For Inquiries - [email protected]
THE MOST PLAYED GAMES OF 2011
Welcome to Raptr’s first annual Most Played Games Awards, the
only awards based on what games people are actually playing.
This Raptr Report provides gameplay details on the most played
new releases of 2011 based on Raptr’s 10+ million users and
wraps it up in an awards-style report.
We’ll select winners from key genres based on a combination of
data points* that we believe best capture how gamers are investing
their time:
• Total Playtime (Opening Month)
• Average Playtime Per Person (Opening Week)
• Average Session Length (Opening Month)
*For more details on how we calculate winners and collect data, see our methodology slide.
2
THE AWARDS
• Most Played of 2011:
– Shooter
– RPG (Role-Playing Game)
– Open-World
– Sports
– Social
– New IP
– Overall Winner
– Most Successful Paid-to-F2P (Free-to-Play)
3
4
MOST PLAYED SHOOTER OF 2011
•
Call of Duty continues to dominated the playtime charts, year in and year out. The
average Modern Warfare 3 player clocked in 20.45 hours in the opening week, 15%
more than Battlefield 3, and 21% more than Gears of War 3, both of which were
strong contenders. Modern Warfare 3 also earned 2x more playtime than Battlefield 3
in its first month.
•
Gears of War 3 did come out on top when it came to average session length. Gears
gamers were playing 2.32 hours on average per session.
Top Shooters of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Playtime Per Person
Total Playtime
Avg Session Length
20
10
5
0
Hours
Hours
Hours
15
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
5
WINNER – MODERN WARFARE 3
Fun fact: Modern Warfare 3 players are more interested in shooting
each other than saving the world. Less than 50% of players have
completed the campaign.
6
7
MOST PLAYED RPG OF 2011
•
This was a good year for RPG fans. Unsurprisingly, Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V:
Skyrim dominated the space with 6x more total playtime than the closest competitor
and 2x all the others combined. After Skyrim’s release, players completely immersed
themselves into the world of Tamriel by playing 23 hours during the opening week.
•
When it came to average session length, both Dragon Age 2 and Two Worlds 2 were
able to demonstrate that they offered up compelling gameplay, as they only trailed
Skyrim by 6 minutes on average.
Top RPGs of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Playtime Per Person
25
20
15
10
5
0
Avg Session Length
3
Hours
Hours
Hours
Total Playtime
2
1
0
8
WINNER – SKYRIM
Fun fact: An average Skyrim player logged 85 hours before unlocking
the “Reader” achievement (read 50 skill books).
9
10
MOST PLAYED OPEN-WORLD GAME OF 2011
•
The open-world category saw the toughest battle in 2011. Batman: Arkham City won
playtime share by a 13% margin, Dead Island received the most playtime per person
at 15.43 hours, while Saints Row: The Third earned the longest session length per
gamer with 2.77 hours.
•
Based on our methodology in determining one clear winner, Batman: Arkham City
edges out to win in this category.
Top Open-World Games of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Playtime Per Person
Total Playtime
Avg Session Length
15
10
5
0
3
Hours
Hours
Hours
20
2
1
0
11
WINNER – BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY
Fun fact: Apparently Batman doesn’t care about saving hostages -less than 1% of players rescued all hostages from The Riddler.
12
13
MOST PLAYED SPORTS GAME OF 2011
•
Despite Madden’s popularity in America, FIFA generated the most impressive
numbers overall and won total playtime with 2x that of its closest competitor.
•
Hockey fans, however, proved their dedication by helping NHL 12 win the playtimeper-person category with 14.69 hours played.
•
The playtime patterns end up being very similar for most of the games, with average
session length hovering at 2 hours and average playtime per person at 13-14 hours.
Top Sport Games of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Playtime Per Person
Avg Session Length
10
5
0
Hours
15
Hours
Hours
Total Playtime
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
14
WINNER – FIFA 12
Fun fact: On average, FIFA 12 fans played more in the opening month
than Modern Warfare 3 fans did in its opening month! (37 vs. 31 hours)
15
16
MOST PLAYED SOCIAL GAME OF 2011
•
Despite Zynga’s dominance in social gaming, EA’s The Sims Social came out of
nowhere to win the whole category. The average Sims Social player logged 1.37
hours in the first week, 16% more than the top two performing Zynga games released
in 2011.
•
Overall in the first month, The Sims Social accumulated 5x more playtime than Mafia
Wars 2, 18% more than CastleVille, and 33% more than Empires and Allies – proving
Zynga is not untouchable.
