Hogwarts Legacy becomes Google's most searched game of 2023, with BG3, Starfield, and Atomic Heart in top 10
Google has released its annual list of the most trending searches. Let’s take a look at what video games have generated the most buzz in 2023 globally.
Google’s Year in Search 2023 shows what was trending in the world this year across different categories such as News, People, Movies, and Games. The list is based on search terms that had the highest spike this year as compared to the previous year.
Hogwarts Legacy was the leader in the Games category. This isn’t surprising considering the amount of hype the Avalanche Software-developed title generated both before and after its release on February 10.
At launch, Hogwarts Legacy peaked at 879,308 concurrent players on Steam, ranking as the 8th most played game on the platform of all time. It is also the 2nd single-player release by player count, behind only Cyberpunk 2077 (over 1 million CCU).
In May, WB Discovery announced that Hogwarts Legacy had reached over $1 billion in revenue and sold over 15 million units globally. The figures have likely increased since then given its chart-topping positions. For example, Hogwarts Legacy remains the best-selling game in the US year-to-date, even months after its launch.
The top 10 most trending video games searches in 2023 can be seen below:
- Hogwarts Legacy
- The Last of Us
- Connections
- Battlegrounds Mobile India
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- スイカ ゲーム (Suika Game)
- Diablo IV
- Atomic Heart
- Sons of the Forest
On Google’s year-end list, Hogwarts Legacy is followed by The Last of Us, which went trending globally after its TV adaptation premiered on HBO in January.
Interstingly, The New York Times’ Connections, where users have to connect 16 words into four-word groups based on their categories, ranked 3rd. Released on June 12, it became the newspaper’s most played game after Wordle.
Connections is followed by Battlegrounds Mobile India, the Indian version of the global hit PUBG Mobile. In May, Indian authorities allowed Krafton to resume operations in the country after first banning it in 2020 over national security concerns.
Google’s top 10 also includes other notable game releases that had huge spikes in 2023: Starfield (#5), Baldur’s Gate 3 (#6), Diablo IV (#8), Atomic Heart (#9), and Sons of the Forest (#10).
