We're just five days away from what many consider to be the biggest launch of 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5. Originally expected to release in the spring, Rockstar delayed the game until September 17, only further increasing the hype. And if the sheer number of leaks and overwhelmingly positive response to trailers/screenshots weren't enough evidence of its demand, social media research firm Fizziology has the numbers to back it up.
In the seven days spanning from September 5 through September 11, the number of tweets regarding Grand Theft Auto 5 totaled 631,322. That's an average of 83,700 mentions per day. Of those tweets, a staggering 85% were positive and only 1% were negative. Seriously, take some time to consider the source of such data and how harsh the gaming community can usually be.
So what exactly is driving such positive conversation towards GTA 5? Fizziology actually highlighted quite a few moves by Rockstar with social media stats to back it up. And a lot of it stemmed from the reaction to the official gameplay trailer, which Fizziology found drove more than 94,000 tweets in 24 hours.
Other notable features that driving the conversation on Twitter include the ability to play as multiple protagonists, "incredible artwork" that accumulated "more than 58,000 Instagram mentions, and the introduction of crews. I honestly believe the best way to judge your product is to look at the conversations happening around the social media universe. In Rockstar's case, they should feel pretty confident with Grand Theft Auto 5.
