Google Trends in the US: The Most Searched Games

Top Google Searched Games in 2020. Photo: SEMrush

Now that 2020 is coming to an end, Google has been taking a moment to look back at this past year of searches and has compiled a detailed list of what people have been most interested in looking up. One big surprise from these metrics is the game that took the top spot as the most searched game of the year, 2018's Among Us, which exploded on Twitch and YouTube, as well as adding millions of new players thanks to its newfound fame.

Here is the list of the top 5 most searched games:

Top 5 searched games

According to Google's worldwide records, the top five searched games include: Among Us, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, Valorant, Genshin Impact, and The Last of Us Part 2. It should be noted that these statistics are also including the entire year's searches, so while a title like The Last of Us 2 has recent press from The Game Awards to go alongside a release earlier in the year, Among Us still managed to come out on top. The game may be trending down at the moment, but InnerSloth has a few more updates and surprises coming later this month that could keep the game's statistics afloat into 2021, according to Game Rant.

1. Among Us

Among Us comes first on the list. Photo: AS English

Among Us is an online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by American game studio Innersloth and released on June 15, 2018. The game takes place in a space-themed setting, in which players each take on one of two roles, most being Crewmates, and a predetermined number being Impostors.

2. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

Photo: NME.com

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is a platformer battle royale game developed by Mediatonic and published by Devolver Digital. It released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on 4 August 2020. The game draws inspiration from game shows like Takeshi's Castle, It's a Knockout and Wipeout, and playground games like tag and British bulldog. Fall Guys received positive reviews from critics, who praised its chaotic gameplay and visual appearance.

3. Valorant

Photo: ONE Esports

Valorant is a free-to-play multiplayer tactical first-person hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games, for Microsoft Windows. First teased under the codename Project A in October 2019, the game began a closed beta period with limited access on April 7, 2020, followed by an official release on June 2, 2020.

4. Genshin Impact

Photo: Youtube

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo. The game features a fantasy open-world environment and action-based battle system using elemental magic, character switching and uses gacha game monetization for players to obtain new characters, weapons, and other resources.

5. Ghost of Tsushima

Photo: Euro Gamer

Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Featuring an open world, it follows Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan.

Different reactions of players around the world

Looking at the breakdowns of these searches on Google Trends also reveals some interesting aspects of these trends and how different players around the world reacted to some of these titles. For one, Genshin Impact was unsurprisingly most popular in China, where developer miHoYo is centered, but an unexpected detail is The Last of Us 2's popularity in Australia. Regardless, only Genshin Impact was able to come within striking distance of Among Us' incredible statistics, with the two-year-old indie title consistently dominating search inquiries for months.

It really has been a perfect storm that led to Among Us' meteoric rise almost overnight, with the game's low price combined with a demand for something to connect people from within isolation. Of course, it helps that InnerSloth has been consistently working on the game since its release, ensuring that it would be ready for the sudden demand for exactly what the developer had already created. So, this shows clearly in the Google Trends that the work by the small development team was well worth the effort in the end.

For more Google Trends in 2020, please check out our KnowInsider!