The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is always a battle for attention, and it looks like Nintendo won it, according to a couple of reports that analyzed social media during the biggest U.S. gaming show.
One of the biggest battles this year was between Microsoft’s newest console, Xbox One X (debuting November 7 for $500), and the Nintendo Switch, which came out in March. And Nintendo came out on top, according to an analysis by social media data analytics firm Taykey. Facebook also released data today that was favorable to Nintendo.
Gamers were eager to hear which of their favorite games would be released on both consoles. Taykey dug into its data to determine which brands and announcements were best able to leverage E3.
The sheer amount of online conversation volume that Nintendo’s press conference generated was 108 percent more than Xbox. In fact, Sony’s press conferences generated 12.5 percent more online conversations than Xbox’s press conference.
Above: Facebook’s data on the social media buzz at E3 2017.
Likewise, 51 percent of all online conversations surrounding Nintendo reflected positive feedback on the company, whereas only 38 percent of conversations surrounding Xbox were positive.
Xbox showcased their latest game console the Xbox One X. While this was a huge hardware announcement, it was only one announcement that had to sustain buzz over the E3. Whereas, Nintendo unveiled several fan favorite games, including Metroid Prime 4, Super Mario Odyssey, and a new Zelda expansion.
In other words, Taykey said that Nintendo perhaps generated more buzz because there were so many games that fans were excited about and could interact with. Microsoft put all of their faith in one large announcement, whereas Nintendo produced many small, yet significant game releases, following-up on its new console announcement in March.
Although Nintendo generated more conversation volume than Xbox, when it came to conversations surrounding the Xbox One X versus Nintendo Switch, Xbox One X was received more positively than the Nintendo Switch by the E3 audience. Interestingly, the Xbox One X was mentioned only 1 percent more than the Nintendo Switch during E3, which means this audience was equally discussing and perhaps comparing the consoles. However, 57 percent of the conversations about Xbox One X were positive while only 45 percent of all Nintendo Switch conversations were positive.
Above: The hottest games at E3, according to Facebook.
This means that the E3 audience was 24 percent more excited about the newest Xbox, which bodes well for the game console brand despite Microsoft’s brand failing to capture audience attention and conversations.
Meanwhile, Facebook said it saw 17 million people talk about E3 and the major game titles and brands associated with the show since June 9. There were 41 million posts, likes and comments.
The games that were talked about most were Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey, Destiny 2, and Call of Duty: WWII.
