Which Xbox and Summer Game Fest games grabbed the most headlines?

It’s been quite a week for the gaming industry, not one, not two, but… well, there were a lot of live shows and events last week and more to come later this month.

Arguably two of the biggest were Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest, which aired on Friday, and the Xbox Games Showcase, which launched on Sunday – both promising big announcements and new looks at upcoming software.

Interestingly, Geoff prefaced his show via Twitch Q&A, clarifying that this year’s Summer Game Fest will focus more on already announced titles rather than juggernaut premieres. In hindsight, it was a smart move; general feedback rather critical of the show with over 40% of over 250,000 players rating it a D and less than 10% an A (according to Geoff’s own survey on X).

A few days later, Xbox would deliver one of its best showings in years, at a time when it was sorely needed, with a series of high-profile games coming out in 2024, 2025 and beyond. Again, another one of Geoff’s polls on X would highlight how well the event was received, with a whopping 65% giving it an A (from over 163,000 respondents and counting).

But how did the games fare with the press? Which ones made headlines and stole the limelight after two performances?

Rather than just considering the number of articles, Fancensus’ Flare Score also takes into account numerous other metrics including the reach of approximately 3,000 featured websites, the split between articles with headlines and those that only mention the title, and the presence of articles on the website’s front page . Basically, it provides an overall performance that focuses on quality and not just quantity, awarding a score out of 100.

Examining the 24-hour window after each of the two respective shows, it’s clear that the Xbox Games Showcase had a bigger press impact; all five of the top-rated titles on the show, with three more appearing in the top ten.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 saw the most success, not only earning the highest overall Flare score, but also by a wide margin, likely as a result of having its own show after the Xbox Games Showcase.

Looking at the entire list, two things are obvious; the first was Summer Game Fest, which was a weaker show in terms of big name titles and fresh new releases (with the exception of Lego Horizon Adventures and a few other debatable notable announcements), Flare’s score for featured games perhaps reflecting Geoff’s comments.

Meanwhile, the Xbox came out with dazzling shots, the real power of the mammoth line-up of purchased studios can really be felt. Activision Blizzard, MachineGames, Id Software, Compulsion Games, Playground Games … all with something to show, and something big.

The second takeaway is that despite the industry going through what appears to be a tumultuous period, it hasn’t slowed established franchises from making their presence known. 17 of the top 20 featured titles are from existing franchises/brands.

As embargoes drop throughout the week, it will be interesting to see the end of some of these games outside of their initial 24-hour performance.

The top 20 games featured at Summer Game Fest or Xbox Games Showcase with the highest Flare scores 24 hours after the respective showcase