Brandwave

How popular isMinecraft?

In September 2026, people searched for Minecraft by name about 24.9 million times worldwide, about the same as the previous year. These searches made up 46% of all global video game franchise searches, placing Minecraft first out of nine franchises. When we asked both ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews about video game franchises, Minecraft appeared in three of the five answers and was the fourth most recommended of the nine.

Search and AI answers in September 2026

Minecraft is the most searched of 9 competitors and the fourth most recommended in AI answers.

  1. MinecraftShare of searches 46%Mentioned in 3 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 4th
  2. Resident EvilShare of searches 20.5%Mentioned in 2 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 7th
  3. PokémonShare of searches 13.8%Mentioned in 2 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 1st
  4. FortniteShare of searches 11.3%Mentioned in 1 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 8th
  5. Call of DutyShare of searches 3.4%Mentioned in 3 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 2nd

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Top video game franchises in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, Minecraft was mentioned in three out of five: in two of the three ChatGPT answers and in one of the two Google AI Overviews. Minecraft is the fourth most recommended of the nine.

Most recommended by AI

Brands get a higher ranking if they are mentioned earlier in the answers.

  1. Pokémon1st
  2. Call of Duty2nd
  3. The Legend of Zelda3rd
  4. Minecraft4th
  5. Mario Kart5th
  6. Grand Theft Auto6th
  7. Resident Evil7th
  8. Fortnite8th
  9. EA Sports FC–

Mentioned by AI

Each dot is one answer, filled in when that answer mentions the brand.

  • The Legend of Zelda4 of 5Named in 2 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 2 of 2 Google answers
  • Minecraft3 of 5Named in 2 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Call of Duty3 of 5Named in 2 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Grand Theft Auto3 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 2 of 2 Google answers
  • Mario Kart3 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 2 of 2 Google answers
  • Resident Evil2 of 5Named in 2 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • Pokémon2 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Fortnite1 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • EA Sports FC0 of 5Named in 0 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers

See every answer about video game franchises

5 answers

Not named in any answer:

Brands are shown in the order each answer named them. The survey took place in the United States on October 19, 2026.

Which video game franchises compete with Minecraft?

Minecraft against video game franchises worldwide, by month

Share of searches by month for Minecraft, Resident Evil, Pokémon, Fortnite, Call of Duty, The Legend of Zelda. The figures are in the table below the chart.

View monthly share of searches table
MonthMinecraftResident EvilPokémonFortniteCall of DutyThe Legend of ZeldaGrand Theft AutoMario KartEA Sports FC
Oct 202557.8%3.5%14.2%14.2%5.2%2%1.6%1.3%0.18%
Nov 202554.1%3.3%13.3%19.9%4.9%2.1%1.2%1.2%0.14%
Dec 202558.5%2.9%11.8%17.6%5.3%1.7%0.87%1.3%0.12%
Jan 202661%3.7%12.3%15%3.7%2%1.1%1.1%0.19%
Feb 202656.5%5.1%17%13.9%3.4%1.9%1%1%0.21%
Mar 202655.4%7.5%16.6%13.6%3.3%1.8%0.67%1%0.12%
Apr 202655.4%5%16.7%13.6%4.1%2.3%1.5%1.2%0.17%
May 202657.9%4.3%17.4%11.6%4.3%2.3%1%1%0.22%
Jun 202659.7%4.4%14.7%12%4.4%2.3%1.3%0.88%0.27%
Jul 202659.5%4.4%14.6%12%4.4%2.2%1.3%1.3%0.34%
Aug 202656%4.1%16.8%13.8%4.1%2.2%1.5%1.2%0.26%
Sep 202646%20.5%13.8%11.3%3.4%3.1%1%0.83%0.12%

  1. 1.Minecraft

    46%

    Held 1st. 24.9M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share -10 points.

  2. 2.Resident Evil

    20.5%

    Moved from 5th to 2nd. 11.1M estimated branded searches, +506.6% vs prior month. Share +16.4 points.

  3. 3.Pokémon

    13.8%

    Moved from 2nd to 3rd. 7.5M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share -3 points.

  4. 4.Fortnite

    11.3%

    Moved from 3rd to 4th. 6.1M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share -2.5 points.

  5. 5.Call of Duty

    3.4%

    Moved from 4th to 5th. 1.8M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share -0.7 points.

  6. 6.The Legend of Zelda

    3.1%

    Held 6th. 1.7M estimated branded searches, +71.8% vs prior month. Share +0.9 points.

  7. 7.Grand Theft Auto

    1%

    Held 7th. 550K estimated branded searches, -18.3% vs prior month. Share -0.5 points.

  8. 8.Mario Kart

    0.83%

    Held 8th. 450K estimated branded searches, -18.2% vs prior month. Share -0.4 points.

  9. 9.EA Sports FC

    0.12%

    Held 9th. 65.9K estimated branded searches, -42.9% vs prior month. Share -0.1 points.

Compare popularity between Minecraft and its closest rivals

Every comparison with Minecraft

17 comparisons

How has branded search demand for Minecraft changed worldwide over the last 12 months?

3 findings
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for Minecraft worldwide held steady at 24.9M.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Minecraft’s share of searches among video game franchises worldwide decreased from 57.8% to 46%.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Minecraft’s share of searches among video game franchises worldwide peaked at 61% in January 2026 and was lowest at 46% in September 2026.

How did search popularity change for video game franchises worldwide in September 2026?

6 changes

  1. In September 2026, Resident Evil overtook Pokémon and 2 others to rank 2nd among video game franchises worldwide, with 20.5% of the searches.

  2. In September 2026, The Legend of Zelda gained share of searches among video game franchises worldwide, from 2.2% to 3.1%.

  3. In September 2026, Minecraft lost share of searches among video game franchises worldwide, from 56% to 46%.

  4. In September 2026, Pokémon lost share of searches among video game franchises worldwide, from 16.8% to 13.8%.

  5. In September 2026, Fortnite lost share of searches among video game franchises worldwide, from 13.8% to 11.3%.

  6. In September 2026, Call of Duty lost share of searches among video game franchises worldwide, from 4.1% to 3.4%.

How are Minecraft’s branded searches counted?

1 search term

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Minecraft’s name. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for this branded term can be used to understand whether interest in the brand is growing, holding steady, or fading.

  • minecraft

How the Brand Demand Index is measured

Who owns Minecraft?

Minecraft is owned by Microsoft. Brandwave also tracks Microsoft Copilot, Azure AI Document Intelligence, Azure AI Search, Azure Bicep, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Container Apps, Azure Container Registry, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Data Factory, Azure DevOps, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Service Bus, Azure Stream Analytics, Bing, Clipchamp, GitHub Actions, GitHub Copilot, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Ads, LinkedIn Recruiter, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Authenticator, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Bookings, Microsoft Clarity, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Microsoft Designer, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Forms, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Power Automate Process Mining, Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Translator, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Whiteboard, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, Power Automate, SharePoint, Xbox and Xbox Game Pass, owned by the same company, worldwide.

Do you work for Minecraft? To request corrections or removal please contact us via our support page and we will be happy to assist.

Where does Minecraft compete?

Minecraft is ranked in two competitor sets. Each share is worked out among that set's brands, so it differs from set to set.
Competitor setRankShare of searchesRanking
Online game platforms4th of 109%Show ranking
Video game franchises1st of 946%Shown above
Creator with pink hair and a pink jacket

Is Minecraft your brand?

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