Good soundtracks can make or break a game. What would Bioshock Infinite be without its cathartic, spiritual orchestra? And who could forget the impact José González’s “Far Away” had on Red Dead Redemption‘s Mexico chapter? Music and video games go hand in hand, and new research into Spotify has revealed just how popular video game music is.
From the classic rock hits of Metal Gear Solid V to the freewheelin’ tunes of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, a new report into Spotify data has revealed which video game soundtracks people are vibing with the most.
The study analysed which gaming soundtracks and songs featured in games had the most plays on Spotify and ranked them by popularity.
There’s a bunch of surprising entries here, including an inexplicable appearance by FIFA: Road to World Cup 98, but it just goes to show how much a memorable soundtrack can help games live longer in a person’s memory.
Here’s the most popular video game soundtracks ranked by Spotify song play count:
- Metal Gear Solid V (143,784,383 plays)
- Rock n’ Roll Racing (136,460,467 plays)
- Rock Band 3 (94,581,373 plays)
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (87,880,992 plays)
- NBA 2K13 (84,910,962 plays)
- Guitar Hero II (79,401,584 plays)
- Madden NFL 10 (69,261,979 plays)
- FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 (68,885,271 plays)
- Madden NFL 2005 (48,020,294 plays)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (47,529,812 plays)
Metal Gear Solid V is the clear winner here and there’s a good reason for it. Peppered throughout the game are licensed cassette tapes of classic hits including “Take on Me” by a-ha, “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol and “Maneater” by H2O. Everybody loves a bit of Billy. There’s also 537 songs on the soundtrack, so the competition is slightly unfair.
The appearance of music-themed game like Guitar Hero and Rock Band is also a no-brainer. These soundtracks are specifically curated to showcase the most popular music around and contain dozens of modern and classic rock hits.
FIFA: Road to World Cup 98’s inclusion is still wild, but somewhat understandable when you consider the main theme is Blur’s iconic Song 2 anthem.
The most listened-to tracks on the list included Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (featured on the Rock Band 3 soundtrack), which won top billing of 1,239,822,734 by a long shot. Next up was Africa by Toto (at 807,641,998) and Sweet Child o’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses (at 767,559,404), featuring in GTA: Vice City and Guitar Hero II respectively.
To check out the rest of the most popular songs featured in video games, check out the OLGB research hub and rock on.
Leave a Reply