Video games may be a popular entertainment medium around the world, with there being some 2.7 billion gamers globally according to December 2025 Statista data, but an analyst has contextualized this popularity a bit with new findings suggesting that video games are really popular in the country in which they are developed.
Rhys Elliott, the head of games market data firm Alinea Analytics, shared his findings in an X post on January 29. Discussing the concept of the “hometown hero,” Elliott had surveyed his company’s recent estimates and discovered that the hometown hero effect bears true within the games industry as well. Elliott cited some recent examples of games developed in a specific country that, although popular globally, were especially popular in the country that they were developed in.
Assassin’s Creed is one example. Although the studio has global offices and the franchise is known worldwide, those games–including Shadows–are particularly popular in French markets, with the series consistently hitting the number-three spot in the “Land of the Franks.” The same is true of Cyberpunk 2077, which also remains in the number-three spot on Steam’s Polish charts–studio CD Projekt Red is Polish. One more: South Korean studio Shift Up’s Stellar Blade, which is number three on the PlayStation 5 chart in South Korea.
I’ve been looking through the @alineaanalytics estimates, and I noticed that players often show up for games made in their local country.
This hometown hero effect holds for loads of games, including:
– Cyberpunk 2077: Poland remains its #3 market on Steam, years after launch… pic.twitter.com/IKUAObrBfd— Rhys Elliott (@superhys) January 29, 2026
Elliott found that the hometown hero effect gets more fascinating when a game shares the same themes that reflect its country of origin. Take Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, for example. Developer Sandfall Interactive is a French studio, and Expedition 33 is a distinctly French game deeply rooted in the country’s arts and culture, so the Franks show up and show out for the game. According to the findings, Expedition 33 sits in the number-three spot on PS5 (11% of the audience) and Steam (7% of the audience). The same is true of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which is developed by Czech developer Warhorse Studios and attracted 6% of the PS5 audience and 4% of the Steam audience, placing it in the number-four spot in Czechia.
And you can’t forget about Black Myth: Wukong. Developed by the Chinese studio Game Science, 56% of the Steam audience and 39% of the PS5 audience really came through for it in the People’s Republic of China.
There are some factors that contribute to this hometown hero effect, according to Elliott, including coverage from local media and influences, the physical presence of these studios in their home country, original scripting, and familiar accents. But at the end of the day, if you know something was made in your hometown, you’re more than likely to support it with your whole heart. Unless you hate where you come from, of course.
