There’s no doubt that it’s been a big year for gaming. With the launch of Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen consoles and the continuing strength of the Nintendo Switch, gamers have had plenty to enjoy this year. This interest is of course shared by Canadians, who according to a recent interview, are actually more excited about video games than hockey on social media.
Tweeting about games and gaming-related events is such a popular pastime that it’s led to Twitter crashing, like when Minecraft‘s Steve was announced for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The major reveals and releases this year may have partially led to a boost in gaming-related tweets coming out of Canada.
Speaking with the head of Twitter Sports Canada, Conor Clarance, ScreenRant’s interview revealed an interesting statistic regarding how many times Canadians have tweeted about games versus the NHL. According to Clarance, between January 1 and October 31 of this year, Canadians tweeted about video games just under 20 million times. The NHL, in comparison, only reached 12 million tweets from Canadians.
While one’s first thought might be that the cancellation and delay of many major sports events due to COVID-19 could have played a role in this, according to Clarance, the number of tweets surrounding sports overall hasn’t actually dropped dramatically. Rather, it’s a growing interest in gaming this year that’s led to the increase in social media activity on its part. Of course, COVID-19 may have had a hand in that as well, as many more people have been cooped up at home with video games as their main source of entertainment.
Although there are only a couple of months left in the year, Canadians have plenty of reasons to take to social media to talk about gaming during that time. A brand new Pokemon Center just opened in Canada, which fans of the long-running RPG series are obviously excited for. However, Canadians likely also took to Twitter to express disappointment upon hearing that some shipments of the Xbox Series X/S would be delayed to customers in the country. Twitter also erupted at the news that there was a hostage situation reported at Ubisoft Montreal, although it was later revealed to be a hoax.
With pre-orders and retail units flying off the shelves for the next-gen consoles, Oculus Quest 2, and even the continued demand for the Nintendo Switch and its major game releases this year, it’s unlikely that these numbers will diminish anytime soon. Fans of Hockey will have to wait and see if the NHL’s Twitter numbers can catch up, but it’s fair to say that both hobbies are experiencing high popularity in Canada, regardless.
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