Has your desire to play video games with your classmates ever been halted by your uncertainty about what everyone else is playing? Well, you’re in luck. I asked about 40 Fresno State students which video games they’re currently playing, and these were the five most popular answers.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
It is no surprise that Nintendo’s biggest release of 2023 found its way onto this list, seeing as how this game had sold well over 18 million copies as of June 30, 2023.
Released on May 12 of this year, Tears of the Kingdom’s vast open world and new building mechanics still have players captivated months later. This game’s slow burn might also be due to the length of its story, which, according to HowLongToBeat, is about 59 hours long on average.
My thoughts: I played Tears of the Kingdom off and on for about a month when it was released, but I never completed the main story. I do very much respect it as a successful sequel to Breath of the Wild, which is one of my favorite games of all time. I think this game is definitely worth playing, and writing this has certainly made me consider putting in the extra time to pick it back up and finish it.
4. Starfield
Staying on the theme of games with high concurrent player counts, Bethesda Game Studios’ newest release, Starfield, hit the shelves in early September, and is currently one of the most hyped games of the last few years.
Last year there was a familiar story: A well established studio released a long-awaited game that would break out of the norms of their previous titles with a brand new world. That game, of course, was FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. Who knows if Starfield will reach similar heights to 2022’s game of the year, but either way, there seems to be a number of students giving it a shot.
My thoughts: This is the only game on the list that I am currently playing, and I’m having a blast with it. With that being said, even as a new game I’m shocked that Starfield ended up on the list at all since it was not made available on Playstation. Perhaps the fact that it is free to play on PC or Xbox with a Game Pass subscription is what made so many people willing to try it.
3. Rocket League
The rest of this list moves almost entirely away from single-player experiences, giving students the opportunity to squad up after class and play games with their friends. Rocket League, the “car soccer” game developed by Psyonix and released in July of 2015, has only grown more popular with each year since its release.
Christian Mojarras, a business administration student, cited “excitement, and friends,” as his two primary reasons for playing Rocket League. In fact, over half of the respondents who chose this game mentioned the social aspect of teaming up with friends as a primary reason for playing the game.
My thoughts: Though I haven’t played much of this game in the last few years, I certainly wasn’t shocked to hear that plenty of people still enjoy playing it. Rocket League is one of those games that you can always go back to, with or without a group of friends to play with.
2. Grand Theft Auto V
Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V is the oldest game on this list, with its release dating all the way back to Sept. 16, 2013. GTA V is still the most recent installment in the series even ten years after its release, and it is no surprise that it remains one of the most popular titles in gaming. On its opening weekend, GTA V became the fastest selling entertainment product of all time, needing only three days to reach $1 billion in sales, according to Statista.
“I enjoy driving in GTA, and I like all of the different cars that I can use to race online,” said Andres Martinez, a psychology student.
Rockstar’s top-selling game has a place on this list mostly due to the online mode that is still supported and updated to this day. Players can participate in races, heists, roleplay, and much more in Los Santos, GTA V’s fictionalized version of Los Angeles.
My thoughts: I was genuinely surprised to see GTA V pop up so many times in the responses. Rockstar’s formula to keep people playing its online mode certainly seems to be working, though. While I haven’t played this game in a serious capacity in the last few years, I do fondly remember most of the several hundred hours I’ve collectively spent in Los Santos.
1. Fortnite
This game all but ran away with the race. The dDeveloper, Epic Games, struck gold in July of 2017 when it introduced its take on the battle royale genre to the public. Fortnite remains one of the most popular titles in its genre with over 200 million monthly active users, making its appearance at the top of this list unsurprising.
Some students listed this as the only game that they play, and almost every respondent who listed Grand Theft Auto or Rocket League also included Fortnite in their list. When students were asked what they enjoyed about the game, responses varied from “I love the competitive feeling I get when I play,” to “I like to hit the griddy.” “Fortnite helps me connect with my friends since we are so busy with college or work,” Martinez said.
Accessibility may be one of the key reasons for the massive continued popularity of a game like Fortnite. Most people are able to find a way to get their hands on this game, even struggling college students, as it is free to play on PC, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch.
My thoughts: While I wasn’t sure if it would be in first place, I knew Fortnite had a place somewhere on this list even before I began collecting responses. I haven’t played more than two or three sessions of Fortnite in the last few months, but it is still probably my favorite game in the Battle Royale genre, and a deserving title to hold the No. 1 spot.
