Retro gaming is having a moment in the sun, according to the latest stats from the YouTube Culture and Trends team, which regularly reports on emerging areas of focus among YouTube creators.
And according to its latest numbers, retro gaming has seen a big surge over the past year:
“There were over 1000 times more uploads of videos related to retrogaming in the first half of this year than there were for the same period in 2007.”
That’s a lot, and it’s worth noting that retro games are back en vouge, and which games, in particular, are gaining traction.
According to YouTube, it’s currently older games that are getting the most focus among creators.
“Although the bulk of interest correlates with consoles from the 80s and 90s, the presence of more modern consoles being associated with retrogaming shows that the retrogaming is evolving as the consoles that younger gamers grew up with are slowly being added to the retrogaming canon and considered “retro” (we’re looking at you, Wii U).”
Consoles from the 2010s are now considered “retro gaming”. No, that’s good, that’s fine, doesn’t remind me of my aching back in any way shape or form.
But currently, 80’s games are the flavor of the month, which could open up new opportunities for themed promotions or tie-ins, linked back to your favorite gaming moments of your childhood.
Or somebody else’s, I wasn’t playing games in the 80’s. No way.
That’s not to say that you can just rip off retro gaming IP (editor's note: you definitely can't do this), but you can create themed promotions around the concept.
Like this 16-bit version of the SMT logo:
These are simple to create, and with AI image generation tools, you can easily replicate the nostalgia of retro games within your visuals, which could be a good approach for your marketing strategy, depending on your target market.
Or maybe, YouTube’s latest findings just remind you of “Prince of Persia”, or the original “Age of Empires”, or “Lemmings”, and you get a brief rush of endorphins as a result.
They don’t make them like that anymore.
Worth a look either way. You can check out YouTube’s full retro gaming insights here, or get an overview of the trend, including lots of archival footage of console games, in this clip.
