Comments Under a Game Trailer Can Predict Game Sales
Comments under a game trailer can be a predictor of how well the game will sell. But it’s not about what the comments say — it’s mostly about how many there are.
More comments, more sales
Christian Yoder, writing in the Push to Talk newsletter by Ryan K. Rigney, analyzed game trailer comments and compared them to later sales.
When it comes to big releases with major marketing campaigns or viral hits, it’s hard to isolate the trailer’s role and how people reacted to it. But for games that sell under 250 000 copies, the connection becomes clear.
Sentiment doesn’t seem to matter. What matters is how many people commented. The pattern is consistent: the more comments a trailer gets, the higher the sales.
Why comments?
Views aren’t reliable for this. If a trailer is heavily promoted, we can’t really know how many people actually paid attention or genuinely discovered the game.
Likes aren’t a strong signal either. They’re a much easier action. The cognitive cost of liking something is far lower than writing a comment. According to a 2020 report by the Cambridge Behavioural Insights Group,
around 70% of YouTube viewers never leave comments at all.
Leaving a comment takes effort and comes with a bit of risk — someone could ignore you, criticize you, or respond negatively.
Likes measure breadth — how many people reacted at all. Comments measure depth — how strongly someone engaged. So the number of comments is not just a statistic. It’s a sign that the trailer created a deeper, more personal reaction, not just a surface-level “liked it.”
From Correlation to Causation?
In the end, Yoder’s analysis shows a direct link between comment volume and game sales.
Is it reasonable to suggest that if a trailer generates more comments — by creating an emotional response, for example, by engaging the viewer enough that they feel compelled to say something — then we might be directly influencing sales?
What do you think? Join the discussion.
Watch digests with the most discussed trailers.