The big wave of Summer showcases is seemingly over, with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all presenting their own bespoke ‘Directs’ and Geoff Keighley hosting the annual Summer Game Fest event in Los Angeles.
It’s been a pretty great showing across the board in our opinion, and we don’t think any of the major showcases can be deemed ‘bad’ – disappointing perhaps, depending on your tastes, but there was a pretty huge range of titles revealed across the last few weeks.
According to new data provided by analytics firm LevelUp (thanks, VGC), Nintendo’s latest Direct – during which it announced the likes of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Xenoblade Genesis, and Switch Sports Resort – was the most-watched showcase of the bunch, beating Keighley’s own Opening Night Showcase.
It’s not by too much, mind you. LevelUp claims that the Direct reached a peak of 3.8 million viewers, while SGF’s Opening Night Showcase managed 3.7 million. Sony’s State of Play, meanwhile, reached 2.9 million at its peak, with Xbox topping out at 2.2 million.
What’s more, the firm also claims that the Ocarina of Time trailer was the most-viewed of all games showcased, reaching a whopping 115 million views across all video and social media platforms.
Of course, with the showcases, it’s probably worth considering that time zones and whatnot will play a factor in overall viewership, but we don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Nintendo’s latest Direct was one of the most anticipated in quite some time.
The long stretch of time since the last major first-party Direct contributed greatly to overall excitement for the showcase, along with increased expectations thanks to a rather major leak a few months prior.
Still, good going Nintendo. Just don’t make us wait too long for the next one, yeah?
