatarthe only thing this list

Submitted by arkweld on Mon, 2009-01-05 16:46

the only thing this list proves is that Neilsen households are behind the curve again and don't represent the most discerning user base.

Just like TV households.

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avatar???

Submitted by Gailim on Mon, 2009-01-05 16:19

halo 1? on the PC? I officially call BS

 

"Unfortunately, Nielsen did not specify the methodology behind this
year's results. In 2007, the firm based its list off an extremely small
pool of participants, a mere 1200 gamers, which could explain the
unexpected results. It is not known if this was changed for 2008."

 

umm... fail?

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avatarLOL, that was the first

Submitted by Velcrow on Tue, 2009-01-06 09:31

LOL, that was the first thing I noticed. I'm not sure even 1200 gamers in the whole U.S. still play Halo 1 on the PC. Certainly not consistently.

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avatarI really don't pay much

Submitted by Tunnel_Vision on Mon, 2009-01-05 16:47

I really don't pay much attention to the Neilsen ratings for that same reason. Even though we don't know how they got the statistics for 2008, there is no way to get an accurate and precise result with only 1200 gamers for last year's ratings

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