Black Ops 4 Beats Out Red Dead Redemption 2 as Most Anticipated Game, According to Nielsen

Which game will reign the holidays?

News by Matt Kim, News Editor

11 October 2018

The data analysts at Nielsen released their list of most anticipated games for the 2018 holiday season and the multiplatform game that holiday shoppers are most eager to get their hands on is none other than Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

Black Ops 4 is consumers' most-anticipated multi-platform game with a Nielsen rating of 99. The score indicates that – based on several key measures like awareness, purchase interest, and other factors – anticipation for Black Ops 4 is higher than 99 percent of previous games on the same platforms during the same point in the pre-release cycle.

Trailing closely behind Black Ops 4 is Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 with a score of 97. Rounding out the Top Five are EA's Battlefield 5 with a score of 94, Fallout 76 at 92, and finally Assassin's Creed: Odyssey at 91 (our review here).

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the other hot ticket this holiday.

As for platform-specific games many of those have already come out but are still hot commodities for the holidays. On PlayStation 4 the most-anticipated title is Insomniac's Spider-Man game with a score of 100. We already have a Spider-Man review if you want to check it out. On Xbox One the big get it seems is Forza Horizon 4 with a score of 84. And Two titles, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Mario Party, tied for most-anticipated on the Switch both with a score of 98. The two upcoming Pokemon games Let's Go, Pikachu! And Let's Go, Eevee! Also get notable mentions with a score of 86.

With the holiday season fast-approaching it's interesting to learn what shoppers and gift-givers have their eyes set on. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is such a strong and reliable brand that it probably makes an annual appearance under many a gift wrap. You can read our Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 guide to learn more about the upcoming annual release as well as the new modes coming to Black Ops.

Also consider checking out our Red Dead Redemption 2 guide if you're curious about Rockstar's highly-anticipated return to the wild west including previews, trailers, news, and more.

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Matt Kim

News Editor

Matt Kim is a former freelance writer who's covered video games and digital media. He likes video games as spectacle and is easily distracted by bright lights or clever bits of dialogue. He also once wrote about personal finance, but that's neither here nor there.