Team at indie game retailer Rogue Games analyse gaming hashtags to find the most popular photo mode that virtual photographers can’t get enough of.
Of the many great innovations in the industry over the years, one of the most dynamic has been the boom in the number of games featuring photo mode. As graphics continue to evolve beyond our wildest dreams, developers are able to create visually stunning game worlds that make you want to stop and look around.
And gamers want to capture every moment.
With the release of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition hitting consoles next month, complete with it’s own highly anticipated photo mode, the team at Rogue Games dove into a mountain of Instagram data, analysing Instagram hashtags to find out which series gamers love to capture the most.
Growing steadily in recent years, virtual photography really took off in lockdown, becoming a fully fledged movement. On Instagram, #virtualphotography has 1,484,438 posts with #virtualphotographer clocking 339,950.
According to the teams research, Grand Theft Auto V steals #1 with an impressive 1,662,378 hashtags. Rockstar’s stunningly realistic game only gets better with age. Re-released on 8th gen consoles before heading to PC, it’ll also be making its way to next gen consoles later in the year with newly upgraded graphics.
Rockstar also take #2 with their western masterpiece Red Dead Redemption 2. Known for its stunning sunsets and rustic natural world, the series has clocked an impressive 319,313 hashtags associated with its photomode.
Forza Horizon 4 takes #3 with 160,361 hashtags. A favourite among petrol heads, the series has quickly risen to challenge the reputation of genre mainstay Grand Turismo in terms of graphical excellence.
The rest of the list is equally impressive, including other visually stunning titles like The Last of Us Part 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. A popular competition among Spiderman fans is to recreate the iconic inverted dive scene from Spiderman: Into the Multiverse.
It’s interesting to note that Sony titles make up a significant portion of the list, which is unsurpising given the brands close association with photography.
Twitter went insane earlier this month when leaked footage seemingly confirmed photo mode for Resident Evil Village, and with photo-friendly favourites like GTA V and Horizon Forbidden West making their way to next gen, virtual photography is definitely going to become next level.
The Results:
| Grand Theft Auto V | ||
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | ||
| Forza Horizon 4 | ||
| Fallout 76 | ||
| The Last of Us Part 2 | ||
| CyberPunk 2077 | ||
| Horizon Zero Dawn | ||
| Ghost of Tsushima | ||
| Spiderman / Miles Morales | ||
| God of War | ||
| No Man’s Sky | ||
| Days Gone | ||
| Death Stranding | ||
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla |
Methodology: data was collected by first analysing #virtualphotography to identify the most popular titles. Data was collected using #[Game Title] PhotoMode and additional hashtags popularly used on virtual photography posts to find the totals for each game title.
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