Top Social Games of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Playtime Per Person
1.5
1
0.5
0
Avg Session Length
0.10
Hours
Hours
Hours
Total Playtime
0.05
0.00
17
WINNER – THE SIMS SOCIAL
Fun fact: FarmVille and Empires & Allies’ playtime dropped by 25%
when The Sims Social launched! For more interesting facts, check out
our Raptr Report: The Sims Social.
18
19
MOST PLAYED NEW IP OF 2011
•
While 2011 proved that gamers flock towards sequels, there were notable new IPs.
L.A. Noire captured the most playtime from gamers willing to try something new: The
game earned over 2.5x more total playtime than its closest competitor and the most
playtime per person with 10.73 hours.
•
Surprisingly, Catherine came out on top of the longest-session-length category with
2.41 hours -- fans couldn’t put this quirky Atlus game down.
Top New IPs of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Playtime Per Person
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Avg Session Length
2.5
2
Hours
Hours
Hours
Total Playtime
1.5
1
0.5
0
20
WINNER – L.A. NOIRE
Fun fact: Hats are important when investigating crime scenes. 65% of
players completed a fight without losing their hat.
21
22
MOST PLAYED GAME OF 2011
•
The most important award featured an intense battle between the best shooter of the
year and the best RPG of the year.
•
Modern Warfare 3 racked up the most total playtime for all games -- even beating
Skyrim by a 9% margin.
•
However, when it came down to which game individual gamers invested the most
amount of their time playing, Skyrim won hands down. The average Skyrim player
clocked 2.92 hours in one sitting – the highest one month average in Raptr history.
Top Played Games of 2011 by Playtime Behavior
Avg Session Length
Avg Playtime Per Person
25
20
15
10
5
0
3
Hours
Hours
Hours
Total Playtime
2
1
0
23
WINNER – SKYRIM
Fun fact: Skyrim players are lone wolves. Less than 20% of players
have gotten married in-game.
24
25
MOST SUCCESSFUL PAID-TO-F2P GAME OF 2011
Avg Playtime Per Day
Average Playtime Per Day
1 Month Before and After
Going F2P
Before F2P
After F2P
•
Most pay-to-play games experience
explosive growth after making the switch to
free-to-play. This year, the biggest was DC
Universe Online with a 1000% increase* in
user base, which translated to a 2500%
increase in playtime per day.
•
Before these games went F2P, Champions
Online had the most average playtime per
day; 9% more than DC Universe Online.
•
All Points Bulletin and Champions Online
saw impressive playtime numbers after
going F2P, with a 470% and 500%
increase respectively.
*Source: Sony November Press Release
26
WINNER – DC UNIVERSE ONLINE
Fun fact: The game that most DC Universe Online players have in
common: Team Fortress 2.
27
RAPTR METHODOLOGY
This report is based on data collected from Raptr’s service, available at
www.Raptr.com. Raptr is the leading social network for gamers and
currently automatically tracks gameplay activity for over 10 million users
across console and PC.
Raptr uses a proprietary formula to determine the winners of the most
played games released in 2011. This formula is based on several key
statistics, including total hours played in the first month, average session
length in the first month, and average playtime per person in the first week.
To create equal footing for comparison, all games are compared based on
the same time frames after release. Based on our historical trends, firstmonth playtime data is a strong indicator of a game’s long-term playtime
trends.
Due to data capturing restrictions on the Wii and PS3, we did not include
games limited to these platforms as part of our report.
28
ABOUT RAPTR
Raptr is the award-winning service that provides gamers a way to track their gameplay activity on console
and PC. Over 10 million gamers use Raptr as a central location to connect with both friends and the
games they play. Raptr was founded in 2007 by Xfire co-founder and world champion gamer Dennis
“Thresh” Fong, and is made up of both experienced entrepreneurs and talented developers (ex-Google,
Yahoo, eBay, etc.). The company has raised over $27 million in venture capital funding from Accel
Partners (the same original investors in Facebook), DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital.
Today, Raptr has expanded to include a host of features that cater to gamers:
•
Automatic gameplay and achievements tracker on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3
•
Personalized news feed
•
Community-curated content
•
Recommendations engine to help gamers discover new games
•
Centralized buddy list and friend tracker
•
In-game chat and web browsing for PC games
•
iPhone app with friend tracking and messaging
For business inquiries, please contact us at [email protected].
29