It seems like every new major video-game release, has its roots in a franchise. With the next few notable releases in 2021 belonging to the world of Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and yet another Mario game; Planet 7 looked to find out which franchises are most influential in the video games industry.
To measure influence, Planet 7 took a look at how many times a franchise was mentioned on Wikipedia and how many times it was linked to other articles. Wikipedia averages around 18 billion page views a month, meaning it is one of the most visited websites in the world and because of this it has become the most influential encyclopedia in human history.
With this in mind, Planet 7 developed the Wikifluence, based on the number of times a franchise, character or video game was mentioned on Wikipedia and how many times it was linked to other articles.
Top Franchises based on Wikifluence
- Grand Theft Auto – 8750
- Super Mario – 6219
- The Legend of Zelda – 5259
- Final Fantasy – 4696
- Halo – 4393
- The Elder Scrolls – 2999
- Half-Life – 2876
- Portal – 2492
- Left 4 Dead – 1857
- Fall Out – 1750
- Resident Evil – 1560
- Donkey Kong – 1476
- Metal Gear – 1459
- Rock Band – 1445
- Sonic the Hedgehog – 1391
Surprisingly, GTA made its way to the top of the list, the Rockstar franchise was first released in 1997 by developer DMA Design. The first major break for the franchise didn’t really happen till 1999 when GTA III was released in 2001. Since that release, the controversial series has a big influence on popular culture. Which became the model for how we recognise the franchise today. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a new release since 2013. Yet, it seems that the influence remains.
The second and third on the list are both iconic names in the video-game universe and beyond, with both Mario and Zelda series making the list. Mario has been present in over 200 games since his creation so it isn’t so surprising that his franchise takes the second spot. He famously made his debut in Donkey Kong in 1981 and ever since has been a part of the cultural zeitgeist.
Top Characters based on Wikifluence
- Mario – 4860
- Sonic the Hedgehog – 4037
- Pikachu – 3266
- Link – 2537
- Luigi – 2292
- Donkey Kong – 2215
- Yoshi – 2115
- Princess Peach – 2044
- Bowser – 1988
- Cloud Strife – 1682
- Lara Croft – 1643
- Master Chief –1643
- Samus Arun – 1455
- Solid Snake – 1336
- Sephiroth – 1271
The top ten may look like a Super Smash Bros fight, but the top two is once again Sega’s creation Sonic that is pipped to the top by Nintendo’s Mario. However, the lovable yellow electric animal Pikachu, of the Pokemon franchise, makes it into the top three. Nintendo characters dominate the top ten, with Square Enix’s spiky-haired hero Cloud Strife coming behind Luigi, Donkey Kong, Peach and Bowser.
The only villains making the list are Bowser and Sephiroth, both being the most influential bad guys according to Wikipedia.
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